Tried to blow up MH this morning apparently; Need charging/battery help

red_georgia

Advanced Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2020
Messages
42
Need Battery/charging expert. 2021 Dynamax ISata5. Has 3 AGM RV batteries in coach in parallel. Have had no previous electrical problems. Over the past couple of weeks, I've had coach out of garage, unplugged, while working on stuff in shop a couple of times. Always put back in shop at night and have forgotten to plug in for 1-3 days. After plugging in, charging system goes on full bore pulling large amperage. Charger screen would read "Absorption Charging/14+ volts" and "50+ amps". While the charging was happening, it was generating a decent amount of heat/odor in the garage. Then comes this morning.....

Had it out of shop yesterday and pulled in in last night....forgot to plug it in again. Remembered this morning about 4am and plugged it in. Went back in house for 2nd cup of coffee. Went back into garage about 6am, garage was "full" of fumes (very strong odor), CO2 detector going off in coach signaling "propane" odors (didn't smell like propane but definitely strong chemical smell). One of the three batteries was "very warm" to the touch...just short of HOT. It also sounded like it was boiling/gurgling on inside. Charger was on "Absorption Charging/14.6V/56 AMP", incoming feed was reading 9 AMPs on line 1.

Fearing a battery was preparing to explode, I turned off charger, turned off battery switch and ventilated garage and coach.

So, what do you think?
1. One bad battery getting ready to explode on off gassing?
2. Charger malfunction and over charging?
3. Recommendation?

Thanks for the read!
 
I’ll leave it to the exerts to help with your situation.

However, you have a CO monitor. (Carbon Monoxide)
Humans exhale CO2. (Carbon Dioxide)

I would leave things unplugged until others chime in to help you.
 
If the batteries are needing that kind of charge after a few days, they are probably weak. If AGM batteries bubble, they are shot. Don't try to charge them.
 
Keep coach unplugged. Let battery(s) cool off completely. Air out battery compartment and garage. Carefully disconnect batteries (minimal sparking) and take batteries to be tested.

A buddy just had this happen to him except that his battery exploded before he could get it unplugged and cooled off. Now that was a mess!

Oh, it is probably just a bad battery, but use a multi-meter to test charging system to be sure.
 
anyone play with battery wiring?

disconnect each battery and charge it up using a battery charger
have each battery checked with a load tester

are you sure 3 batteries are suppose to be together?
what are the voltages of each!

from other threads they mention DUAL agm battery as standard
 
Had this happen with my flooded lead acid batteries once. It was rapidly boiling, so hot you couldn't touch it and off gassing really bad. Battery was shot.
 
Actually I had 4 batteries in parallel. Replaced the boiling battery and everything seems to be back to normal. Also installed a battery monitoring system (had it for two years and never found time to install it). Drawing 1.5amps with the random parasitic draws from coach, most of it coming from the inverter/charge in standby mode. Monitor says I have 6-7 days of life at that level of load. 324AmpHours of batteries installed. What sucks is I think that one of Duracell AGMs I added two years ago (doubling battery bank) probably had a slight short right from factory as I wasn't getting more than a day of use even with minor draws on.
 
At least you got two years out of your Duracell. I put one in my car September 8, 2024 and it was shot by January 19, 2025.
 

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