schlep1967
Harrisburg, PA
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We were camping with some friends this weekend. He thought he had a sewer issue until he figured out it was his battery outgassing. The thing was boiling.
What would cause this? We took the battery to Autozone and it tested as fine.
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ktmrfs
Portland, Oregon
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battery has come to a full charge and the charger hasn't gone into float mode, backing down to about 13.2-13.6V. Once fully charged to high a charging voltage begins to just convert water into H and O. Now as the batteries get near full charge or are equalizing you will also get some outgassing. But it should be minimal. If you take the cover off the cells, if you see anything more than small bubble(s) every few seconds, something is amis.
If the battery was really "boiling" rapid bubbles definitely an overcharging situation from the charger.
Normally when they do outgas you shouldn't get a noticeable smell, although if it gets to hot then you could get the smell of sufuric acid, (rotten egg smell)
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time2roll
Southern California
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Voltage too high.
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Grit dog
Black Diamond, WA
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Overcharging.
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Lwiddis
Southern California :(
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Avoid boiling by using a quality recharger.
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schlep1967
Harrisburg, PA
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After getting the battery tested and being told it was good we got distilled water and topped it off. At this point we were thinking bad WFCO converter. We bought a multi-meter and checked the voltage when we hooked it back up. It was never higher than 12.7 volts but the battery got hot and started boiling again after an hour.
The voltage was not high so I was thinking a shorted battery.
We replaced the battery. It was hooked up all night with no increase in temps or boiling.
He doesn't keep his trailer plugged in all the time. Hopefully everything will be good when we are ready to go again.
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ktmrfs
Portland, Oregon
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schlep1967 wrote:After getting the battery tested and being told it was good we got distilled water and topped it off. At this point we were thinking bad WFCO converter. We bought a multi-meter and checked the voltage when we hooked it back up. It was never higher than 12.7 volts but the battery got hot and started boiling again after an hour.
The voltage was not high so I was thinking a shorted battery.
We replaced the battery. It was hooked up all night with no increase in temps or boiling.
He doesn't keep his trailer plugged in all the time. Hopefully everything will be good when we are ready to go again.
Likely one dead cell, which results in overcharge of the other cells.
BTW WFCO is known for almost never ever going into bulk charging mode, usually stays at 13.6 or so max
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time2roll
Southern California
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If 12.7 is boiling the battery there is a shorted cell. The shorted cell makes it a 10 volt battery. 12.7 volts is too high for a 10 volt battery.
Doubt the test was accurate. Did the battery actually pull the rated CCA for 30 seconds and remain above 8.4 volts? Or was this some digital magic box?
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Lwiddis
Southern California :(
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“We took the battery to Autozone and it tested as fine”
A fine battery will boil with a bad charger. After only a short time the battery won’t be fine any longer.
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pianotuna
Regina, SK, Canada
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Dendrites may have grown and caused a short. The battery "passed" the load test because the high amperage draw may have temporarily burned off the tip of the dendrite.
Regards, Don
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