Dear Dave,
What is the solution to battery corrosion? Seems if the hold-down brackets were made of something other than metal, it would minimize the occurrence of corrosion. What about aluminum? Vaseline works well on the lead posts, but the metal hold-down brackets just can’t resist it, even though well-painted with Rust-Oleum. —Bryan, 2021 Winnie Vista 29V
Dear Bryan,
Typically Winnebago has some of the best rust protection procedures as they have an in-house metal stamping division that makes most of the outriggers, storage compartments, and trays. They also have a state-of-the-art powder coating and electrolysis coating called e-coating, both of which acid clean the components, positively charge the metal, and then apply negatively charged paint either by a powder gun or dip tank. Most other manufacturers buy all the components, and they are usually just painted and rust pretty quickly.
According to the brochure for your model year, the Vista came with two flooded lead acid (FLA) batteries that are Group 24. They are located in the compartment under the entrance steps, which should be a metal box that is e-coated.
Your Vista also has a Progressive Dynamics 45-amp converter that is located under the dinette booth.
According to my contact at Progressive Dynamics, this converter has been customized for Winnebago to charge at 13.8 volts for 8 hours, which is designed to help with desulfation. However, it will also make the batteries “gas” more, so there will be more corrosion in that battery compartment.
First thing to check regarding battery corrosion
I am surprised that you are seeing corrosion after only a couple of years. The first thing I would suggest is to verify your converter is not overcharging, creating an even worse corrosion situation. Use a multi-meter to verify it is not going over 13.8 volts. It should go down to 13.2 volts when the batteries are fully charged.
I am not a big fan of Vaseline on the posts. I prefer the red protective spray you can get at most auto parts stores. As for the metal tie downs, there should be a bar going across the entire top of the two house batteries and one chassis battery with a metal rod on each side. This is a typical battery tie down used on most automotive applications. You can get aluminum replacements on Amazon here. The cross bar is not long enough, but you can fabricate one yourself that will fit.
I have used a fabric tie down in many cases that is very corrosion resistant, which you can get on Amazon here.
And if you want to get rid of the acid vapors that come with charging an FLA battery, switch to AGM, where there is very little gassing, or lithium, that has none. However, that is an expensive fix to something that can be taken care of with a little maintenance.
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Dave Solberg is a leading expert in the RV industry and the author of the “RV Handbook.”
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