Smoking Batteries (was: Battery problem in our Parkliner)

[mary and bob]

I have a disconnect switch, and as I recall with the PD4045 there is a jumper that has to be removed when a disconnect switch is used.

[Thomas G.]

I installed a cut off switch and a 30 amp circuit breaker right at the terminal, outside the battery box.

Heavy Duty Battery Cutoff Switch


Bussmann BP/CBC-30HB Type I 30 Amp Circuit Breaker Two 10-32 Threaded Studs : Amazon.com : Automotive

[Bob Miller]

As "un-nice" as it sounds, a good reason for disconnecting the battery when storing your rig is critters that like to chew on wires. Mr. Mouse chewing through the insulation on a hot wire can lead to a short/fire.

[deryk]

Well Bob either way would end up with a fire if the mouse chews a hot wire. Im planning on adding a solar panel at the end of the summer so it would keep power getting pumped into the batteries all winter long. I do use mine in the winter as well so it won't just be sitting in the driveway (unless its a real snowy winter).

[cpaharley2008]

Hopefully mice will not get in the trailer. Funny story about mice in my shed. I noticed that they stopped leaving their markers behind one year and was puzzled? I went out one morning to pull out my lawn tractor to cut my lawn and when I sat down on the seat, it moved? I sat up and there was this black snake curled up on my seat. I do not think my feet touched the ground on the way back to the house. I did not cut my grass that summer, hired a lawn service. No mice but I lost my use of my tractor, for awhile!!
Moral of story, do not get a snake if you want to eliminate mice.

[deryk]

lol too funny Jim!

[Bob Miller]

The idea being that if Mr. Mouse did chew through a wire, and the battery was disconnected, when you connect the battery the chances of noticing the short before it burns the rig to the axles might be better than if it was sitting in the middle of a storage yard and the battery was connected when the short occured.

Even the slighest load, such as the standby current on a TV or a Radio, will drag down a battery over a period of months. That, in addition to the fire risk, are good reasons to always disconnet the battery during any storage over even a few weeks.

And, if I had a solar battery keeper, I would wire that direct to the battery to be able to still disconnect the rest of the loads and wiring during storage.

[Ken C]

"but I am not as concerned about airborne gases with our setup."


I think I will stick with Optimajim's advice, gasses are both flammable and toxic, we would never recommend installing an unvented battery in any enclosed space.

[OptimaJim]

Thom, Carol, Brian & Ken I'm always happy to help (and pretty easy to find). Ken, all of our batteries can be safely mounted on their sides, although we encourage folks to orient the vent ports toward the top side of the battery in those instances.

Scott, your calculations regarding your parasitic draw are correct- a 46-milliamp draw will discharge a battery (or batteries) at a rate of about 1.1 amps per day. Two Group D34M batteries will have a combined capacity of 110 Amp hours, which means they can power a 46-milliamp draw for just under 100 days before they are considered completely discharged. However, that assumes the batteries are fully-charged when they go into storage, which isn't always the case and ignores the fact that sulfation will begin forming in the plates once the batteries are discharged below about 12.4 volts, which may happen well before those 100 days are up. Solar maintainers are a nice option, provided they are properly-regulated.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
OPTIMA® Batteries (optimabatteries) on Pinterest

[GMike A]

Concerning maintenance I have purchased the chargers which provide a desulphation mode which I believe provides a timed application of low voltage AC across the plates to prevent or displace sulphates. Would this not be better then the solar charger. I think that particular charger would be great in limited use lets say while its outside over a long weekend or at worst where shore power is not available. Just asking.
thanks

[GMike A]

I just saw this on YouTube and wonder if you could comment on it. I know of sulphation and its consequences and this seems significant.
Thanks again

Nanopulser Battery Desulphation "Live" - Inside View - YouTube

[deryk]

Well I'm gonna try to get into my battery area and take a few measure ments I honestly don't know if a vented battery box will fit. Its real tight in their with breaker panel, water tank, and everything else. Wish they only made the battery serious that you would just have to add a hose to it....seems to me that it would make the most sense.

