Re: [electricboats] How to avoid corrosion of motors, batteries, electric devices, BMS and power lines in cold and humid conditions ?

IIRC Ancor makes waterproof solderless connectors that have glue inside of them. I have gotten them at West Marine in the past. It seems to me I have only seen them in smaller sizes, maybe 8 ga or smaller. 

/

Greg DeCowsky ☠ Ω

Sent from my AyePhone® 

On Nov 11, 2025, at 16:17, Lee Eldridge via groups.io <lee=vombatus.com.au@groups.io> wrote:

I use the stuff I can get from Jaycar and electrical wholesalers. If caught without it I use regular hot melt and shrink on heatshrink tubing.Self amalgamating tape works fine on larger wires but it must be protected with heatshrink or electrical tape . The later was the process used on temporary cable fixes on railway installs these would have a service not to return to repair to standard practices

Best regards

Lee Eldridge

0427874796

On 12 Nov 2025, at 06:42, Carsten via groups.io <Carstensemail=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote:



I have the WD-40 contact spray at hand. 

That works fine for cleaning, during exercising of old plugs. Unplug, spray, plug, unplug, spray, plug etc.

But is it that, or the original WD-40 "perfumed" oil, you are referring to ?

And, Dan, you wrote "The heat shrink with glue/sealant inside."

What kind of glue/sealant to use ?

 

So far, thanks for all your answers ;-)

Keep it coming, if you have more hidden gems, please.

OP  Carsten

On Tuesday, 11 November 2025 at 16:02:00 CET, cpcanoesailor via groups.io <cpcanoesailor=yahoo.ca@groups.io> wrote:

I have found that WD40 improves electrical connection of already corroded parts, like trailer light plugs, Anderson connectors, etc.

Re: [electricboats] How to avoid corrosion of motors, batteries, electric devices, BMS and power lines in cold and humid conditions ?

I use the stuff I can get from Jaycar and electrical wholesalers. If caught without it I use regular hot melt and shrink on heatshrink tubing.Self amalgamating tape works fine on larger wires but it must be protected with heatshrink or electrical tape . The later was the process used on temporary cable fixes on railway installs these would have a service not to return to repair to standard practices

Best regards

Lee Eldridge

0427874796

On 12 Nov 2025, at 06:42, Carsten via groups.io <Carstensemail=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote:



I have the WD-40 contact spray at hand. 

That works fine for cleaning, during exercising of old plugs. Unplug, spray, plug, unplug, spray, plug etc.

But is it that, or the original WD-40 "perfumed" oil, you are referring to ?

And, Dan, you wrote "The heat shrink with glue/sealant inside."

What kind of glue/sealant to use ?

 

So far, thanks for all your answers ;-)

Keep it coming, if you have more hidden gems, please.

OP  Carsten

On Tuesday, 11 November 2025 at 16:02:00 CET, cpcanoesailor via groups.io <cpcanoesailor=yahoo.ca@groups.io> wrote:

I have found that WD40 improves electrical connection of already corroded parts, like trailer light plugs, Anderson connectors, etc.

Re: [electricboats] How to avoid corrosion of motors, batteries, electric devices, BMS and power lines in cold and humid conditions ?

I have the WD-40 contact spray at hand. 

That works fine for cleaning, during exercising of old plugs. Unplug, spray, plug, unplug, spray, plug etc.

But is it that, or the original WD-40 "perfumed" oil, you are referring to ?

And, Dan, you wrote "The heat shrink with glue/sealant inside."

What kind of glue/sealant to use ?

 

So far, thanks for all your answers ;-)

Keep it coming, if you have more hidden gems, please.

OP  Carsten

On Tuesday, 11 November 2025 at 16:02:00 CET, cpcanoesailor via groups.io <cpcanoesailor=yahoo.ca@groups.io> wrote:

I have found that WD40 improves electrical connection of already corroded parts, like trailer light plugs, Anderson connectors, etc.

Re: [electricboats] How to avoid corrosion of motors, batteries, electric devices, BMS and power lines in cold and humid conditions ?

WD  = water displacement and was meant to help start wet electrics before modern sealed electrical systems with no pesky points.

mostly contains volatiles and leaves tiny amount of a light mineral oil that also evaporates leaving a gummy compound that is not a great conductor.

Best regards

Lee Eldridge

0427874796

On 12 Nov 2025, at 01:32, cpcanoesailor via groups.io <cpcanoesailor=yahoo.ca@groups.io> wrote:



I have found that WD40 improves electrical connection of already corroded parts, like trailer light plugs, Anderson connectors, etc.

