battery boiling

[bkmiami]

Came home from camping vacation and next day had a strong smell of sulfur coming from camper. checked battery compartment and found battery swollen and boiling over. Took out old battery and replaced with new one. Connected back and next day smell was back. Checked battery and it was really warm. I took leads off battery and wondering what to do. What's the cause of this? any suggestions would be appreciated.

[wwest]

bkmiami wrote:
Came home from camping vacation and next day had a strong smell of sulfur coming from camper. checked battery compartment and found battery swollen and boiling over. Took out old battery and replaced with new one. Connected back and next day smell was back. Checked battery and it was really warm. I took leads off battery and wondering what to do. What's the cause of this? any suggestions would be appreciated.

You very likely BOILED the electrolyte away in the first battery during your return trip/drive. Fairly common problem. The automotive alternator/VR system will supply a constant output voltage as long as load and engine RPM allow. If you start out on your drive with a deeply discharged battery there is a high likelihood that you boiled most of the battery electrolyte away.

[Jim-Linda]

It will not be a problem with the proper charging system. We are plugged in 24/7/365 and do not have a problem. I check water in batteries once a month, seldom have to add any, but do have a 3 stage charger.

Jim

[taken]

3 dog nights wrote:
So to keep this from being a problem do you guys recommend not leaving the trailer plugged in all of the time? Should I plug it in for a day or two each montha nd leave unplugged the rest of the time? (Obviously while storing)

With a modern three stage converter, leaving it plugged in all the time is fine as it goes in to float or maintainer mode once fully charged. With an older single stage converter, leaving it plugged in for a long period of time will overcharge and damage your batteries.

[3_dog_nights]

So to keep this from being a problem do you guys recommend not leaving the trailer plugged in all of the time? Should I plug it in for a day or two each montha nd leave unplugged the rest of the time? (Obviously while storing)

[Golden_HVAC]

Hi,

Do you know what the battery charger / converter looks like?

IF you can find a silver box, with large wires going to either the battery or more likely the fuse box, and it plugs into a 120 volt outlet, or has all the circuit breakers built in, then give us the model number from that device.

We can tell you if it is worth fixing. Probably not. Might as well just replace it with a similar amperage 120 volt in and 12 VDC (nominal) output. You should actually see 14.2 volt maximum for a few minutes to one hour, then it should reduce to about 13.5 volts for a couple of hours. After a few hours, then a charge rate of only 13.2 volts will keep the battery full while not heating it up, or boiling away to much water.

Fred.

[Gale_Hawkins]

Sandia Man wrote:
First battery probably has a bad cell causing the converter to continuously deliver an abnormally heavy charge more than likely leading to the malfunction you are currently experiencing. A new converter should take care of it, good opportunity to upgrade. Consult Randy at BestConverter.com for good advice on replacing your existing converter.

2x. Consider a basic automatic charger in the mean time if you do not already on such a device. 🙂

[Sandia_Man]

First battery probably has a bad cell causing the converter to continuously deliver an abnormally heavy charge more than likely leading to the malfunction you are currently experiencing. A new converter should take care of it, good opportunity to upgrade. Consult Randy at BestConverter.com for good advice on replacing your existing converter.

[Allworth]

X3 (or more) on bad converter.

[Dave_H_M]

throw a volt meter on the batt.

I think maybe your converter has lost its mind.

[lanerd]

Your converter/charger is overcharging the battery. It would help if you let us know type/make/model/year of your rv and whether or not you have converter with a 3-stage charger.

Ron