reno_bk
08-15-2011, 04:19 PM
So we went camping last week and took our pop-up trailer with us as we usually do. The day before we left, I hooked the trailer's deep-cycle battery up to the trickle charger to make sure we had enough juice in the trailer for 5 days away and at some point overnight, the battery boiled over. It's not the first time that's happened, but it is the first time it's done it with the battery on the trailer (which was hitched to the Element in the driveway).
When we discovered the battery had boiled over (still not sure why that happens sometimes and not others), I took the garden hose and flushed the battery and front of the trailer with water to dilute any acid that might have pooled under the battery in the tray that it lives on. No big deal...dilution solution, I thought...use lots of water, make sure it doesn't make a mess of the driveway.
Fast forward a couple hours and I'm towing the trailer on the highway towards the coast...I notice a strange spray or splatter on the back window of the Element. Looking through the rearview mirror, it just looks like road spray from something on the highway and I really don't think much about it. When we arrive at the campground, I notice that the "spray" on the back of the Element is brownish, and almost looks like oil is splattered all over the place. Since we are camping and not near car wash facilities, I don't think much more about the mystery oil all over the back of the car and we proceed to camp for the next 5 days.
When we got home, I washed the car and was horrified to see that rear license plate and frame was corroded and green, the plastic tail gate panel was pretty discolored and spotty green, and that the paint was discolored. I felt sick...the battery acid/water mixture must have been pooling under the battery in the little plastic container, and when I got on the freeway, it went all over the place. You have no idea what a horrifying realization that is.
So I scrubbed the tailgate panel really well and reapplied Maguires Ultimate dressing (amazing stuff) to the plastic...it looks better and the spots are only visible to me under a certain light, so that's good. But the paint is a mess. The "splatter" marks are permanent and show up as darker spots on the silver paint, and I think a few of the spots are starting to bubble a little (they feel raised when I run a finger nail over them). I used a polish/paint cleaner on the tailgate paint, then waxed it again, but it didn't impact the splatter marks at all...still visible, and I'm afraid might end up rusting in a few years if the acid has gone all the way through the primer.
I'll just have to watch it over the next few months/year to see how it changes, but repainting the hatch is not in the cards for me right now. It's just a sickening feeling knowing that I caused it, particularly since it seemed like I flooded the area with 50 gallons of water before we left. Live and learn, I suppose.
Brian
When we discovered the battery had boiled over (still not sure why that happens sometimes and not others), I took the garden hose and flushed the battery and front of the trailer with water to dilute any acid that might have pooled under the battery in the tray that it lives on. No big deal...dilution solution, I thought...use lots of water, make sure it doesn't make a mess of the driveway.
Fast forward a couple hours and I'm towing the trailer on the highway towards the coast...I notice a strange spray or splatter on the back window of the Element. Looking through the rearview mirror, it just looks like road spray from something on the highway and I really don't think much about it. When we arrive at the campground, I notice that the "spray" on the back of the Element is brownish, and almost looks like oil is splattered all over the place. Since we are camping and not near car wash facilities, I don't think much more about the mystery oil all over the back of the car and we proceed to camp for the next 5 days.
When we got home, I washed the car and was horrified to see that rear license plate and frame was corroded and green, the plastic tail gate panel was pretty discolored and spotty green, and that the paint was discolored. I felt sick...the battery acid/water mixture must have been pooling under the battery in the little plastic container, and when I got on the freeway, it went all over the place. You have no idea what a horrifying realization that is.
So I scrubbed the tailgate panel really well and reapplied Maguires Ultimate dressing (amazing stuff) to the plastic...it looks better and the spots are only visible to me under a certain light, so that's good. But the paint is a mess. The "splatter" marks are permanent and show up as darker spots on the silver paint, and I think a few of the spots are starting to bubble a little (they feel raised when I run a finger nail over them). I used a polish/paint cleaner on the tailgate paint, then waxed it again, but it didn't impact the splatter marks at all...still visible, and I'm afraid might end up rusting in a few years if the acid has gone all the way through the primer.
I'll just have to watch it over the next few months/year to see how it changes, but repainting the hatch is not in the cards for me right now. It's just a sickening feeling knowing that I caused it, particularly since it seemed like I flooded the area with 50 gallons of water before we left. Live and learn, I suppose.
Brian