Everyone who has ever worked on the wiring of an older boat has
encountered a connection coated with green grunge that needs to be
cleaned up and/or re-terminated. I just found a link to an
interesting tip that sounds just like what is needed:

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-perfectly-clean-wires-in-minutes/

It uses household chemicals like salt, vinegar and baking soda; and is
said to act in minutes.

In the comments section someone also mentioned using ferrous sulphate
solution, (the one used to etch Printed Circuit Boards). I think that
was available at Radio Shack at one time but I'll try the salt and
vinegar recipe first.

On 4/7/2014 8:51 PM, Wayne.B wrote:
Everyone who has ever worked on the wiring of an older boat has
encountered a connection coated with green grunge that needs to be
cleaned up and/or re-terminated. I just found a link to an
interesting tip that sounds just like what is needed:

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-perfectly-clean-wires-in-minutes/

It uses household chemicals like salt, vinegar and baking soda; and is
said to act in minutes.

In the comments section someone also mentioned using ferrous sulphate
solution, (the one used to etch Printed Circuit Boards). I think that
was available at Radio Shack at one time but I'll try the salt and
vinegar recipe first.

You could also try a paste of barkeepers friend buy make sure you rinse
it well. It has a mild acid in it. Wherever practical, you should
replace the corroded wiring with tinned copper marine wire.

On Tue, 8 Apr 2014 08:38:40 -0400, BAR wrote:

Isn't the problem and solution the same as with corroded battery
connectors in cars? Baking soda and water and coat the terminal and the
connector and let it fizz. Wait a few minutes and the pour on some water
to wash away the gunk?

===

With battery connectors you just need to neutralize the acid build up.
That's where the baking soda does does its job. With old wires you
first need to remove the oxide layer before you can make a good
connection. That requires a mild acid which then gets neutralized
with baking soda to stop the reaction from progressing.

Harold's point regarding replacing the entire wire with a new run of
tinned copper is perfectly valid but frequently very difficult,
especially on a larger boat.

On 4/8/2014 9:52 AM, Wayne.B wrote:
On Tue, 8 Apr 2014 08:38:40 -0400, BAR wrote:

Isn't the problem and solution the same as with corroded battery
connectors in cars? Baking soda and water and coat the terminal and the
connector and let it fizz. Wait a few minutes and the pour on some water
to wash away the gunk?

===

With battery connectors you just need to neutralize the acid build up.
That's where the baking soda does does its job. With old wires you
first need to remove the oxide layer before you can make a good
connection. That requires a mild acid which then gets neutralized
with baking soda to stop the reaction from progressing.

Harold's point regarding replacing the entire wire with a new run of
tinned copper is perfectly valid but frequently very difficult,
especially on a larger boat.


We were having lunch at the Monkey bar yesterday and someone was talking
about the iguana and monitor lizard invasion. Have you seen them in your
neighborhood?

On Tue, 08 Apr 2014 10:16:50 -0400, H*a*r*r*o*l*d
wrote:

On 4/8/2014 9:52 AM, Wayne.B wrote:
On Tue, 8 Apr 2014 08:38:40 -0400, BAR wrote:

Isn't the problem and solution the same as with corroded battery
connectors in cars? Baking soda and water and coat the terminal and the
connector and let it fizz. Wait a few minutes and the pour on some water
to wash away the gunk?

===

With battery connectors you just need to neutralize the acid build up.
That's where the baking soda does does its job. With old wires you
first need to remove the oxide layer before you can make a good
connection. That requires a mild acid which then gets neutralized
with baking soda to stop the reaction from progressing.

Harold's point regarding replacing the entire wire with a new run of
tinned copper is perfectly valid but frequently very difficult,
especially on a larger boat.


We were having lunch at the Monkey bar yesterday and someone was talking
about the iguana and monitor lizard invasion. Have you seen them in your
neighborhood?

===

You were here in CC? If so, stop by and say hello. Maybe we can
round up Gregg also.

