Water on positive battery terminal?

Today I cleaned Bozo's trunk. First time I did it, and yes, it was
needed. I always assumed the trunk would stay clean enough, since it
is normally closed. So far for that idea. I guess all that black dirt
and grime should have given me an idea, but I really only discovered
the problem from things coming out of the trunk with dirt on them.

Anyway, I noticed a little pool of water around the positive battery
terminal. Years ago I drilled some holes in the rain conduit around
the trunk opening to mount my MP 3 player in the wasted space
above the battery. When I removed the thing, I left the screws in
there to plug the holes, except one small hole, which was too close
to the next screw. I put some silicone glue in the small hole, IIRC,
but that was gone. So the hole had been leaking water right on the
positive terminal.

It did not seem that the water had bridged the gap to the negative
terminal, but I am now wondering whether this may in some way be
connected to the flat batteries I experienced a couple of times
earlier. Maybe enough conduction through the wet carpet or so
to drain it? Though on the other hand, you would think the
battery would have enough energy to vaporize a bit of water
easily without becoming depleted.

Might also be related to the random engine cut-outs Bozo has been
having, maybe. Road roughness splashes some water, battery voltage
drops enough to cause a problem, battery vaporizes water, welcome
back engine, let's get out of the way of that SUV.

One of the good things of having a Miata with lots of aftermarket
goodies: you always are learning new things.

Leon

--
Leon van Dommelen Bozo, the White 96 Sebring Miata .)
http://www.dommelen.net/miata
EXIT THE INTERSTATES (Jamie Jensen)

In article >,
(Leon van Dommelen) wrote:

> Might also be related to the random engine cut-outs Bozo has been
> having, maybe. Road roughness splashes some water, battery voltage
> drops enough to cause a problem, battery vaporizes water, welcome
> back engine, let's get out of the way of that SUV.

Piffle. Occam's Razor, Leon: it's the downside of being painted white.
All other hues have warmer, hence drier, trunks.

Not to mention, owners who don't make holes in drip channels... :-)

---
Lanny Chambers
'94C, St. Louis
http://www.hummingbirds.net/alignment.html

Lanny Chambers wrote:

>
> Piffle. Occam's Razor, Leon: it's the downside of being painted white.
> All other hues have warmer, hence drier, trunks.
>
> Not to mention, owners who don't make holes in drip channels... :-)
>
> ---
> Lanny Chambers
> '94C, St. Louis
> http://www.hummingbirds.net/alignment.html

That does seem odd. If I were to mount something in that space, I would
do almost anything but drill holes in the exterior metal. Spot-welding a
mounting plate to the interior metal would make more sense to me,
assuming that you could make it fit. Even using strong adhesive and
velcro would probably work if the MP3 unit isn't too heavy.

Pat

pws > wrote:

>Lanny Chambers wrote:
>
>>
>> Piffle. Occam's Razor, Leon: it's the downside of being painted white.
>> All other hues have warmer, hence drier, trunks.
>>
>> Not to mention, owners who don't make holes in drip channels... :-)
>>
>> ---
>> Lanny Chambers
>> '94C, St. Louis
>> http://www.hummingbirds.net/alignment.html
>
>That does seem odd. If I were to mount something in that space, I would
>do almost anything but drill holes in the exterior metal.

The gutter is not visible when the trunk is closed.

> Spot-welding a
>mounting plate to the interior metal would make more sense to me,

assuming that you had a spot welder.

>assuming that you could make it fit.

The thing was in a mounting box already. It was designed to be able
to slide out of the dash.

> Even using strong adhesive and
>velcro would probably work

Hate to experiment with a $1,000 or whatever unit. And there is no flat
metal around to glue or velcro to,

> if the MP3 unit isn't too heavy.

Leon

--
Leon van Dommelen Bozo, the White 96 Sebring Miata .)
http://www.dommelen.net/miata
EXIT THE INTERSTATES (Jamie Jensen)

Leon van Dommelen wrote:

>
> The gutter is not visible when the trunk is closed.
>

But is is exterior metal, and drilling a hole in it did cause a problem,
whether it is visible or not.

