Frozen House Batteries

[mibus1635]

I have a new Class A with house batteries less than six months old. I found them frozen yesterday. Is there any point in attempting a "defrost and re-charge" or is that a fools journey?
Thanks

[mena661]

jrnymn7 wrote:
Elgie met a bear, and the bear met Elgie. Now the bear is bulgy... and the bulge is Elgie!

LOL!

[wa8yxm]

How frozen were they?

A thin layer of ice on top of liquid, NOT extending down into the plates..

no problem, re-charge, and you may wish to equlize.

Ice extending into the plate area.

read all of this...

Do this part in either case: Get a small can (Testors brand?) Of red spray paint and paint the POSITIVE wires while they are still connected,,,, Optionally use BLACK on the negative wires.
Take pictures, of the batteries as connected, showing the connections.

Now the rest: IF the ice excends down into the plates...

let paint dry, remove batteries for replacement, and get new ones.

[jrnymn7]

Elgie met a bear, and the bear met Elgie. Now the bear is bulgy... and the bulge is Elgie!

[beemerphile1]

If the case has bulged, don't bother messing with them, buy new.

[AllegroD]

Oops.

[WRBD88]

Thank you all for your help, I am taking them out putting them in boxes and bringing them into the house and then will attempt to do the trickle charge. Once again. Thank you.

[mena661]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
After a defrost and 5 amp charge that will take 2 days, the batteries should be load tested on a carbon pile load tester. Load the carbon pile to 200 amperes with batteries connected in series. Warped battery plates will show instant failure. Other methods of testing are not nearly as reliable.

WEAR FACE MASK EYE PROTECTION!

X2

[ksg5000]

Defrost and charge as advised - if you don't own a load tester just take it down to any tire/auto place and they will load test for free. Also - it's difficult to freeze a properly charged battery so you may want to spend some time figuring out why/how the battery go discharged so low.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

After a defrost and 5 amp charge that will take 2 days, the batteries should be load tested on a carbon pile load tester. Load the carbon pile to 200 amperes with batteries connected in series. Warped battery plates will show instant failure. Other methods of testing are not nearly as reliable.

WEAR FACE MASK EYE PROTECTION!

[2oldman]

YouTube - Save a frozen battery

Tons of stuff on google too.

[travelzoo]

If you take them out to thaw, make sure you place them in a container so if the case is cracked you don't have battery acid leaking on to some thing you don't want it on.

[jrnymn7]

Thaw them out, then charge them VERY SLOWLY with a trickle charger. If they are 6v's, charge them individually at the appropriate voltage. Will take several days. Then try them under load.

DO NOT subject them to your vehicles charging system or your rv's converter-charger. And no need to test them prior to charging. Obviously they're not anywhere near an acceptable state of charge for being put back into use. See how they handle being charged, first.

[time2roll]

I might try bring them inside and let them warm to 70+ before putting a small charger on them. If they charge up and hold 12.6 volts for a few days put them back in the RV. Otherwise take them in for core exchange on a new set.

A fully charged battery will not freeze until you get to about 80 below zero.

[gbopp]

I had two 6 volt house batteries in our 96 Southwind freeze about 4 years ago.
They were slushy, not frozen solid.
After being thawed and charged, I continued to use them. They're still in use but, will be replaced in the spring.
If the cases are not cracked, I would try to charge the batteries.
Maybe you will luck out.
As a result of the freezing, I keep the RV plugged in 24/7 when it's not in use.
I won't take that chance again.