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by deryk

......Wish they only made the battery so that you would just have to add a hose to it....seems to me that it would make the most sense.

Agree. Maybe OptimaJim can suggest something.

[Jon Vermilye]

Originally Posted by GMike A

Concerning maintenance I have purchased the chargers which provide a desulphation mode which I believe provides a timed application of low voltage AC across the plates to prevent or displace sulphates. Would this not be better then the solar charger. I think that particular charger would be great in limited use lets say while its outside over a long weekend or at worst where shore power is not available. Just asking.
thanks

Depends on the solar charger. My GoPower controller is a 4 stage charger & does a desulphation or equalization stage every 28 days, or whenever the battery voltage falls below 12.1V. It has 3 battery profiles, so it can be shut off for those battery types that are not happy with a equalization cycle.

[Francesca Knowles]

Originally Posted by deryk

Well I'm gonna try to get into my battery area and take a few measure ments I honestly don't know if a vented battery box will fit. Its real tight in their with breaker panel, water tank, and everything else. Wish they only made the battery serious that you would just have to add a hose to it....seems to me that it would make the most sense.

Why not rig something up like a hairdryer bonnet? Here's a pic of what that is for all you Persons of the Male Persuasion :



Seems like an interior frame could be used to keep it from lying down on the batteries...

Francesca

[Byron Kinnaman]

Maybe somebody can enlighten me a bit.
The OP was about two batteries spitting out liquid.
In the pursuit of an answer of why did the batteries spit out liquid it was discovered there was a basic design issue concerning battery placement. The rest of this thread has been about attempting to band-aid that placement. Isn't that the trailer manufacturer's problem? Shouldn't ParkLiner be in the middle of this?

Also I don't believe it was ever said what the root cause. Somebody somewhere said is was the batteries. But it was also said that was very unlikely that both batteries would fail at the same time. So what was the root cause of the initial battery failure?

[deryk]

Nope Byron....it wasn't the manuf problem it was a battery problem.... unfortunately I'm on my phone and can't add the link to save you reading back a page or 3.

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

Maybe somebody can enlighten me a bit.
The OP was about two batteries spitting out liquid.
In the pursuit of an answer of why did the batteries spit out liquid it was discovered there was a basic design issue concerning battery placement. The rest of this thread has been about attempting to band-aid that placement. Isn't that the trailer manufacturer's problem? Shouldn't ParkLiner be in the middle of this?

Also I don't believe it was ever said what the root cause. Somebody somewhere said is was the batteries. But it was also said that was very unlikely that both batteries would fail at the same time. So what was the root cause of the initial battery failure?

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by deryk

Nope Byron....it wasn't the manuf problem it was a battery problem.... unfortunately I'm on my phone and can't add the link to save you reading back a page or 3...........

It would be nice if the batteries were installed in such a way that if the batteries spit out hydrogen or acid, the occupants are not endangered.

It seems like the batteries got super discharged, but I guess we don't know that for a fact.

[Francesca Knowles]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

Also I don't believe it was ever said what the root cause. Somebody somewhere said is was the batteries. But it was also said that was very unlikely that both batteries would fail at the same time. So what was the root cause of the initial battery failure?

It was the O.P. reporting what Camping World diagnosed as the problem who stated it as "bad batteries" or words to that effect. As I understand it there was nothing in the placement/wiring/converter that caused the meltdown. I'm not sure whether/how Parkliner could explain about the batteries themselves...

I'm interested in what causes/constitutes "bad batteries", too. Maybe Optima Mike can help us out as to possible causes for that since he's familiar with the battery type.

Francesca

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by Francesca Knowles

It was the O.P. reporting what Camping World diagnosed as the problem who stated it as "bad batteries" or words to that effect. As I understand it is there was nothing in the placement/wiring/converter that caused the meltdown.

I'm interested in what causes/constitutes "bad batteries", too...maybe Optima Mike can help us out as to possible causes for that since he's familiar with the battery type.

Francesca

Thanks I found it. Not sure I would trust Camping World for a correct diagnosis.

I hope somebody sends those batteries back to Johnson Controls/Optima for evaluation.

That still doesn't solve the location/design issue.