What's eating my batteries? (Please help:()
Alright so after two months of being parked at a rv park while my wife completed her first travel nursing assignment we decided to go do some boondocking in one of the many national forests up here in...
Forum Discussion
Tim - I have to agree that your batteries were probably over-charged by your converter and boiled the electrolyte/water off. You'll need a flat headed screw driver to pop off the tops of the batteries and see what has happened.
There are different types of converters installed in various RVs. Some have smart chargers which throttle back on the charging voltage when the batteries are fully charged. But many of them just keep cranking the voltage, and eventually, the electrolyte evaporates.
If it were me, I'd do the following:
1. Check the electrolyte level. If low, refill with distilled water.
2. Try charging them back up to see if they'll take a charge. If they are too far gone, they probably won't.
3. If they won't take a charge, take them to an auto parts store for them to check them for you.
4. Replace the batteries with new ones.
5. Replace the converter with a new smart charging version.
It will cost you quite a bit of $$, but in the end, you'll be able to charge the batteries and boondock with confidence.
Jim
There are different types of converters installed in various RVs. Some have smart chargers which throttle back on the charging voltage when the batteries are fully charged. But many of them just keep cranking the voltage, and eventually, the electrolyte evaporates.
If it were me, I'd do the following:
1. Check the electrolyte level. If low, refill with distilled water.
2. Try charging them back up to see if they'll take a charge. If they are too far gone, they probably won't.
3. If they won't take a charge, take them to an auto parts store for them to check them for you.
4. Replace the batteries with new ones.
5. Replace the converter with a new smart charging version.
It will cost you quite a bit of $$, but in the end, you'll be able to charge the batteries and boondock with confidence.
Jim
