Sealed FLA batteries and venting

It used to be on the order of nine to one. But do not forget with H comes O2. It all electrocized. It isn't so much the H as it aggressively rises and can escape with a rapdity that is astonishing. But O2 accumulates. A spark explodes the battery and O2 saturated combustibles around it flame with astonishing vigor.

But again it would take negligence on the order of 10th magnitude to allow this to happen.

The saving grace of a VRB is they can be disconnected for a year and not hiccup.

The water is the source of the Hydrogen.

Does anyone know the volume of water in a pair of 6V FLA batteries compared to a pair of 6V AGMs?

If all the H could be released into your rig, what would be the resulting % of H inside?

HTH;
John

It would take an uncommon meeting of high temperature, sustained high voltage, and a long period of time to cause a VRB or calcium/calcium flooded battery to vent gas enough where it would become any sort of issue. I have seen malfunctions of 15.0+ volts applied for longer than a week and no -significant- expelling of gas occurred. I have an AGM stuffed under my bed and I feel secure with mere monitoring of voltage. Quite often a malfunction will be detected soon after it occurs. Manufacturers must take the safe route and insist that a vent system be incorporated. An upside down plastic pan with 1/4" hose heading to an outside exit will vent hydrogen very efficiently. Hydrogen rises aggressively and will take an exit tube.

Good old-fashioned common sense works wonders. There is no need to abandon plans to incorporate VRB batteries indoors or within a confined space. A quarter-inch tube is quite unobtrusive.

I used this white box for my sons GC2s. It was an easy job to seal and vent this box. The batteries fit nicely in the box with no wasted space.

Jim,
I put a pair of 6v's inside the cabin as close to the axles as possible. I built my own diy vented box but buying an HDPE box and adding a vent is a lot easier. Best Converter told me I got the last chrome vent they had but I'm sure others still sell them.

Almot

At best, the tongue can take a pair of 6v space wise. Maybe a new deep cycle 8-D but neither are really enough power for the inverter. The 6v's will balk and it's hard on a 8-D even if it is charged right away. In any event it isn't enough storage capacity.

The Expedition also has a tongue weight limit. I would prefer to move the bank back over the axles or at least under the sofa father away from the tongue. I'll just have to install a nice clean looking vent. On the plus side is it is closer to the fridge vent and power center, less voltage drop and expense.

I tried to find this out for my AGM (they are all similar in this respect). The consensus seems to be - yes, they are gassing but very little and only if they are overcharged.

Meaning - if controller fails in such a way that charging will continue full throttle after they have been 100% charged. Not a very likely scenario, though possible. There is no generator in my rig, so controller is the only one to watch out.

Also, - they vent "less" in this case. Since there are no numbers, I decided - call it a guestimate - that if placed in the front through-storage with many cracks both to the outside (around the storage lids on both sides of trailer), and to the inside (around the bed frame), and IF controller fails in the aforesaid way, - my AGM bank won't vent more to the inside than a wet battery in a car that I'm driving.

Again, - I couldn't find any hard numbers, and for my AGM the numbers can be different from Lifeline.

PS: I don't understand why even consider AGM (and costly Lifeline at that), when you can mount it outside.

Thank you all.

Need it less is still needs to be vented. Even with 750w the solar can't really take advantage of AGM's ability to be charged faster and I don't plan on mounting them on their side. So for me there is no real advantage to spend the big bux on them.

And here I thought it was getting easier once I picked out the controller. lol

ALL lead acid batteries need to be vented.. But LIfelines and other Maintenance free designs (AGM makes little difference) need it less than flooded Wet Cells.

Hi Jim,

Yes, they should be vented.