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MR_MAC's avatar
MR_MAC
Explorer
Dec 18, 2017

Battery frozen - ???

Try to start MH to day, bat. was dead, went to charge and noticed water in cells is solid ice, took bat inside to warm up, 3hrs still iced up. Is it frozen do death, or will it take a charge. This is the vehicle battery, the house battery is ok (MH is plugged in converter is on) should I use a battery minder, or take battery out and bring inside when MH is in storage.

I start MH up every MO take for a 25 MI ride and run the generator.

Temp today is in the 20's.
Thanks for any advice. Rob
Class A

17 Replies

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  • Lwiddis's avatar
    Lwiddis
    Explorer II
    Dec 18, 2017
    Charged batteries freeze at extremely low temperatures such as minus 62 degrees at an 85 percent charge. So you weren’t maintaining your RV. Properly dispose of that battery and maintain your new battery. See....http://www.trojanbattery.com/pdf/WP_DeepCycleBatteryStorage_0512.pdf
  • John_Joey's avatar
    John_Joey
    Explorer
    Dec 18, 2017
    I would go as far to say that you now have a dangerous battery. A fully charged battery can go to -90f before it freezes. Yours froze and I'm betting may have cracked the case or shorted out the plates.

    Last thing you want is battery acid on everything or on you. Get a good one and next winter put a full charge in it and then disconnect the ground. It should survive just fine, I've been doing just that for over 30 years.
  • GordonThree's avatar
    GordonThree
    Explorer
    Dec 18, 2017
    azrving wrote:
    Get a new one that's not frozen


    X2 not worth the hassle to recover a frozen battery. Only dead or dying batteries freeze in non Arctic climates. Your battery was shot before it froze.
  • DrewE's avatar
    DrewE
    Explorer II
    Dec 18, 2017
    rgatijnet1 wrote:
    The main reason to keep a battery charged in the Winter is so that it will not freeze. I think it is certain that your battery was discharged which is why the battery froze.
    Unless you are going to keep a battery charger hooked up all of the time to your chassis battery, to keep it topped off, you had better disconnect it and bring it inside.


    If it is fully charged and disconnected, it won't self-discharge enough to freeze over a winter unless it's already a bad battery. There's no need to take it inside to prevent freezing, assuming you are not in an actual arctic location. Disconnecting (if not provided with some means of keeping it charged) is important as there are usually parasitic loads that will discharge the battery over time.
  • time2roll's avatar
    time2roll
    Nomad
    Dec 18, 2017
    Bring the battery in and let it thaw 48 hours. If you try to charge it take it outside in a protected area. Frozen batteries are known to explode now and then.

    Or save yourself the hassle and just get a new one.

    You need a Trik-L-Start combiner to send charge voltage from the house battery to charge the chassis battery.
  • rgatijnet1's avatar
    rgatijnet1
    Explorer III
    Dec 18, 2017
    The main reason to keep a battery charged in the Winter is so that it will not freeze. I think it is certain that your battery was discharged which is why the battery froze.
    Unless you are going to keep a battery charger hooked up all of the time to your chassis battery, to keep it topped off, you had better disconnect it and bring it inside.

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