Dangerous?

When considering the risk of doing something you also have to consider the risk of doing something else instead.

Having a modern maintenance free battery with catalytic combiners and a vent to tube inside your rv will not expose you to any harmful vapors during normal operation.

The Energy released in a hydrogen explosion depends on the volume of hydrogen/oxygen mixture available. In a modern high density maintenance free battery that would be measured in cubic inches, in a battery compartment it will be cubic feet, three orders of magnitude more energy released. A traditional battery compartment under your bedroom could be more likely to kill
you in your sleep.

BFL13 wrote:
Lots of guys think taking safety measures is a sissy thing to do.,

Yeah, like not eating a quart of ice cream a day or having one beer instead of six.

The key is whether the battery is and has been active or not.

I'll bet the above-involved jumper cables or a charger

And I'll bet it blew the loose battery post clean off the battery leaving nothing but a flat disc on top.

People must respect batteries the same as anything else electrical. If the OP follows my hints they will be safe.

Many years ago, part of my training was there was a risk of explosion around batteries. Years later, got to the job, and loader would not start. Opened batt box, and found a loose cable. At the same time the owner put his son in cab so boy could crank while dad sprayed. I saw what was happening, bent to reach the master switch. Because I was reaching for master, the blast missed me, but I was not fast enough to get out of the acid rain. Not sure I want one in the bedroom.
Somebody mentioned old VW. In years past batteries have been accessed from inside the cabin, but I can't think of any that where not sealed from the cabin, and vented to outside.

Uhm, Hydrogen gas, being lighter than air, will quickly rise to your roof and concentrate there, if it has no means of escape, like an open roof vent. It needs a spark or open flame to set it off, so if you don't smoke, it's probably more likely you'll get struck by lightning.

On the other hand, I've seen threads on these boards alleging that extreme corrosion of metal battery compartments on some motorhomes are due to ACID FUMES given off by the batteries when charging. I certainly wouldn't want to be breathing THAT ****!

Finally, let me just remind you youngsters that the batteries on the old VW bugs were actually under the rear seat, inside the passenger compartment, and we all managed to survive driving around in those!

"Ah sweah all nevah step into anutha battarhee stoh agin.

The problem is some people have zero common sense. Maybe I'll spell it out....

If the battery has been charged it must be rested 8 hours

If the battery is being balanced maintained it must not gain more than .2 volts total in 24 hours. Disconnect charger if the voltage approaches 13.6 volts.































'

Everyone has his own ideas of risk vs reward. I agree with the above idea that you should use some common sense and not over-do it. But:

Lots of guys think taking safety measures is a sissy thing to do. Not a common sense thing with them. It is something else going on. You see it all the time with some folks, even on here. Just how it is.

EG some people refuse to wear seat belts. I remember when they came out, one lady said she would not wear the shoulder belt because it would give her breast cancer. That was her excuse for not wearing them.

You have all those guys skiing "out of bounds" on the back slopes and having to be rescued at great cost of money and risk of rescuers' lives. But some guys keep stepping over the fence to the out of bounds area anyway. I don't understand that, but it is what it is.

People have died in RVs and "house trailers" from propane explosion/fires. It is no joke if you know someone that happened to. Batteries may be a lot less risky, but people are not stupid (mostly). They can decide what is worth what risk.

The OP asks a proper question--what is the risk? Once that has been established, each person can decide what to do, depending on his assessment for his situation (or for his DW and kids if involved)

My doctor warned me about fast trains, asteroids, and spider women. He will have to add idle flooded cell batteries to his list.

GordonThree wrote:

RVing is a very dangerous lifestyle!

Yes it is. I am certain more than a few folks interested in RV's have nosed around RV.net, then went running off never to consider buying an RV again due to the danger reported on these boards.

batteries should be in a well vented area, theres all kinds of stories just use good sense.