Hi boaters! The worst corrosion that can play havoc with your boats electrical system is at your wiring connections. Sooner or later corrosion will attack any metal conductor that air touches. In fact moister is the main ingredient in wire corrosion. Combine a little electrical current with moister and the end result will make your shiny wiring turn brown and green, and in some cases it can cause the wiring to fall apart.
Corrosion is usually at it's best around the battery, where acid fumes and humidity create a superb breeding ground for it to attack the wiring.
The corrosion coats each wire that is twisted or crimped together and insulates them from each other. The thicker it builds up, the more resistance it produces, causing poor electrical current flow.
Corrosion repellent come in many forms, with varying degrees of effectiveness, but they're all designed to do the same thing, seal connections with a protective layer that repels air, water, salts and acid fumes.
The most common way to connect two wires is to pinch their striped ends into a crimp-on connector, surrounded by a plastic insulating sheath. This type of connection offers almost no corrosion protection.
Soldered wire connections form a metal-to-metal bond that is more efficient and permanent. It's the best connection to prevent corrosion.
Three common types of corrosion repellents that can be applied to either spliced or soldered connections are electrical tape, shrink tubing or liquid sealant.
The least effective repellent is electrical tape. Even when applied properly the tapes glue sometimes softens in summer heat and looses its grip. It may also dry with age allowing the tape to unravel.
Shrink tubing is the next best choice for sealing connections. Properly applied it seals better than tape, but some restrictions affect its use. A connection must be located where you can apply heat to all sides of the tubing in a fairly even manner.
When applying shrink tubing over a crimp-on splice, the smallest tubing that will fit may be too big to seal well between the wire and connector. If the tubing doesn't seal tight around the wire, water may leak in , become trapped next to the splice and actually accelerate corrosion instead of preventing it.
The best form of corrosion repellent is a relative new product from Star Brite called Liquid Electrical Tape that can be brushed on to provide a tough, flexible, UV-resistant coating that seals connections of any size or shape. Its terrific for those hard to get to places. It can be applied to bus connector strips and also help prevents connector screws from vibrating loose.
Here are a few more tips that will help maintain waterproof connections.