The Monitors are mostly down in the SW end of town near the Spreader
Canal as I understand it. We're in the SE just off the river between
the two bridges. I've never heard of Iguanas here but we do seem to
have a bumper crop of Geckos this year.

On 4/8/2014 10:57 AM, Wayne.B wrote:
On Tue, 08 Apr 2014 10:16:50 -0400, H*a*r*r*o*l*d
wrote:

On 4/8/2014 9:52 AM, Wayne.B wrote:
On Tue, 8 Apr 2014 08:38:40 -0400, BAR wrote:

Isn't the problem and solution the same as with corroded battery
connectors in cars? Baking soda and water and coat the terminal and the
connector and let it fizz. Wait a few minutes and the pour on some water
to wash away the gunk?

===

With battery connectors you just need to neutralize the acid build up.
That's where the baking soda does does its job. With old wires you
first need to remove the oxide layer before you can make a good
connection. That requires a mild acid which then gets neutralized
with baking soda to stop the reaction from progressing.

Harold's point regarding replacing the entire wire with a new run of
tinned copper is perfectly valid but frequently very difficult,
especially on a larger boat.


We were having lunch at the Monkey bar yesterday and someone was talking
about the iguana and monitor lizard invasion. Have you seen them in your
neighborhood?

===

You were here in CC? If so, stop by and say hello. Maybe we can
round up Gregg also.

The Monitors are mostly down in the SW end of town near the Spreader
Canal as I understand it. We're in the SE just off the river between
the two bridges. I've never heard of Iguanas here but we do seem to
have a bumper crop of Geckos this year.

I can't figure out your coded email address. You could relay it to me
through Mr. Luddite if you want

On Tue, 08 Apr 2014 11:25:28 -0400, H*a*r*r*o*l*d
wrote:

I can't figure out your coded email address. You could relay it to me
through Mr. Luddite if you want

===



It works, just give me a heads up on here if you send to it.

On Tue, 08 Apr 2014 12:59:52 -0400, wrote:

We're in the SE just off the river between
the two bridges. I've never heard of Iguanas here but we do seem to
have a bumper crop of Geckos this year.

Do you mean Anoles? (the regular lizard you see running around the
yard)
Geccos are the ones you see at night with the big toe pads, usually
very pale white.

===

We seem to have two different species of lizards and I have not gone
to the trouble of finding out their proper names. My bad. My late
botanist/zoologist aunt would be very disappointed.

We have smaller greenish gray ones, and then some that are brown,
larger, and gnarlier. The bigger ones have a red sac under their
neck which they can inflate. I have no issue with them being outdoors
but once inside the screen cage they get terminated with extreme
prejudice since we leave the sliders open much of the time.

On 4/8/14, 5:40 PM, wrote:
On Tue, 08 Apr 2014 13:11:23 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Tue, 08 Apr 2014 12:59:52 -0400, wrote:

We're in the SE just off the river between
the two bridges. I've never heard of Iguanas here but we do seem to
have a bumper crop of Geckos this year.

Do you mean Anoles? (the regular lizard you see running around the
yard)
Geccos are the ones you see at night with the big toe pads, usually
very pale white.

===

We seem to have two different species of lizards and I have not gone
to the trouble of finding out their proper names. My bad. My late
botanist/zoologist aunt would be very disappointed.

We have smaller greenish gray ones, and then some that are brown,
larger, and gnarlier. The bigger ones have a red sac under their
neck which they can inflate. I have no issue with them being outdoors
but once inside the screen cage they get terminated with extreme
prejudice since we leave the sliders open much of the time.

Virtually all you see during the day are going to be anoles, the
bigger one is a Cuban import and they ate most of the smaller native
species. I remember 40 years ago we had chameleons. They are pretty
much all gone.
The same is true of the tree frogs, The bigger tan ones came from Cuba
and they will eat anything that fits in their mouth. They are really
only threatened by snakes. A heron will take one but the frog is
sleeping all day so the herons don't really see much of them.

