Electrical issue, exploded battery

Don't forget, you'll need a battery on the trailer for the break-away switch when you are towing on the road.

Ok, so in the near term, can I use the RV on AC power without a battery installed? I have a couple of short weekend trips coming up and I travel for a living and I'm worried that I won't be able to address the battery issue between now and then. Everything seems to work when connected to AC power.

Thanks for the input guys. Just to give a little more insight, the battery is probably 3 years old or so - Interstate Heavy Duty. It hadn't been plugged into shore power continually in the past 6 months or so, only on the weekends where it has been used. I can't say that I've really done any regular "maintenance" on the battery. There was a period where I removed it when it would be sitting for a while and set it in the garage with a battery-minder on it, but the battery-minder seems to have quit working correctly, so I just left the battery in the RV.

What fried my coach battery was the converter.

Battery was boiling over due to the converter running wild. Check the output at the converter and leave the tester on after it reaches the correct output to see if it still keeps climbing. The converter had a blown out capacitor.

Also check all the fuses on thew converter. Shut them all off and then back on again.

Internally Shorted batteries are not all that uncommon especially with the older trailers that have single mode converter/chargers. If these converter/chargers are left on for long periods of time like when connected to home power the constant 13.6VDC output keeping the battery charged is right on the edge of boiling out battery fluids over time. Once the fluids get boiled out then the battery sometimes have an internal short between the cells plates. The battery then gets very hot and sometimes explodes from the escaping gases.

My battery shorted out this way but I caught it quick enough before doing any damage. Had to replace battery however.

You probably read alot of folks reporting these things and always telling everyone to keep close eyes on these situations. I check my batteries every couple of weeks to make sure nothing is internally shorted. First sine should be Battery VOLTAGE is way own an then when you feel the battery it probably is hot. Once all of the fluids get boiled out from being hot then it may explode on you. The exploded gases is also very toxic and corrosive.

Not saying this is what happened in your case but have read alot of others have have this happen to them including myself.

The fix is to install a smart mode converter/charger if you are planning on leaving your battery on extended charge. The smart mode converter/charger units are designed to not allow this to happen.

Your 2009 RV probably only has the non smart mode single voltage type converter/charger unit. Most of the newer RV unit all come out with smart mode converter.chargers being standard installed items now.

Just my thoughts here...
Roy Ken

A battery gives off hydrogen gas which is very flammable. If a battery shorts out, a lot of gas is given off. If a spark occurs the gas will ignite.
That Could be the problem. H

How often did you maintain the battery and what was the age of it
Before you replace the battery make sure you neutralize the acid that has splashed all over the area