The importance of clean battery concections

[ucandoit]

Recently took my Buddy out of winter storage (my garage). Reinstalled the battery I had tended all winter. It started right up. I was so pleased. It ran beautifully. Few days later rode it to a park, walked around a bit, went to start it up to go home. Only sound was buzz, buzz, then click, click. I immediately imagined the long 2 mile walk pushing this Buddy 125. Could I do it? And, I knew this would eventually happen. I imagined all the parts on the scooter that I don't yet understand. Still, who carries those new parts with them? I said to myself, okay, do what you can and know about. I carry tools, extra plug, etc. I had done a lot of basic work, oil changes, plug, valve gaps, carb. cleaning, etc. After seeing nothing obvious, and figuring it was electrical, I removed the battery, scrubbed each terminal and the connecting wires with sandpaper until they shone bright silver, reinstalled it, and voila. It started. The funny thing is, in my jump to worst case scenarios, I didn't think to use the kick starter. Still, I need a back-up plan to get this scooter home in case of break down.

[ucandoit]

Sorry about my spelling error: I meant clean battery connections.

[Dooglas]

Okay, now that you have cleaned the battery terminals and connectors, did you coat them with dielectric grease. Cleaning electrical contacts is fine, but exposed metal will oxidize and corrode fairly quickly without a protective coating.

[ucandoit]

Dooglas. I have to laugh because I had disagreed earlier with your post about using dielectric grease in places other than the spark plug boot. when this little battery episode happened to me, I immediately thought of your post and your warning about electrical problems. But, no, I still haven't put it on the posts. LOL

[Dooglas]

Always rewarding to bring another sinner into the fold.