We have a pretty good sense of humor about the reptiles who find their
way into the screen cage. although we do have the place fairly well
cleaned out these days and it is a lot tighter than it has been over
the years. Those guys at Gulf Coast Aluminum did a great job for me.

There may still be a lizard or two out there but I haven't seen one
lately. That may just mean we have a snake. ;-)

If so I will grab him and toss him out when I see him. They are pretty
good about staying out of sight tho.



I have a high school buddy who is in south Florida (on the ocean side)
for a few months recovered from cancer treatment (which is going well).
Anyway, he is a very accomplished herper and photographer, and has
graced his friends on Facebook with literally hundreds of terrific
photos he's taken where he is these days of critters I never even knew
existed...all manner of lizards, snakes, frogs, insects, turtles, et
cetera. He's even rescued venomous critters from the roads and
transported them to safer places.

Lots of "life" in South Florida.

We came across a fairly large copperhead on the edge of the garden last
year here. Maybe about 30" long. We left him alone and he wandered off
on his own.

On 4/8/2014 12:59 PM, wrote:
On Tue, 08 Apr 2014 10:57:34 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:


We were having lunch at the Monkey bar yesterday and someone was talking
about the iguana and monitor lizard invasion. Have you seen them in your
neighborhood?

===

You were here in CC? If so, stop by and say hello. Maybe we can
round up Gregg also.

One G Greg

The Monitors are mostly down in the SW end of town near the Spreader
Canal as I understand it.
My wife ran into a 4' monitor in a house she was building in Crown
Colony (South Ft Myers). She whacked it with a broom and it ran away.
I think the iguana are up in the north end of the Cape, coming in from
Boca Grande where they are thick.


We're in the SE just off the river between
the two bridges. I've never heard of Iguanas here but we do seem to
have a bumper crop of Geckos this year.

Do you mean Anoles? (the regular lizard you see running around the
yard)
Geccos are the ones you see at night with the big toe pads, usually
very pale white.

The main enemy of the anole is Herons and Egrets. If you have a lot of
them hanging around, you won't have as many lizards. A Cuban tree frog
and a black snake will take a lizard too.
We had a black snake in our screen cage for a while and the first
indication was that we did not have another living thing in there.
This guy
http://gfretwell.com/wildlife/Black%20racer.jpg
http://gfretwell.com/wildlife/Black%20Racer%202.jpg

I was kind of sorry to have to evict him but Judy said he had to go


One of those suckers made itself at home in the pool screen area of the
house we had in Florida. I tried coaching it out using the pool skimmer
pole. Damn thing attacked it. Finally got him out though.

Another time we came home from the store and I pushed the button for the
garage door opener. As it was opening I noticed a black racer under our
other car in the garage. I hate snakes.

Then there was the time my younger son who was visiting from the Navy
came in the house and told me about a snake that was out in our yard.
We looked it up in a snake book I had and he recognized it as a Coral
snake. But there's another non-poisonous snake that has similar black,
yellow and red rings called a scarlet king snake. He and I took the
golf cart out to see if we could find it and determine what it was.
I took a CO2 pellet gun along, just in case.

We found it. Sure enough, it was a Coral snake, the poisonous one.
I damn near cut it in half just below the head with 12 shots from the
pellet gun, standing 12 feet away. Even I was impressed. I used to
have a picture of it somewhere. I think H*a*r*r*o*l*d has seen it.

We also found a big rattle snake coiled up at our front door one day.
I shot it with the pellet gun but all it did was **** him off. Went to
Walmart the next day and bought a Winchester shotgun. (had to wait 3
days to pick it up though).

We also had those damn pigmy rattle snakes around, plus an alligator in
the little lake behind the pond and a family of Armadillos living under
the horse barn tack room.

Hmmmmm.... thinking maybe Massachusetts isn't so bad after all.