Re: [electricboats] How to avoid corrosion of motors, batteries, electric devices, BMS and power lines in cold and humid conditions ?

I have found that WD40 improves electrical connection of already corroded parts, like trailer light plugs, Anderson connectors, etc.

Re: [electricboats] How to avoid corrosion of motors, batteries, electric devices, BMS and power lines in cold and humid conditions ?

Looks interesting. Water displacement leaving wax finish. Fine for everything except inside modern wiring control box's and Printed circuit boards. Battery terminals are ok but things like Wago 221 are definitely not. Switches I would stay away from unless they are sealed. The wax is likely to interfere with conduction. I am going to buy a tin for mech stuff

Best regards

Lee Eldridge

0427874796

On 11 Nov 2025, at 12:31, Ric Sanders via groups.io <rsandersemail=gmail.com@groups.io> wrote:



I have had great results coating everything with T9 boshield

Cheers,

Ric Sanders

Re: [electricboats] How to avoid corrosion of motors, batteries, electric devices, BMS and power lines in cold and humid conditions ?

I have had great results coating everything with T9 boshield

Cheers,

Ric Sanders

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Re: [electricboats] How to avoid corrosion of motors, batteries, electric devices, BMS and power lines in cold and humid conditions ?

If you have LFP batteries 100% to zero is fine. But not for LiPo which really does not like 100%. I have checked this out from trusted battery suppliers. For storage, getting to anywhere where self discharge does take them too low is good. Yes I turn off chargers on the last day travelling to get it down to st least 90%. Longest in storage was nine months and it was down to 70% but I cant recall what it was left at. Self discharge for the best systems is mostly bms load

We in Australia dont have the issues you Northerners have with winters of white.


Best regards
Lee Eldridge
0427874796

> On 11 Nov 2025, at 04:47, Peter Z via groups.io <surflikeyoda=gmail.com@groups.io> wrote:
>
> [Edited Message Follows]
>
> I charge my system with solar panels, and once the batteries are at 80% SOC, I run a small heater in the engine compartment to help it stay warm (above the dew point) and dry. I can provide more details if you're interested.
>
> -Peter
>
>
>
>
>



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Re: [electricboats] How to avoid corrosion of motors, batteries, electric devices, BMS and power lines in cold and humid conditions ?

Terrific feedback. 

Thank you. 

I am still very wary of dielectric grease. Keeping things clean has been bashed into me for 50 years. I have visions of dirt lead acid battery posts. I will gingerly move forward though. 

Connectors are always going to be issues. Sealed and with gold plated pins is  going to close to best. Gold will stay as long as it has been done right and no disconnects with current flowing. The XT60 and XT90 range represent pretty good parts and there are now seal versions. Deutch type are sealed and gold pins are an option. Only buy genuine - too many crappy copies out there. My favourite connector solution is sealed plastic boxes.

Best regards

Lee Eldridge

0427874796

On 11 Nov 2025, at 04:59, Dan Pfeiffer <dan@pfeiffer.net> wrote:



I thoroughly coated all electrical connection surfaces with dielectric grease when building my system.  And I used quality components to begin with - fully tinned high quality wire and connectors.  And best practices like heat shrink over crimped lugs.  The heat shrink with glue/sealant inside. 

Same goes for the motor mounting and reduction gear assembly.  Contact surfaces and fasteners are treated with anti-corrosion coatings.  TefGel is my choice for SS fasteners in aluminum.  This goes for all hardware on the boat, not just the electric drive parts.  

The only issues I have had over 5 seasons of operation now and almost  500 days of use (6400+ miles logged sailing) has been traced to a bad contact in the plug connecting the throttle unit to the motor controller.  I was getting some flaky behavior from the motor and when I disconnected and re-connected this 6 pin molex connector that was original to my Thunderstruck kit the problem was fixed.  I had some light corrosion on those contacts.  This is perhaps the only connector that I did not treat with dielectric grease.  Lesson learned.

And I am in a similar climate environment with the boat in storage out of the water from Nov to May.  Similar temperatures and humidity but I am in fresh water so a less challenging corrosion environment.   If I had the option I might leave a work light on in the engine space to keep it a bit warmer and dryer over the winter.  With an old fashioned incandescent bulb.  40 watts would do?  But I don't have access to continuous power. 

My traction battery stays on the boat over the winter with no charging input.  I leave it at about 85%.  It looses almost nothing over the winter.  Maybe it will be at 84% in the spring?


