My battery boiled out during winter storage!

Why did this happen?

Everyone,,

I saw this post on the Forest River Forums a few months ago.

Can anyone tell me what going on with the battery in my camper? It won't hold a charge. It's smoking, I hear it hissing and I smell rotten eggs. The battery is not even a year old yet. I let it in my camper over winter, and kept it plugged into my electricity. I'm sure I've ruined it, but thought I would ask the experts first. I took the battery out and here’s what it looks like. - JSC

Hey JSC,

Looks like your RV doesn’t have a 3-stage converter/charger. Either that, or the converter failed to go into Float mode. Plus, how often do you check the water level in your battery. Here’s how a 3-stage charger is supposed to work.

• Bulk Charging: This initial stage quickly charges the battery, providing a high current to bring it to about 80% capacity.

• Absorption Charging: Once the battery reaches a certain level (typically 80%), the charger switches to Absorption mode, which maintains a constant voltage (around 14.1v - 14.8v) to bring the battery to full charge.

• Float Charging:

  Finally, the charger enters Float mode, which keeps the battery fully charged at 100% and maintains a slightly lower voltage (around 13.6v) to prevent overcharging and maintain battery health.

It appears your RV either has an old-school 2-stage charger, or something failed in your 3-stage charger that kept it from going into float mode. However, it could also be that you never checked your battery water/electrolyte level. If you’re plugged into shore power, the electrolyte level should be checked and refilled with distilled water every few months. In fact, I’ve seen a few RV batteries that needed the battery water filled every month.

Recommendations

If you don’t want to spend money on a Lithium Battery (which really isn’t needed unless you boondock) I think that an AGM battery is a better solution than an FLA (Flooded Lead Acid) battery since it doesn’t require checking the water level.

And if you don’t have a modern 3-stage converter/charger then you should get a float charger that can be used to keep your battery fully charged without over charging it and boiling out the water. Once the electrolyte (water plus sulphuric acid) begins to boil from overcharging, it’s all over but the crying.

Companies like Battery Tender make float chargers that carefully monitor your battery charge level to prevent overcharging. This is safer than just plugging your RV with a 2-stage charger into shore power and hoping it doesn’t over- charge your battery and destroy it. Here’s what I use on my shop batteries. You can find it on Amazon HERE.

Let’s play (and charge) safely out there… Mike

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