Sulfer Smell House Battery

[gjtrafl]

Yesterday had my dealer install a battery disconnect for the coach battery.

Brought the coach home and plugged it into my home's power supply. This morning I discovered a strong sulfur smell and discovered my house batteries were very warm and moist. I unplugged the RV immediately. Cells were virtually all dry.

Dealer seems to think installing the battery disconnect has nothing to do with my problem today. I have now added water to all the cells (all were dry) and I am plugging the RV back to my house power.

Any suggestions? One other point, last night by accident I hit the inverter power-on button. Turned it right back off a second later when I realized I hit the wrong button.

Seems hard to believe this battery problem isn't related to one or the other issue. Any ideas?

[hershey]

I don't think you can combine gel batteries and lead acid batteries. They require a different charging rate. Seek some advice from a professional on this issue.

[CavemanCharlie]

full_mosey wrote:

CavemanCharlie wrote:

...
I thought AGM batteries took a different type of charger ???

Nope. Usually it is the flooded battery that needs a special charger.

The serious problem arises because Optima AGMs have a higher 13.1 resting Volts where flooded(FLA) has 12.65. These two cannot be left connected because the Optima will try to charge the FLA! When the Optima eventually drops to 12.65V, it is only about 75% charged.

If you know what you are doing, you can use them connected and charge them connected. If left standing, you need to disconnect. There are electronic battery separators that can help.

HTH;
John

Thank You

[full_mosey]

CavemanCharlie wrote:

...
I thought AGM batteries took a different type of charger ???

Nope. Usually it is the flooded battery that needs a special charger.

The serious problem arises because Optima AGMs have a higher 13.1 resting Volts where flooded(FLA) has 12.65. These two cannot be left connected because the Optima will try to charge the FLA! When the Optima eventually drops to 12.65V, it is only about 75% charged.

If you know what you are doing, you can use them connected and charge them connected. If left standing, you need to disconnect. There are electronic battery separators that can help.

HTH;
John

[CavemanCharlie]

Ummm,, I know little about batteries so maybe someone else here can correct / help me. But, can you mix battery types like that? I know that the AGM battery is only for starting and the other batteries are house batteries. But, when driving down the highway all 3 batteries are getting charged by the alternator on the vehicle. I thought AGM batteries took a different type of charger ???

[pianotuna]

Hi,

Add a very modest solar system (30 to 50 watts) and replace the house battery with a single marine battery. Add a trik-l-start and use a 2nd marine battery as an engine start battery.

gjtrafl wrote:
But I also keep the RV in a storage lot with no access to be able to do a trickle charge.

[gjtrafl]

The batteries are very new.... all three with date codes of 5/14.

The two house batteries are liquid and the starting battery is an AGM Optima Red top (a good battery). I will take it back to see if I can get any support from the retailer. BUT, I wasn't the owner at the time of purchase so they may shoot me down without providing a receipt.

The house batteries were VERY low on water... if not totally dry when I discovered the problem. RV dealer thinks the Optima started the problem by way of a bad cell.

I plan to replace that first and then go from there. I don't boon dock so that isn't a problem for me. But I also keep the RV in a storage lot with no access to be able to do a trickle charge. So that is why I went the route of a cutoff switch to begin with.

Many thanks for the continued support and advice.

[Gjac]

The disconnect switch had nothing to do with dry batteries. Did you add the water to the batteries or did the dealer? How much water was added?When you say dry we assume you mean low, how low? Was the water level below the plates? or just to the top of the plates? I would put a voltmeter on the batteries with the charger plugged in and record your voltage at the battery terminals. Should be between 14-14.6 volts depending on your charger and batteries if it is working correctly. Are your batteries 12 volts or 2 6 volt batteries in series? How old are your batteries? Based on your answers you my be able to recover these batteries.

[dodge_guy]

What is the age of the batteries? There is a date code on them, usually on the top or around the side top seam. Should be a letter and a number (example, B1, February 2011). If they are more than 5 years old, maybe 4 for the house batteries, then they are due. AGM's and gell cell (same thing) can last for up to 10 years if taken care of (battery tender when not in use).

My house battery is from 2011 and will get replaced this year. I'll probably go with 2 AGM deep cycle.

[pianotuna]

In your shoes I'd be looking at all new batteries. All of them have been compromised.

What style of camper are you? If you don't boondock much then you might get by with lower capacity.

[gjtrafl]

This RV is "new to me" and I thought I had a GEL battery for the chassis. Turns out it is a Red Top Optima that is a AGM battery and not a GEL. Not sure if this plays a part in my mystery.

I am starting to read up on these batteries and learning that they may not perform well after experiencing a deeper discharge. All my challenges started due to the RV being in storage and after about 3 weeks finding out I needed a boost to start. That lead me to getting a battery disconnect installed and then shortly after finding out I had a bad cell.

[navegator]

When filling batteries with water.

Use distilled water not tap water or drinking water.

Distilled water has no minerals when you use tap water it has minerals and they short out the plates in the cells eventually shortening the life of the battery.

navegator

[gjtrafl]

Many thanks for all the contributions so far.

I did get back to the dealer. The dealer put the meter on it and seems to think the converter is charging properly.

One of the cells in the GEL Coach Battery was VERY HOT. So they seem to think that one bad cell started the problem.

The other two liquid house batteries had also swollen out some. But then they resumed their old shape after cooling down. The dealer seems to think those 2 MIGHT be ok. But I expect they will need to be replaced as well.

Monday I will start by checking the charge level again, then replacing the Coach battery, then evaluating the other two.

[Lynnmor]

12thgenusa wrote:
If they removed a battery to perform the work, did they connect the wires back correctly? A pair of six-volt batteries connected in parallel instead instead of series would have a twelve-volt converter trying to charge a six-volt battery.

You might be on to something here. Problem is that we don't know anything about the batteries or how they were wired.
Putting one switch in one battery cable is way too complicated for some "experts."

[12thgenusa]

If they removed a battery to perform the work, did they connect the wires back correctly? A pair of six-volt batteries connected in parallel instead instead of series would have a twelve-volt converter trying to charge a six-volt battery.