Of mice and batteries...

[Aless_andro00]

Wife is allergic to cats so adopting is not an option plus the only cat I would own/adopt is born without a tail as in a Manx. So, the stray/feral cats in my area will be outside cats in terms of my house.

I had a 22 pound Manx in my early 20s that was very adept at hunting most anything it wanted to eat/play with including fish. He would always bring me home half of it to share with me LOL.

I don't use the electronic cat repellers, just the cayenne pepper in flower bed and around the car on the driveway and since doing that every so often they avoid my driveway and yard/garden in general.

BD

You should try those hairless cats. They are made for those who are allergic to cats' fur

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[Strokerswild]

You should try those hairless cats. They are made for those who are allergic to cats' fur

Plus they look like freaky little evil elves.

 

[Buldawg76]

No hairless cats either since they creep me out too much, look like alien beings that should not be on this planet.

BD

 

[Buldawg76]

Got a grin out of that, BD. I've never been a "cat guy," but I've dealt with feral cats, and know how they love to bring trophies home to show you. <smile> I've also had a few of our Dobies bring in moles. No gophers yet though, DAMMIT! <grin>

Yea I was never a fan of cats till I lived with my buddy that raised the Manxs and they just reminded me more of a bobcat than a domestic cat so when he offered me one for free, I accepted. He was a very independent cat in terms of he only wanted affection from you when he wanted it and came and went on his own schedule. It was a very normal occurrence to get half eaten squirrels, rabbits, rats and mice left on the back porch but i moved back in with my parent for a while that lived on a canal in Cocoa Beach FL and he started bringing home half eaten mullet and trout as big as 12-14 inches long.

One neighborhood I moved into when he was about a year old had a big Tom cat that was moseying down the sidewalk while I was in the driveway working on my bike and Sneakers was laying next to me when the big grey Tom decide he would come up the driveway to proclaim his territory in the neighborhood, Sneakers just laid there until the Tom got about 6" from him and arched his back in a show of dominance, well Sneakers just rolled over on his back and let his rear paws fly in rapid succession so that all I saw was grey fur flying everywhere for about 3-4 seconds and then I just the ass end of the grey Tom hightailing it down the side walk as fast as he could run. From that day forward that Tom would cross on the sidewalk on the other side of the street as long as he did not see Sneakers anywhere outside, if he saw Sneakers he would turn around and disappear.

BD

 

[Epiphany]

Before the cat discussion turns into one of corns, bunions, and vericose veins, a brief update.

After seeing some of the chunks of corrosive debris fall down into the battery "bucket" I decided to pull the box out and clean everything up.

I wish Ford would have put a screen in front of the inlet for cabin air (you can see the top of the filter in there). A perfect entrance for mice to parade through. And once they piss/shit in there, game over. This opening is directly behind the battery box.

Anyway, I cleaned everything up and reinstalled everything.

Battery is now 5 years old. I didn't think it would make it this long but so far so good!

Having room for options, I picked through and created what I felt was the best clamp combination and finished up.

A couple things. The positive cable is directly attached to the terminal clamp - would have been nice if that was separate too. The oil based protectant...requires a higher torque figure than stock to get enough clamping force to create enough friction to lock the terminal clamp onto the battery post. Just a heads up. I only went with what was necessary and stopped.

This has been an interesting and somewhat enjoyable exercise and I hope it helps somebody else out there.

 

[Buldawg76]

Sorry about the thread hijack.

Wow on the direct opening to the cabin HVAC system, definitely not a good design for sure. It looks like it may be easier to remove the battery and tray to change the cabin filter than going in from the glove box side.

One of fords better ideas.

Clean up looks good.

BD

 

[Epiphany]

All good brother, I love a good hijack as well as learning about everyone's experiences in this realm. I've enjoyed every bit of this thread.

 

[luca1290]

Battery is now 5 years old. I didn't think it would make it this long but so far so good!

That's because you use a battery tender. Lead batteries love to live at floating voltage.
Personally, if it's more than a week that I don't use any of my cars (which is quite common), that car gets a battery maintainer.

 

[Epiphany]

Only been using the tender consistently since last summer. Never had the corrosion either until I started using it but I'll continue using it and see what happens. I use one on all my other vehicles without issue, if that matters.

 

[kilobravo]

I wish Ford would have put a screen in front of the inlet for cabin air

Don't ya just love it when something useful or interesting appears in the discussion of some unrelated topic?

Thanks for that, Tob but, it put "clean the battery box" in my head. <grin>

Anyway, I cleaned everything up and reinstalled everything.

Looks better than new and that's the sort of thing that, as The Troggs were known to say, "you make my heart sing..groovy." <BSEG>

Also got a grin out of your battery carrier rope. <wink>

I think most everyone hates yanking batteries in and out of a vehicle, I know I do, definitely hard on the old back most of the time. But surely ("Stop calling me Shirley!" <BSEG>) in your vast tool inventory, you have one of these, no? <smile>

​

It looks like it may be easier to remove the battery and tray to change the cabin filter than going in from the glove box side.

We had the same thought, BD although I'm not sure which is the smallest PITA but the upside is, the obsessive brain gets to clean out the box, too!

I've enjoyed every bit of this thread.

I second that emotion, Tob!

Never had the corrosion either until I started using it

Interesting factoid. I'll be curious to learn if the increased corrosion continues after your cleanup and anti-corrosion product application.

 

[2morrow]

One of my friends owns/operates a successful Rodent Exclusion Service (he’s damn good too). He now offers a product for protecting your cars/trailers/sheds etc from the destruction those lil buggers can do.

https://www.ratexclusionservice.com/

Also, hit me up if your looking to lose some weight in the battery department.

 

[luca1290]

I'll be curious to learn if the increased corrosion continues after your cleanup and anti-corrosion product application.

Actually, a good battery maintainer should reduce the gassing produced by the battery for a few reasons:

1. It will stay at 13.5V constant at a negligible current.
2. It will reduce/prevent sulfation (as much as possible), which in turn will prevent internal resistance going up, which will require less current to store the same amount of chemical energy.
3. It will not require a bulk chare, which is the moment when gases are released (after 10 psi are reached inside the battery.

On a tender, at room temperature, 10 psi are never ever reached.

What is your battery maintainer? What voltage is keeping during floating?

I have several burglar alarms around and all of them have lead-acid batteries inside. What I learnt is that a well regulated power supply (and possibly with a thermal sensor on the battery!) will keep an AGM battery happy for many many years.

 

[kilobravo]

What is your battery maintainer? What voltage is keeping during floating?

I've been using a CTEK MXS 5.0. No EE here, Hack, and honestly, I don't know what the "floating voltage" means but with it connected to the battery terminals during charging, pretty sure I was in the 13.5 range but it's been awhile since I checked.

 

[Aless_andro00]

Plus they look like freaky little evil elves.

So they will scare away rodents!

 

[Buldawg76]

So they will scare away rodents!

And people.

BD

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