Battery heat while charging

[fot3]

How hot should my group 24 battery get while connected to 30 amp shore power charging. Also I can hear a distinct click sound under front of my 2002 Wildwood 30BHSS LTD while battery is charging. Is all of this normal?
Started with 2.0 Volts will the on board charger bring it back
Thanks for any advice.

[waiter21]

OUCH - If your battery was reading 2 volt, you may be looking for a new battery. Check the water level in the battery, make sure its well ventilated as it will be producing a lot of hydrogen gas.

It may recover, but usually when you run it down below about 9 volts, its a crap shoot.

How are you charging it?

Do you plug into shore power?

What model converter do you have? (i.e. is it a three stage or single stage)

[Herk7769]

IMO, no way. You are risking a fire.

2 volts on a 12 volt battery means several cells are shorted internally.

Turn it in for a core and get a new one.

[Flybob]

I suggest if you want to try to recover that battery ( down to 2V) you take it out of the RV, Check/fill the cells with distilled water and charge it with an external charger away from any structure. If it was low over the winter and you live in a cold climate, it could have easily frozen and cracked and is most likely destroyed. Either way, if you try to recover it it should be charged outside ( open air ) and away from anything that can burn. If it were me, I would trade it in on a new one. Even if you get it to take a charge ( unlikely) it will not hold the charge.

[Herk7769]

If the battery lets go, acid will splash everywhere.
Best not to risk it.

[camaraderie]

X2 on Herks advice

[DickiedooFlagman]

If you are going to replace the battery (a good idea), choose a good one, like Trojan deep cycle. And purchase the largest one that will fit into the available space - a group 27 or group 31. And best would be two 6v deep cycle batteries wired in series to give 12v and double the Ah. Space providing, of course.

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by DickiedooFlagman

If you are going to replace the battery (a good idea), choose a good one, like Trojan deep cycle. And purchase the largest one that will fit into the available space - a group 27 or group 31. And best would be two 6v deep cycle batteries wired in series to give 12v and double the Ah. Space providing, of course.

Two six volt batteries in series will not double the AH; it doubles the voltage.
Two 12 volt batteries in parallel will double the AH, but not the voltage.

Example:

Two 12 volt batteries with 100 AH each, when piggybacked (Parallel Operation) will yield a 12 volt "bank" of 200 AH

Two 6 volt batteries of 200 AH each when connected in series will yield a 12 volt bank of 200 AH.

[Flybob]

Herk
Think you meant to say
Two 12 volt batteries in parallel will double the Ah

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by Flybob

Herk
Think you meant to say
Two 12 volt batteries in parallel will double the Ah

Yep! What the Captain meant to say!

[camaraderie]

fot3...The battery choice discussion above is fine if you dry camp a lot. (Though I would never do a single pair of 6V since if one fails you are dead in the water. 6V's are great if you have room for 4...otherwise stick with 12V.

If you don't boondock much...then all the talk about good batteries and 6V v. 12V is largely moot. Just get a single true deep cycle 12V if that is all you have now.

The larger concern is HOW your present battery got to 2V.
If it was sheer negligence...then no big deal. Live and learn.
But if your converter killed it...then it may be time for a new modern one since they weren't using them in 2002. The progressive brand converters or the Iotas ...with smart charging would be good choices and you want to size them at 20-30% of the amp hours in your battery bank for best results.

To test your converter once you have your new battery installed...take a reading at the battery terminals with a voltmeter...BEFORE plugging in the power cord to anything. If you are seeing from 12.4 to 12.7 volts...turn a few 12V lights etc. on for a while until the voltage drops below 12.4...but don't let it go into the 11V range...stay above 12.
NOW plug in and take a measurment with the voltmeter at the battery terminal after about 5 minutes. You should see voltage in the 14.0-14.5 range which is coming from the converter. If you see more....immediately UNPLUG... and replace the converter.
If you see nothing other than the 12V you saw before...then check fuses and breakers as the converter is not working...replace fuses and try again...or replace converter if it is just dead. Less than 14V but over 13V means everything is working but you aren't in bulk charging mode...not a big deal if you don't boondock as you will eventually get charged up.
good luck

[mud yapster]

They are dead time for new ones and make sure your converter is working properly. Keep up with the water level in it if you buy wet cell battery. It's ok we have all neglected a battery sometime in our lives.

[DickiedooFlagman]

Originally Posted by Herk7769

Yep! What the Captain meant to say!

You guys are correct, my bad. Fingers got ahead of my head. Thanks for the catch.

[fot3]

Thanks for all your help, I'm going to just replace but was curious because it did seem too hot. I do usually stay at a campground so we are always connected to shoreline so no boondocking any time soon.

[waiter21]

Single stage converters (the power supply and battery charger) do a poor job of keeping your battery happy, but if you rarely use your battery, who cares. A three stage converter would be much better at maintaining and charging your battery at correct voltage levels.

If you never use your battery, you can even disconnect it and rely solely on shore power.

Check your battery water level a couple times a year. (only use distilled water). If your not plugged into shore power for any length of time (a few weeks or longer, consider disconnecting the battery if you don't have a disconnect switch. Try to plan ahead and disconnect the battery when its fully charged.