Corrosion on cable end!
I've developed corrosion on the male end of the cable that plugs into the truck. Is there a product or technique to remove it? It's causing an intermittent outage in my brake controller. (Pardon me if...
Forum Discussion
rhagfo writes "Well not all the STUPID, as I would look inside anyway to see how far the corrosion has gone, likely the ends on the wires and terminals."
AND also wrote
"Sorry, before I would go to this much effort, I would replace with nice new clean zero corrosion. You still don’t know how corroded the screw terminals are for the $10ish that the plug end cost way better and easier! "
Sorry, it IS stupid to ASSUME that the CONTACTS of the connector AND the WIRES going into said connector are shot from that single photo.
Granted, the corrosion of the contacts looks bad, but in reality it is more likely NOTHING IS WRONG with the wire or the contacts.
The simple and quick solution is to SHINE the contacts, plug it in and see if you have lights and charging.
ASSUMING that all is bad and blindly tearing into the connector most likely will result in the OP CAUSING damage to said plug and wiring by disturbing it.
A quick shine will not hurt the plug contacts and the OP can get on their way.
The wires are held tight by the strain relief and cannot move inside the plug so even if the wires have been weakened they will not break any strands.. As long as the wire keeps the ORIGINAL contact spot in the clamps without being disturbed there will not be any degradation.
The moment you loosen the wire and remove it from the clamps you MUST start over and cut the wire back until you find shiny copper.. The downside to this is the OP may HAVE to cut off a SUBSTANTIAL amount of 7way cord if the water has wicked back into the cord..
Your suggestion COULD end up costing the OP for not just a plug but a NEW 7 way pig tail and several hrs to change that pigtail.
RV manufacturers tend to not put any more wire on a pigtail than needed and cutting back even 6" may make it too short.
Sometimes it IS best to leave things alone if you can simply fix the EASY thing first before condemning the entire item.
Shining the contacts IS the FIRST thing that should be done, not tearing the connector apart or cutting it off and starting with a new connector..
AND also wrote
"Sorry, before I would go to this much effort, I would replace with nice new clean zero corrosion. You still don’t know how corroded the screw terminals are for the $10ish that the plug end cost way better and easier! "
Sorry, it IS stupid to ASSUME that the CONTACTS of the connector AND the WIRES going into said connector are shot from that single photo.
Granted, the corrosion of the contacts looks bad, but in reality it is more likely NOTHING IS WRONG with the wire or the contacts.
The simple and quick solution is to SHINE the contacts, plug it in and see if you have lights and charging.
ASSUMING that all is bad and blindly tearing into the connector most likely will result in the OP CAUSING damage to said plug and wiring by disturbing it.
A quick shine will not hurt the plug contacts and the OP can get on their way.
The wires are held tight by the strain relief and cannot move inside the plug so even if the wires have been weakened they will not break any strands.. As long as the wire keeps the ORIGINAL contact spot in the clamps without being disturbed there will not be any degradation.
The moment you loosen the wire and remove it from the clamps you MUST start over and cut the wire back until you find shiny copper.. The downside to this is the OP may HAVE to cut off a SUBSTANTIAL amount of 7way cord if the water has wicked back into the cord..
Your suggestion COULD end up costing the OP for not just a plug but a NEW 7 way pig tail and several hrs to change that pigtail.
RV manufacturers tend to not put any more wire on a pigtail than needed and cutting back even 6" may make it too short.
Sometimes it IS best to leave things alone if you can simply fix the EASY thing first before condemning the entire item.
Shining the contacts IS the FIRST thing that should be done, not tearing the connector apart or cutting it off and starting with a new connector..
