Do I Need a Car Battery Terminal Cover?
- by Bryan Veldboom - updated on 1/27/2022
When researching car battery care, you may have read about battery terminal covers. Car battery terminal covers (also known as battery terminal protectors) are round washer-shaped covers that sit on your battery's terminals. Today we'll be tackling some common questions about battery covers, including what role they play in protecting your vehicle's battery.
What to Put on Battery Terminals to Prevent Corrosion
Car battery covers help to prevent battery corrosion. Battery corrosion is a corrosive substance that builds up on your car battery and limits the amount of power that can travel from the battery to your engine and from the charging system back into the battery. This hurts your battery's performance by making it harder to start your engine. It also makes it more difficult for your alternator to recharge your battery, which can leave your battery in an undercharged state.
What Causes Corrosion?
Corrosion is a byproduct of the chemical reactions happening inside your car battery. Lead acid batteries give off sulfuric acid and hydrogen gas. These gases can react with the heat under your hood and the metal on the outside of your battery to create corrosion on the lead alloy battery terminal. A battery terminal cover helps prevent this by absorbing vapors at the base of the battery terminal post, which blocks them from reaching the battery terminals.
Batteries Plus Has Everything You Need to Maintain Your Car Battery
Looking to keep your vehicle battery in tip-top shape? Batteries Plus has everything you need. Protect your battery with a pair of battery terminal protectors and a car battery terminal anti-corrosion spray. We also offer a handy car battery corrosion cleaner, which can be used to clean your battery's surface, connectors, terminals and carriers. Do you have a vehicle that you don't drive very often? Help keep it maintained with our selection of battery chargers for cars and trucks. You'll also find plenty of other essentials in our Automotive Center.
Looking for answers to your additional automotive questions? Read our blog for tips on "How to Prevent Winter Wear on Your Car Battery?" or "How to Adjust and Align Your Headlights?"