Wires all black

Hi all, hope ye're having a good evening! Okay, I was just out fitting a new positive battery terminal to my 480s. When I stripped back the two thick red wires which go to the positive clamp, I noticed that the wires were pure black. Is this normal? Why's it happen? Of course I got the wire brush out, but it made no difference so on to the Isopropyl Alchohol. Made no diff. either, so I fanned the damned wires and sanded 'em, so's at least I'd have a good contact. Still a bit iffy about the look of those wires to begin with though ... and ideas? Cheers. Anthony.

Replace the leads 

I guess that you were fitting a new teminal because of the furry type of corrosion build up, i also guess that by now you have replaced the original terminal and things are sorted,a good cure for corrosion on clamps and battery terminals is to pour very carefully BOILING WATER onto them, wipe them off, and then give posts and terminal clamps a liberal coating of the universal lifeline VASELINE. Hope this helps in the future.

Black wires 

Thanks guys, No, a dumb mechanic broke the terminal clean in two, then decided he didn't have the time to fit a replacement. It goes like that a lot around here. It's very interesting to know the reason why this happens ... quite a few of the wires in my 480 have this blackening. Regards, Anthony.