>
>>Spot-welding a
>>mounting plate to the interior metal would make more sense to me,
>
>
> assuming that you had a spot welder.

Having a friend who does mechanic work and metal fabricating/welding
does help, but you have spent thousands modifying your car. How much
would it have cost to have a shop weld a mounting plate in place?


> The thing was in a mounting box already. It was designed to be able
> to slide out of the dash.
>
>
>>Even using strong adhesive and
>>velcro would probably work
>
>
> Hate to experiment with a $1,000 or whatever unit.

But experimenting with a car that is worth much more than that is ok?

And there is no flat
> metal around to glue or velcro to,


That is why I can see a need for a flat mounting plate to be installed,
which would also eliminate any need for glue or velcro experimentation
since the mounting box could then be attached directly to the plate.
This is assuming that the mounting plate and box would both fit, I
haven't seen the setup that you have.

Pat

pws > wrote:

>Leon van Dommelen wrote:
>
>>
>> The gutter is not visible when the trunk is closed.
>>
>
>But is is exterior metal, and drilling a hole in it did cause a problem,
>whether it is visible or not.

No. Drilling two holes too close to each other caused a problem,
since I could not put a screw in both to plug them up.

Leon

>>
>>>Spot-welding a
>>>mounting plate to the interior metal would make more sense to me,
>>
>>
>> assuming that you had a spot welder.
>
>Having a friend who does mechanic work and metal fabricating/welding
>does help, but you have spent thousands modifying your car. How much
>would it have cost to have a shop weld a mounting plate in place?
>
>
>> The thing was in a mounting box already. It was designed to be able
>> to slide out of the dash.
>>
>>
>>>Even using strong adhesive and
>>>velcro would probably work
>>
>>
>> Hate to experiment with a $1,000 or whatever unit.
>
>But experimenting with a car that is worth much more than that is ok?
>
> And there is no flat
>> metal around to glue or velcro to,
>
>
>That is why I can see a need for a flat mounting plate to be installed,
>which would also eliminate any need for glue or velcro experimentation
>since the mounting box could then be attached directly to the plate.
>This is assuming that the mounting plate and box would both fit, I
>haven't seen the setup that you have.
>
>Pat

--
Leon van Dommelen Bozo, the White 96 Sebring Miata .)
http://www.dommelen.net/miata
EXIT THE INTERSTATES (Jamie Jensen)

Leon van Dommelen wrote:

> No. Drilling two holes too close to each other caused a problem,
> since I could not put a screw in both to plug them up.
>
> Leon

Ok, so drilling one or more single holes did not cause a problem. If we
are going to be exact in our wording, wouldn't you at least agree that
your act of taking a drill and using it on the rain gutter caused a problem?

I am not ragging on you, I was just pointing out that attaching metal,
rather than removing it, would probably be the better option here. Like
I said, I haven't seen your setup. Would a flat mounting plate, welded
in place with the mounting box attached, both fit above the battery? I
am curious because I might go with this setup myself.

Thanks,

Pat

I think cutting holes is a good idea providing you balance them by
drilling them in the frontof the car, too. The problems with
aftermarket mods is that they can add weight and screw up the 50:50
balance.

wrote:

>I think cutting holes is a good idea providing you balance them by
>drilling them in the frontof the car, too.

There. Finally some other scientifically thinking people on this group
besides me.

Leon

> The problems with
>aftermarket mods is that they can add weight and screw up the 50:50
>balance.

--
Leon van Dommelen Bozo, the White 96 Sebring Miata .)
http://www.dommelen.net/miata
EXIT THE INTERSTATES (Jamie Jensen)

"Leon van Dommelen" > wrote
> wrote:
>
> >I think cutting holes is a good idea providing you balance them by
> >drilling them in the frontof the car, too.
>
> There. Finally some other scientifically thinking people on this group
> besides me.

And my first thought reading Jeff's posting is that he is your long lost
twin, separated at birth. Egad! Can this newsgroup handle two?
--
Ken Lyons '97 Brilliant Black/'90 Classic Red
Inside the Beltway
[Remove the first two digits to reply]