HELP Electrical problem!

[cmcdar]

Picked up new to me camper Trail Cruiser c191 (Hybrid) travel trailer.

Battery was quite low so put a charger on it, while still connected to the camper. This morning I go out to check the voltage of the battery and it is "boiling".

I had disconnected the power to the the charger so there was no charging overnight. This morning the charger was humming and the battery is 'boiling' (hot, battery acid coming out the top). I disconnected the charger and disconnected the battery from the camper. It was almost as if the power was flowing from the camper to the battery (camper plugged into shore power - regular house extension cord).

When I went inside the camper my fuse panel was humming YIKES. Needless to say, I disconnected the extension cord.

Anybody have any idea what on earth happened?

Thanks so much!

[jrnymn7]

Check the converters output like I said, before connecting another battery.

Also, compare voltage at converter's output to voltage at battery posts. This will show how much "voltage drop" there is in your wiring. Keep in mind, this is current related... higher current = higher voltage drop, so make a note of both voltage and amperage, at that time. Excessive voltage drop indicates under-wiring, and/or loose connections and/or ???

[cmcdar]

Hello All,

Thank you for the timely and informative help!

Polarity was NOT reversed.

This battery was one I had purchased new and was one of four I had used as a battery bank for storing solar power when I was dry camping two years ago. Battery bank had been charged. Note: the other three batteries all have 13 plus volts. When I removed the (bad) battery I did notice a very small puddle of "water" in my case. Unfortunately, I assumed it was rain water not battery "water". It may have been the later, thus the 'low voltage".

I did not realize that there was an on-board charger so when I unplugged the charger and into the camper, I was continuing to charge a "suspected" bad battery.

Regarding LED light bulbs: I did contact the manufacturer and they told me

Ashley T
8:00 PM (16 hours ago)

Hello,

For the best results it is better to be between 11.8V and 12.8 volts

I did plug the shore power back in and no more "humming" from the panel so hopefully the worst that will come from all of this is some frazzled nerves.

I am taking a break now, before I try a different (fully charged) battery.

Anything I should watch for or test once I install the "new" battery?

Thanks again,
Caryl

[jrnymn7]

If it is a high voltage issue, the problem is not so much about damage to your panel, necessarily, but to things like your fridge's control board. You were smart to disconnect things immediately. Hopefully nothing was damaged.

I agree, it could be a bad cell, but I would be more inclined to suspect the used converter. They ARE known to go haywire. BTW... converters have been around for decades... they are not new.

As mentioned, you will need a few simple tools for diagnosing and regular maintenance... a digital multi-meter, a clamp meter, a kill-a-watt meter, and definitely a decent (turkey baster style) hydrometer.

[Road_Runners]

Your battery will heat up like that if you have the polarity reversed on your charger hookup.

[2oldman]

cmcdar wrote:
Do you think there is any problems caused by this to my fuse panel?

No. But I agree with the above.. LEDs use way less power.

Post the make/model of both these chargers.

[westend]

The battery did have enough charge to power my 12v lights but not enough to power my new LED replacement bulbs.

Impossibility.....the LED's draw 1/5 the current of the incandescents they replace. You have something amiss.

Anytime I buy a used battery, I consider it to be suspect. I'd suggest to take the battery to an auto parts store to be checked. When you do this, you can clean up the connections.

BTW, a hand held meter is going to be a good tool to have on hand for your RV. Cheap ones can be bought at Harbor Freight or any of the big box stores.

[cmcdar]

Do you think there is any problems caused by this to my fuse panel?

[time2roll]

Measure the voltage but the battery probably has a shorted cell and should be used as a core when you purchase a replacement.

[jrnymn7]

There's no harm in running two chargers in parallel. They will either share whatever current the battery will accept, or one will contribute little to nothing, while the other carries the load. The "boiling" is likely a result of too high a voltage coming out of your on-board converter.

Power up the converter while disconnected from the battery, and check it's output voltage. Should be in the 13.6v range, or whatever is listed as it's "nominal" output voltage. Then connect it to a slightly depleted battery and observe the voltage. Should be no more than 14.4 - 14.8v (the converter's bulk voltage setting).

Post the make and model of your equipment... battery, charger, converter-charger for more help.

[cmcdar]

Hi,

The battery is three years old. Yes, I checked the battery water and all cells were full. This is a 2007 camper but the newest one I've had til now was a 1987 so I was not aware that shore power would charge my battery. HOWEVER, I disconnected the power cord from the battery charger and used it for my "shore power". IF the battery was bad, do you think that might have caused the problem?

The battery did have enough charge to power my 12v lights but not enough to power my new LED replacement bulbs.

Thanks for any incite.

[2oldman]

cmcdar wrote:
Battery was quite low so put a charger on it, while still connected to the camper. This morning I go out to check the voltage of the battery and it is "boiling".

I had disconnected the power to the the charger so there was no charging overnight. This morning the charger was humming and the battery is 'boiling' (hot, battery acid coming out the top). I disconnected the charger and disconnected the battery from the camper. It was almost as if the power was flowing from the camper to the battery (camper plugged into shore power - regular house extension cord).

Need a bit of clarification.

It sounds as if the camper has a converter/charger in it already, but, you said 'battery was quite low'. Do you mean voltage? And if so, was the camper plugged in when you took that reading? Power is supposed to flow to the battery if there's an on-board charger.

Did you check the battery water? How old is this battery? I imagine very few used trailers have a) a good battery b) good tires.

One or both of your chargers is a stupid one, and was overcharging.

[sch911]

Plugged in to shore power means converter was running and charging the battery. Adding another battery charger to this is only going to cause the battery to be overcharged. That sounds like what happened. Make sure your converter has a multi-stage charge capability. This allows it to charge the battery and then it backs off and maintains the battery. Adding a second charger is not the thing to do.