Disconnected leisure battery.

[mickyriff]

Hi. If anyone seen my last post regarding hydrogen sulphide leakage from the batery whilst i was away. And the god awful rotten egg smell.
Now i have disconnected the battery and its connectors and got rid. The battery box was still stinking to high heaven. So i have took out, bleached and cleaned a good few times. Seems to have gone from there. The smell is still around everytime i get back home from work. Even after airing all day. And having the electric off. If my nose is right could the sulphur rotten egg smell be soaked into the timber seat structure above the battery/mains compartmant? As its very strong around that area.
Could it be the mains blue plug?
Could it be the charger?
Now that ive disconnected my battery. Will the charger still be doin anything?
I dont have a clue which fuse or where the charger is on my mains board. But if i switch it off on the rcd this is also the fridge
Could it be the relay as this smells a bit. But could that just be from when the battery leaked and soaked into the plastic. (As it was probably building up over the week i was away. As copper pipes and lose coin change around the caravan have all turned black.
Anyone had this problem. Is it a case of jus cleaning and letting air?
Unless its the main electric cable. From mains to blue plug.
Or the charger. Or relay.
Thanks a lot

 

[Mr Plodd]

Rotten eggs smell is Hydrogen Sulphide, and that's what comes out of lead acid batteries that are failing. Tge smell will linger but it gets less and less over time.

 

[RogerL]

Cutting up a few onons and leaving then around the caravan, on plates, is the old renmedy for getting rid of odours.

 

[Mr Plodd]

Cutting up a few onons and leaving then around the caravan, on plates, is the old renmedy for getting rid of odours.

That will merely replace the rotten eggs smell with an onion smell!

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hi. If anyone seen my last post regarding hydrogen sulphide leakage from the batery whilst i was away. And the god awful rotten egg smell.
Now i have disconnected the battery and its connectors and got rid. The battery box was still stinking to high heaven. So i have took out, bleached and cleaned a good few times. Seems to have gone from there. The smell is still around everytime i get back home from work. Even after airing all day. And having the electric off. If my nose is right could the sulphur rotten egg smell be soaked into the timber seat structure above the battery/mains compartmant? As its very strong around that area.
Could it be the mains blue plug?
Could it be the charger?
Now that ive disconnected my battery. Will the charger still be doin anything?
I dont have a clue which fuse or where the charger is on my mains board. But if i switch it off on the rcd this is also the fridge
Could it be the relay as this smells a bit. But could that just be from when the battery leaked and soaked into the plastic. (As it was probably building up over the week i was away. As copper pipes and lose coin change around the caravan have all turned black.
Anyone had this problem. Is it a case of jus cleaning and letting air?
Unless its the main electric cable. From mains to blue plug.
Or the charger. Or relay.
Thanks a lot

It's very unlikely the ongoing smell is caused by the blue plug, the relay, wiring or the charger, it's almost certainly the remnants of any battery acid that's spilt when the battery was overcharged. It may have escaped the battery box and soaked into nearby wood or soft furnishings and is now continuing to evaporate and liberate the smell.

You might find this Battery Safety web page helpfull.

In relation to the pictures you have sent,
The panel on the left hand side with the four switches is your mains Consumer unit, and it consists of the RCD with its test button on the far left with, and the other three switches are Minature Circuit Breakers (MCB's). The switch on the right marked "FRIDGE CHARGER" is an MCB (it even says it at the bottom of the switch) and it protects the 230V mains wiring to the fridge and charger from excess current draw if there is a fault. it is not an RCD as you called it.

If the charger is still receiving 230Vac mains then it will be working. However in the pictures you have sent, on the top of the underbed unit is a red rocker switch with "12V" next to it. I am pretty certain that is the mains ON/OFF switch for the charger, so if that is turned OFF. the charger will not be working.

The way to prove it:- With the battery connected, turn any 12V light on, then disconnect one terminal from the battery. If the light goes out, that means the charger is not working. If the light stays on it means the charger is working, and you can try the red rocker switch to see if it turns the light off.

The guide I have linked to suggests its a matter of time with good ventilation to remove the bad egg smell.

 

[Buckman]

That will merely replace the rotten eggs smell with an onion smell!

I would think that the onion smell is more pleasant.

 

[mickyriff]

It's very unlikely the ongoing smell is caused by the blue plug, the relay, wiring or the charger, it's almost certainly the remnants of any battery acid that's spilt when the battery was overcharged. It may have escaped the battery box and soaked into nearby wood or soft furnishings and is now continuing to evaporate and liberate the smell.

You might find this Battery Safety web page helpfull.

In relation to the pictures you have sent,
The panel on the left hand side with the four switches is your mains Consumer unit, and it consists of the RCD with its test button on the far left with, and the other three switches are Minature Circuit Breakers (MCB's). The switch on the right marked "FRIDGE CHARGER" is an MCB (it even says it at the bottom of the switch) and it protects the 230V mains wiring to the fridge and charger from excess current draw if there is a fault. it is not an RCD as you called it.

If the charger is still receiving 230Vac mains then it will be working. However in the pictures you have sent, on the top of the underbed unit is a red rocker switch with "12V" next to it. I am pretty certain that is the mains ON/OFF switch for the charger, so if that is turned OFF. the charger will not be working.

The way to prove it:- With the battery connected, turn any 12V light on, then disconnect one terminal from the battery. If the light goes out, that means the charger is not working. If the light stays on it means the charger is working, and you can try the red rocker switch to see if it turns the light off.

The guide I have linked to suggests its a matter of time with good ventilation to remove the bad egg smell.

Thanks so much

 

[Mel]

I know nothing about electrical things, but I do know that a strong solution of bicarbonate of soda is quite good at absorbing smells. You could try scrubbing any safely scrubbable areas ( obviously being careful not to dribble it into any electrical items.) Or leaving an open container of bicarbonate nearby.
Better bet than the onions.
Good luck
Mel

 

[Ukdave2002]

I know nothing about electrical things, but I do know that a strong solution of bicarbonate of soda is quite good at absorbing smells. You could try scrubbing any safely scrubbable areas ( obviously being careful not to dribble it into any electrical items.) Or leaving an open container of bicarbonate nearby.
Better bet than the onions.
Good luck
Mel

A mate of mine valets cars, if he has a car that been used by a smoker (or has other pungent smells) he uses a load of bicarbonate of soda, scatters it on any fabric, has open pots of it around the car, leaves it overnight then vac's it out, he swears that it works better than any specialist valeting product to take smells out, costs him pence as he buys it by the sack load!

 

[ProfJohnL]

The document I pointed to in my last posting about managing 12V batteries does suggest Bi-carb of Soda as a possible cleaning solution.

 

[Dustydog]

The document I pointed to in my last posting about managing 12V batteries does suggest Bi-carb of Soda as a possible cleaning solution.

Took me quite a few minutes to find

How to Neutralize a Battery Acid Spill on the Ground​

If you spill battery acid on the ground, follow this procedure to clean it up:
Mix baking soda with water (3:1 ratio) to form a past.

Sometimes , especially when away and in an area of poor mobile phone or no Wifi
it is very hard to spend 10 minutes trawling through pages of “Here’s how to do it”.

Mel and U.K. Dave were commenting on the smell and how to resolve. Not Acid spill,on the ground. Can we please praise them for their suggestions?👏👏👏