Smelly Battery

[Michael_5077373]

I own a 2000 Abbey GTS 517 Vogue, and the battery has started to get hot and smelly when left on charge. What is the most likely cause? Battery U/S or charger giving off too much voltage?

 

[rob_jax]

I take it that the battery is 5 years old as well? It may be time to think about a replacement, but first some diagnostics:

1. Do you have a digital voltmeter? You will need to take accurate voltage (and possibly current) measurements.

2. Is the battery sealed for life or can you check and (if necessary) add distilled water to correct the electrolyte level? And have you done this?

3. A fully charged battery in good condition, but with no external connections, should show a voltage of 12.6 Volts (some temperature dependence / cell chemistry - but within 0.1 volts)

A battery voltage of 12.4 volts indicates a 75% charge - which is why you need an accurate digital voltmeter.

A charged battery showing a voltage of less than 11 Volts indicates that the battery is kippered.

A battery voltage of 10.5 Volts indicates one dead cell - each cell has a no-load potential of 2.1 volts - and is also kippered.

4. It could be that your charger / conditioner is faulty, or it could be a single state charger.

A modern battery charger should deliver about 14.4 Volts (and 5 to 10 amps) to the battery during the initial charging phase. Then as the battery gets close to 100% charge, it should automatically drop to around 13.3V and deliver a very small (fractions of an amp) current to the battery to replace natural losses inside the battery.

When you have the battery on charge in your van measure the voltage at the two terminals on the battery - it should be 14.4 volts (but could be higher) and drop to around 13.3 Volts when fully charged.

If the voltage never drops from 14.4V or so, then either you have a single stage charger - and you need to switch the charger off yourself when the battery is charged, or you have a faulty two stage charger that won't drop back to the maintenance mode.

Summary: Most probably the battery is faulty.

Robert

 

[Michael_5077373]

Only had the van about 8 month so I am unsure of the age of the battery.

I can get my hands on a digital voltmeter so will do some testing next time I am at the van as I have it sited about 40 mile away.

It is not a sealed unit but I have checked elctrolyte level and it is ok.

Thanks for the above I will do some testing and post my findings

PS - What is the best way to utilise the charger? Is it best to turn the charger off or is it ok to leave it on constantly when we are at the van?

Cheers

 

[rob_jax]

Mike,

Looks like my answer to your question about "what's best" never made it onto the system.

The best way to find out is with actual voltage readings from your session with the digital meter:

1. Fully charge the battery

2. Turn off the charger and confirm that the battery is giving 12.6 volts with no external load. It may be best to disconnect the red (positive) terminal to make sure nothing still connected.

3. Turn the charger on and after a few minutes measure the voltage:

If over 14 Volts, then it's probably a single stage charger and you'll need to turn it off once the battery is fully charged.

If around 13.3 Volts, then it's a multi-stage charger and can be safely left on all the time.

Robert