battery bubbling away

seawolf71 · 10-12-2015, 10:37 AM

leaving Thursday for a trip..added water to battery Sat..no problems

Checked tire pressure today one was low so I go to take battery case cover off to attach tire inflator leads and battery case is hot..
pull cover off and battery is bubbling away..!!!

I disconnect shore power and look inside at power panel..see nothing amiss.

Trailer is a 2013 Grey Wolf..it stays connected to shore power year round and I add water to the single battery on a monthly basis..never much..just top it off.

So what is wrong..regulator or something bad(original) deep cycle battery..?

I'm not much of an electrician..what can I check?

Kevin & Judy · 10-12-2015, 10:49 AM

Possible bad battery. Shorted out.

Jim Schings · 10-12-2015, 10:50 AM

Could be a bad battery, could be a bad (regulator/converter). I would connect it back up (put on a pair of goggles and have a water hose nearby) and measure the voltage at the battery. Measure when not charging and measure when charging. When not charging you should see somewhere around 12.7-13 volts with no load. Then measure again when connected. You should see something around 13.2 to 13.8 in warm weather. The problem is the battery may already be destroyed and the converter may have done it, so both could be bad.

Brother Les · 10-12-2015, 11:23 AM

X2
1) start with possible battery shorted out.

2) check for converter on full charge at all times and boiling battery.

seawolf71 · 10-12-2015, 12:48 PM

Installed new batt..initial measurement when connected was 13.9 V but it dropped to 13.5 already and batt isnt hot to the touch like the original one
will check again in 30 min

thanks for the help so far

Jim Schings · 10-12-2015, 12:57 PM

Sounds about right. Hopefully it was just a shorted cell in the battery..

Jim Schings · 10-12-2015, 01:02 PM

It will probably drop to 13.2, but 13.5 is ok.

Brother Les · 10-12-2015, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seawolf71

Installed new batt..initial measurement when connected was 13.9 V but it dropped to 13.5 already and batt isnt hot to the touch like the original one
will check again in 30 min

thanks for the help so far

Did you have the old battery load tested?

Your new battery may need to be charged for several hours on a separate battery charger to have a full deep hard charge and you can not do that very well the the camper converter. The camper converter would (should) slowly back off to a maintenance charge and will not give you a deep charge that the battery should start out with.

rsdata · 10-12-2015, 01:15 PM

take old battery to auto parts store... most can and will do a load test on it to see if the old one is still good...

rapid bubbling in the battery is NEVER good... most charger/inverters built in the trailer do not do a good job of keeping the battery charged without boiling the battery... get yourself a good charger/maintainer, and disconnect the trailer battery when on shore power for long periods...

I like this for maintaining batteries...
BatteryMINDer Plus Charger/Maintainer/Desulfator — 1.3 Amp, 12 Volt, Model# 12117

jeff64 · 10-12-2015, 01:21 PM

Cells should bubble evenly on all, however I would think that the converter shouldn't put out over 6A. Without meters and knowledge of the system, I would concur, take it to parts store and have load and capacity check done. You may have a bad cell

Jim Schings · 10-12-2015, 02:03 PM

X2,

I also agree on the "Battery Minder" or "Battery Tender Jr" (same units). These wont' "overcharge" but put out enough to keep the battery fresh and any "keep alive" or ECU type loads from running the battery down. Even with massive failure these units can only provide less than 2amps so risk of boiling, fire, etc. is nil... Use one of these instead of the RV converter.

seawolf71 · 10-12-2015, 04:04 PM

Turned a/c unit on and voltage stayed the same at 13.5..ran it for an hour
new battery still cool to the touch and I think that It is OK.

Should the charge eventually drop to a trickle?

seawolf71 · 10-12-2015, 04:07 PM

Appreciate the advice and you answered my question..it is ok and advisable to disconnect the batt while trailer is hooked up to shore power..
I can easily do this.. and have a charger to maintain it..

I have left battery hooked up since I bought the trailer new in 2012

Jim Schings · 10-12-2015, 04:22 PM

No, I wouldn't disconnect the battery when camping. However while in storage, Yes. If you are going to leave it for days, I would disconnect the battery and charge it with a Intelligent trickle charger. ("Battery Minder" or "Battery Tender Jr".) These units will keep the battery at it's optimum with no risk of overcharging.

BTW, I sold my business last year and still have at least one of the Battery Tender Jr's new still in plastic packaging. They retailed for about $25. You can have this one for $20 plus shipping if you want it.

In any case it looks like you fixed your problem.

retired06 · 10-12-2015, 04:46 PM

I'm having the same problem that the op has with boiling. It seems fine now, but if I disconnect the battery and put a tender on it. Will any damage be done to the converter while plugged into shore? There's still voltage going through the cables, will that hurt anything?

Witch Doctor · 10-12-2015, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seawolf71

Turned a/c unit on and voltage stayed the same at 13.5..ran it for an hour
new battery still cool to the touch and I think that It is OK.

Should the charge eventually drop to a trickle?

seawolf, If you have a WFCO converter, you can not drop to float mode at 13.2/13.1v until the units reads no voltage requirement for 48 hrs. If you have any parasites at all such as co/mox detector or radio clocks it will stay in absorption mode at 13.5v. and never drop to 13.2/13.1v or float mode. I went through two convertors that did that. It reads the the parasites as loads. Only convertor that can read those loads and still drop to float so you don't boil out is a progressive. It can read those light loads and still enter float mode at 13.1. I have been plugged in 24/7 since 2012 and had the samething happen to me. If your plugged in and still reading 13.5 volts at your batteries after 48 hrs your not going to drop down. Either you isolate the loads and install SPST switches at the loads or change convertors or use the battery tender or check your water every month with the WFCO when not in use and stored with 24/7 power.

seawolf71 · 10-12-2015, 06:43 PM

I will be disconnecting that battery when we return and putting it in the workshop on a trickle charger .Plenty of time in advance to bring it to a full charge and reinstall it ..even with a hurricane coming..

Awesome information..thanks all

Jim Schings · 10-12-2015, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by retired06

I'm having the same problem that the op has with boiling. It seems fine now, but if I disconnect the battery and put a tender on it. Will any damage be done to the converter while plugged into shore? There's still voltage going through the cables, will that hurt anything?

No. No damage will be done...

retired06 · 10-12-2015, 07:23 PM

OK, thanks Jim.

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