Forum Discussion

luv2dsgn's avatar
luv2dsgn
Explorer
Oct 30, 2014

Battery Meltdown!

We recently purchased our friend's '98 Dutch Star motor home.

After a few weeks we smelled what seemed to be a black water issue, and then discovered that the cabin batteries (plugged into our house) were going through melt down with sulfur steaming out of the top of one of them. There was also swelling on the sides of the case.

We began trying to replace these batteries, but have found it difficult to locate. We also discovered they can run over $200 each! (OUCH!!!) :(

The batteries needing to be replaced are Freightliner Commercial Maintenance Free H9.

Any thoughts or suggestions???:h

Also, is it OK to drive this beast across town into storage without these batteries installed until we can replace them?:h

Please advise.
Thanks!
Class A
  • wolfe10's avatar
    wolfe10
    Explorer
    Oct 30, 2014
    House or Chassis batteries-- they have very different requirements.
  • luv2dsgn's avatar
    luv2dsgn
    Explorer
    Oct 30, 2014
    Hi Wolf......They are House batteries. There are two engine batteries and two house batteries. The ones with issues are the batteries that run the interior electrical.

    Thanks for the input Mandalay. :)
  • redguard's avatar
    redguard
    Explorer
    Oct 30, 2014
    luv2dsgn wrote:
    We recently purchased our friend's '98 Dutch Star motor home.

    After a few weeks we smelled what seemed to be a black water issue, and then discovered that the cabin batteries (plugged into our house) were going through melt down with sulfur steaming out of the top of one of them. There was also swelling on the sides of the case.

    We began trying to replace these batteries, but have found it difficult to locate. We also discovered they can run over $200 each! (OUCH!!!) :(

    The batteries needing to be replaced are Freightliner Commercial Maintenance Free H9.

    Any thoughts or suggestions???:h

    Also, is it OK to drive this beast across town into storage without these batteries installed until we can replace them?:h

    Please advise.
    Thanks!

    yes you can drive it as it Has no bearing on driving the coach as you indicated there the house batterys and you can replace those with much cheaper priced batterys for sure. H9 is kind of oddball in my opinion you can buy 31 series for about 92$ each or switch to 4 golf cart batterys at 80$ each.Based strictly on a $$ point of view I would switch to 31 series
  • luv2dsgn's avatar
    luv2dsgn
    Explorer
    Oct 30, 2014
    I'm also concerned that I may have caused the issue by keeping the (50amp) unit plugged in for several days while cleaning and sterilizing it from stem to stern. I've kept the switches on the whole time.

    However, my friends have had it parked for several years, and I suspect the batteries were very old and weathered over time.
  • wallynm's avatar
    wallynm
    Explorer
    Oct 30, 2014
    If these are the 6 volt house batteries and there should be 4 of them. If so I just paid 165 exchange for them this summer. If they are the 2-12 volt chassis batteries then 200 exchange is about right.

    Keep the water level correct and when connected to your house check the water level about once a month.

    Any good automotive parts store should have them or can get them. Try NAPA and take you old batteries with you as core charge.

    look here

    If it will start and run then I suggest you can drive it anywhere you want to go. This indicates it is the house batteries that are bad.

    luv2dsgn wrote:
    We recently purchased our friend's '98 Dutch Star motor home.

    After a few weeks we smelled what seemed to be a black water issue, and then discovered that the cabin batteries (plugged into our house) were going through melt down with sulfur steaming out of the top of one of them. There was also swelling on the sides of the case.

    We began trying to replace these batteries, but have found it difficult to locate. We also discovered they can run over $200 each! (OUCH!!!) :(

    The batteries needing to be replaced are Freightliner Commercial Maintenance Free H9.

    Any thoughts or suggestions???:h

    Also, is it OK to drive this beast across town into storage without these batteries installed until we can replace them?:h

    Please advise.
    Thanks!
  • luv2dsgn's avatar
    luv2dsgn
    Explorer
    Oct 30, 2014
    Hi WallyNM, thanks, but these are (were) maintenance free batteries. No water fill.
  • redguard's avatar
    redguard
    Explorer
    Oct 30, 2014
    luv2dsgn wrote:
    I'm also concerned that I may have caused the issue by keeping the (50amp) unit plugged in for several days while cleaning and sterilizing it from stem to stern. I've kept the switches on the whole time.

    However, my friends have had it parked for several years, and I suspect the batteries were very old and weathered over time.


    no but that's assuming your converter is working correctly I would say the batterys finally ran dry due to old age
  • luv2dsgn's avatar
    luv2dsgn
    Explorer
    Oct 30, 2014
    Thanks Wally.
    I checked the site earlier this evening.
    I couldn't match the batteries cold crank 1250 that's described on the old batts.
    I figure that I can always move them over if I ever have a battery emerg on the road.

About Motorhome Group

38,705 PostsLatest Activity: Jan 14, 2025