Dan Pfeiffer
Info on my electric drive (I have some updates for this to do over the winter...)
http://dan.pfeiffer.net/10m/electric_drive.htm

On 2025-11-10 12:14 pm, Carsten via groups.io wrote:

Hi, Carsten here

 

I want to plan my project to exchange my old Volvo MD6A stinky dinojuice motor to clean electric propulsion.

 

How do you guys deal with your system, when it is unused for weeks or months in humid conditions, like wintering ?

I live in Denmark, so it's humid and cold from October to April.

 

Thank you for your kind inputs ;-)

Re: [electricboats] How to avoid corrosion of motors, batteries, electric devices, BMS and power lines in cold and humid conditions ?

I thoroughly coated all electrical connection surfaces with dielectric grease when building my system.  And I used quality components to begin with - fully tinned high quality wire and connectors.  And best practices like heat shrink over crimped lugs.  The heat shrink with glue/sealant inside. 

Same goes for the motor mounting and reduction gear assembly.  Contact surfaces and fasteners are treated with anti-corrosion coatings.  TefGel is my choice for SS fasteners in aluminum.  This goes for all hardware on the boat, not just the electric drive parts.  

The only issues I have had over 5 seasons of operation now and almost  500 days of use (6400+ miles logged sailing) has been traced to a bad contact in the plug connecting the throttle unit to the motor controller.  I was getting some flaky behavior from the motor and when I disconnected and re-connected this 6 pin molex connector that was original to my Thunderstruck kit the problem was fixed.  I had some light corrosion on those contacts.  This is perhaps the only connector that I did not treat with dielectric grease.  Lesson learned.

And I am in a similar climate environment with the boat in storage out of the water from Nov to May.  Similar temperatures and humidity but I am in fresh water so a less challenging corrosion environment.   If I had the option I might leave a work light on in the engine space to keep it a bit warmer and dryer over the winter.  With an old fashioned incandescent bulb.  40 watts would do?  But I don't have access to continuous power. 

My traction battery stays on the boat over the winter with no charging input.  I leave it at about 85%.  It looses almost nothing over the winter.  Maybe it will be at 84% in the spring?


Dan Pfeiffer
Info on my electric drive (I have some updates for this to do over the winter...)
http://dan.pfeiffer.net/10m/electric_drive.htm

On 2025-11-10 12:14 pm, Carsten via groups.io wrote:

Hi, Carsten here

 

I want to plan my project to exchange my old Volvo MD6A stinky dinojuice motor to clean electric propulsion.

 

How do you guys deal with your system, when it is unused for weeks or months in humid conditions, like wintering ?

I live in Denmark, so it's humid and cold from October to April.

 

Thank you for your kind inputs ;-)

Re: [electricboats] How to avoid corrosion of motors, batteries, electric devices, BMS and power lines in cold and humid conditions ?

[Edited Message Follows]

I charge my system with solar panels, and once the batteries are at 80% SOC, I run a small heater in the engine compartment to help it stay warm (above the dew point) and dry. I can provide more details if you're interested.

-Peter


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Re: [electricboats] How to avoid corrosion of motors, batteries, electric devices, BMS and power lines in cold and humid conditions ?

I charge my system with solar panels, and once the batteries are at 80% SOC, I run a small heater in the engine compartment to help it stay warm (above the dew point) and dry. I can provide more details if you're interested.


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Re: [electricboats] New topic, how to post ?

Thanks, Günter

On Sunday, 2 November 2025 at 20:30:05 CET, Günter Wöckener via groups.io <heimfried=posteo.de@groups.io> wrote:

Hi,

click the 4th position in the column left at the screen "New Topic".  

[electricboats] How to avoid corrosion of motors, batteries, electric devices, BMS and power lines in cold and humid conditions ?

Hi, Carsten here

 

I want to plan my project to exchange my old Volvo MD6A stinky dinojuice motor to clean electric propulsion.

 

How do you guys deal with your system, when it is unused for weeks or months in humid conditions, like wintering ?

I live in Denmark, so it's humid and cold from October to April.

 

Thank you for your kind inputs ;-)

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Re: [electricboats] New topic, how to post ?

Hi,

click the 4th position in the column left at the screen "New Topic".  

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[electricboats] New topic, how to post ?

Hi,

I would like to make a new thread of how to avoid corrosion of installed motors, electric devices, BMS'es and power lines.

How to make this in the proper way (including climate differences, salinity, long term left from installed power setups, etc.) ?

For your kind advices, thanks for replying.

Best regards,

Carsten