Boiling battery!

[richardpalmer]

Have just come back from 5 weeks in France with our new Adria. It was fitted with a Zig(?) charger and a battery was included. After a couple of weeks we were awoken in the night by a tear streaming smell. The battery was red not and smelling very acrid. I got it out of the van and left it there! The site's electrical polarity was fine - any ideas? should I just take it all back to the dealer? It was quite a frightening experience!

 

[lefrog]

would say you have a problem with one or both zig/battery you need to get this checked out if nothing else a fuse should have blown

 

[Rod_5041370]

My thoughts are that either your charger is deivering too high a voltage or it is supplying AC rather than DC. You may check for either of these with a multimeter.

I had this happen in a Fendt and the fumes caused all the white plastic and white cables to turn bronze.

If you Adria is Continental build and the charger was fitted in the UK, return it to your dealer, they have been known to get it wrong.

Many continental vans use 12VAC for everything except the water pump, blown air motor and the loo flush pump (if this is electric). I have known dealers and enthusiastic amateurs connect the battery ( which is not usually fitted ), to the 12 VAC.

I know one Hobby owner who connected the water pump to 12 VAC and had burnt out 3 before posting for help.

 

[GeorgeB]

Richard,

You have a fault with the battery charger, it's over charging, this boils the electrolite (sulphuric acid, assuming you have a lead acid battery) and produces sulphur dioxide, not only does it stink it's explosive!!!!!!!You had a lucky escape, one small spark, and BOOM!

You will need a new charger AND battery, if the battery has got that hot, it will have buckled the plates and even if it appears OK now, it will fail prematurely. Insist on a replacement battery, it's called consequential damage, caused by a faulty charger.

Under the Sale and Supply of Goods act, the dealer who supplied & fitted the Zig is responsible for it's replacement not the manufacturer of the unit.

GeorgeB

 

[rob_jax]

Hi George,

Quite agree, probably both the battery and the charger are now bu@@ered.

For your reference, it is hydrogen gas that is released not sulfur dioxide.

Robert

 

[Geordie]

Since were on this subject I wonder if I am having the same problem. We have only been away once with our new van , a Swift Challenger 500 and we are using the battery from our last van and all seems ok, but I was at the storage place today and noticed the skirt rail was discoloured and rough for about 3ft along the rail directly under the battery box,and when I opened to investigate I found what I thought was water in the bag that the battery sits in.It soon became apparent this was acid from the battery and has been seeping through the bag out of the locker and onto the rail. I removed the battery to check for cracks etc and cleaned the whole area. The rail looks about 20yrs old with the acid damage. These bags obviously dont do what they are intended for and it looks like a trip to my dealer on Monday morn.If its not a charging problem where do I go from here because I dont want this to happen again.

 

[gs1]

Since were on this subject I wonder if I am having the same problem. We have only been away once with our new van , a Swift Challenger 500 and we are using the battery from our last van and all seems ok, but I was at the storage place today and noticed the skirt rail was discoloured and rough for about 3ft along the rail directly under the battery box,and when I opened to investigate I found what I thought was water in the bag that the battery sits in.It soon became apparent this was acid from the battery and has been seeping through the bag out of the locker and onto the rail. I removed the battery to check for cracks etc and cleaned the whole area. The rail looks about 20yrs old with the acid damage. These bags obviously dont do what they are intended for and it looks like a trip to my dealer on Monday morn.If its not a charging problem where do I go from here because I dont want this to happen again.

Back to the point of a boiling battery, the reason the battery has boiled is a result of a defective cell, the battery at some point must have been discharged sufficiently to cause damage. This can be about 10 volts. The charger works on the principal of raising the battery voltage to at least 14 volts at that stage the charge should go to maintenance stage which should be around 13.65 volts. If there is a cell damaged the voltage will not rise sufficiently and the charger will keep on charging and will eventually boil the battery dry.

You should however check the voltage of the charger by disconnecting it from the battery and using a digital volt meter voltage should be no more than 14.5 volts.

 

[richardpalmer]

Thanks for all your comments......i have just collected my 'van from the dealers. they have said that they've tested the battery and charger and that all's fine. they've put in a battery 'vent' (This seems to be a tube coming from the top of the battery and then fed out through a hole in the 'van floor. Any thoughts? I have to say i don;t feel too happy with this...

 

[dragon32a]

I wouldnt be happy with it either. The battery should gas off slightly as this is a by-product of charging a lead acid battery. However it should NEVER get hot or boil. If the vented gas gets back into the van you could again have an explosive situation. Most vans are fitted with a vent on the battery compartment anyway to deal with "gassing off". Take it back to the dealer and make them sort it correctly.

Don

 

[Heidi_374226052]

Hi,we had the same prob with our Pagent5,after removing hot battery Itested charger and all was well 12.9 to 13.2 volts.

When battery had cooled down I removed inspection covers to find

two out of six cell plates buckled. This battery was only 18 month old and a good make,Varta.

We took it back to the dealer who said they had been having

probs with quite a few of these.

Any way ,the battery was replaced f.o.c and all has been well since,about 8 months now.

I am however slightly paranoid now and check it regularly when on site!!!

Cheers Heidis Hubby.