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Corrosion Prevention on Outdoor Connectors

michaelm101

michaelm101

Active Member
I just installed new banana plugs and had to chop over an inch of wire to get away from the corrosion.

A few more times like this and I'll run out of length on these long runs of cable that are inside wall and neatly stapled through the patio area.

What's the ticket for weatherproofing these connections? Dripping candle wax on them?

Thanks very much in advance!
 
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I'd use a more weatherproof connector if you need the connection to be removable. There are any number you could probably choose from. Auto makers use Weather Pack connectors a lot. They're widely available and should work better. If the connections are semi-permanent, you could use marine heat-shrink butt connectors. They have a sealant that waterproofs the connection. Or you could solder and use marine heat shrink on the connection.
 
I used to weather proof antenna, coax and grounding connections using Vapor-Wrap, a butyl rubber product made for the communications industry.
Three steps - Scotch Super 33+ tape, followed by the Vapor Wrap, and another covering of tape. Connections covered this way were completely weather proof for years. The tape is used because the vapor wrap will adhere so strongly it is a nightmare to remove from the connectors, which typically get reused. Properly done the coax jacket will fail before the vapor wrap does. In the case of banana plugs inserted into jacks just tape the exposed part of the plug, and form the vapor wrap around the jack opening. It will be tough to take apart, but will remain weather tight longer than you'll need it to.
 
Christian B said:
I used to weather proof antenna, coax and grounding connections using Vapor-Wrap, a butyl rubber product made for the communications industry.
It will be tough to take apart, but will remain weather tight longer than you'll need it to.
Click to expand...

This is correct, that stuff doesn't come off easy, but very weatherproof.
 
This year was really harsh on my exposed metal equipment, I'm wondering if they are using so much salt on the roads that the air is having a high salt content?

Are you familar with shrink wrapping wiring? You can get a simple kit at Harbor Freight or most home-improvement stores. You take a tube of plastic and slide it down your wire, install your fitting then slide the tube over as much as possible and then heat with a heat gun or blow dryer until the plastic shrinks tight around the exposed area.

Of course no fitting/wire is safe, I had a full size Bronco with stalling issues, after replacing almost everything I finally cut open the wire going to the fender relay and even with a healthy plastic wire casing that wire was corroded like crazy.
 
While you have enough length of cable, fit some extension cable using a waterproof connector. On the speaker terminals solder a length of cable to that then waterproof / seal that. Then use waterproof cable terminations / connectors to join the two ends of cables.

This will give you extra cable length so you shouldn’t need to worry about cutting it back, as it becomes sort of sacrificial. Plus the ability to disconnect the speakers if required.

DG…
 
I rewired many wreckers in a salt belt state. Usually, because it was what the company would sport for, the glue type heat shrink connectors. And a layer of CRC ( The Cheez Wiz can) for good luck. Worked well. And yes weather tape until they found out how much it cost. Yah, just cheaper to pay a mechanic a bunch of overtime......
 
Check out Corrosion X, I use it instead of Deoxit. It cleans but stays on and keeps on cleaning and protecting any kind of metal.
 
+1 on CorrosionX. I prefer to get the connection clean with DeOxit first. Weather tight connectors are also a big help. These are all in wide automotive use with good effect. I don't know what marine applications do but I imagine it's similar but with a more frequent maintenance interval.
 
michaelm101 said:
I just installed new banana plugs and had to chop over an inch of wire to get away from the corrosion.

A few more times like this and I'll run out of length on these long runs of cable that are inside wall and neatly stapled through the patio area.

What's the ticket for weatherproofing these connections? Dripping candle wax on them?

Thanks very much in advance!
Click to expand...
I live on the coast south Atlantic. The salt air corrosion on ferrous metal is relentless, even aluminum and low grade stainless will oxidize. My solution for patio stereo - 100% copper wire, copper connectors, ANY exposed metal surface must be covered - I use white lithium grease.
 
The way corrosion begins is due to oxygen. Isolate O2 from the environment and you keep away corrosion.
For years I applied plain axle grease to battery positive terminal on the car. The grease is just harder to clean off when you get it everywhere that you don't want it.
Keep in mind that as soon as the corrosion begins, you will have a tough time stopping it.
Soda pop will help remove battery corrosion. Buy the cheapest you can find, it will work.
 
Dielectric grease for camper or boat trailer connectors should work fine also. Good enough to be dunked underwater while unloading boat and hours of road spray while towing in rain.
 
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