Check your batteries' trickle chargers! - Fiberglass RV
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Old 01-03-2011, 08:41 PM   #1
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Check your batteries' trickle chargers!

Sorry battery, I originally had it pluralized .

Well I have a couple batteries on some trickle chargers in the basement, one is on a simple little plug in type and the other (my deep cycle RV battery) is on an actual charger with a trickle setting. There is another switch that is START or CHARGE. I of course had it on trickle and charge. A couple of weeks ago my wife said "Hey, I unplugged your batteries, they sounded like they were boiling . I thought she was a bit nuts as I never heard anything, but I am gone during the week. So I plugged it back in thinking the wife was crazy. It happened again, so I thought I better take a look at the charger, YUP, somebody, maybe my 6 yo flicked the switch to START.

Well, this new years we took the RV to a friends and the battery worked fine. Question is, what will the overcharging do if anything to the battery as it still seems to work for now, but I did not put it under any kind of stress, just some lights. Do you think this may have caused permanent damage?
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Old 01-03-2011, 11:23 PM   #2
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Check the water level in the cells. I think the real danger is boiling one dry. Then it blows up! We had this happen once on a mazda millenia, and it dented the car hood. No idea what it would do to glass.

Check out the section on "fluid level" under "use and maintenance"

Automotive battery - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Old 01-04-2011, 12:55 AM   #3
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Got it, thanks, I'll check the fluid level and add distilled if there are removable caps.
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Old 01-04-2011, 04:38 PM   #4
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Got it, thanks, I'll check the fluid level and add distilled if there are removable caps.
Charging your batteries in the basement may not be a good idea. They can give off flammable gas.

Andy
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Old 01-04-2011, 05:34 PM   #5
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There is no way the battery would give off enough hydrogen to get the concentration of gas to the lower explosive limit, I'm not worried about that.
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Old 01-04-2011, 08:19 PM   #6
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There is no way the battery would give off enough hydrogen to get the concentration of gas to the lower explosive limit, I'm not worried about that.
"Hey, I unplugged your batteries, they sounded like they were boiling ."

The batteries may have been giving off quite a bit of gas when this was going on.
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Old 01-04-2011, 09:23 PM   #7
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I hear you, but that situation was remedied, and the pilot on the furnace didn't make my basement go high order, LOL, also hydrogen is lighter than air and would rise and dissipate and not settle near the floor.
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Old 01-06-2011, 02:18 AM   #8
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this happened in an RV I owned once... I now use a small 2A AUTOMATIC charger. it shuts off when the battery is done charging. I also wired a lighter socket into my trailer that I can plug a solar charger into... it also has an automatic shutoff feature. I plug the panel in and throw the collector on the roof whe I don't have 110 volts.
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Old 01-06-2011, 02:22 AM   #9
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and NEVER store a battery on concrete. kills them dead
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Old 01-06-2011, 06:04 AM   #10
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and NEVER store a battery on concrete. kills them dead

I never understood why or how this may be true, does anyone know?
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Old 01-06-2011, 06:10 AM   #11
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Hello to all. Lead acid batteries scare me . They produce explosive gas and are filled with a caustic liquid. I treat them with the utmost respect. Years ago I found the battery on my trailer was discharging when not in use, Even with everything off it was on. I measured a small current of 45 mA that turned out was due to the propane detector. I started disconnecting the battery every time we got home, but found when I did that I got a spark so I installed a screw type in line fuse holder. Now I disconnect at the holder to avoid a spark near the battery.

Next, I installed an AGM (absorption glass mat) battery. High initial cost but are the best choice for this application for a lot of reasons which I'm sure have been covered on this forum. And I prefer to charge it outside.

As far as discharging on a concrete floor, I looked into this awhile back. It seems way back when, battery cases were made of wood and would leak. The leakage and the moist concrete floor would provide a conduction path that would discharge the battery. The plastic case eliminates that issue.

Have a good one, Raz
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Old 01-06-2011, 06:31 AM   #12
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I never understood why or how this may be true, does anyone know?
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and NEVER store a battery on concrete. kills them dead
For modern batteries it is a myth.

Well, it does have some historic fact. Long ago batteries were glass but came in wooden crates and could leak their charge sitting upon concrete. But that changed maybe a 100 years or so ago. As battery construction became more modern the charge became more isolated. You may now set them just about anywhere. The myth, though, persists to this day, as we parrot what we learned so long ago. It is peculiar just how strong this myth remains with us. I know better yet I am still uncomfortable storing my battery upon concrete.
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Old 01-06-2011, 06:58 AM   #13
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I know better yet I am still uncomfortable storing my battery upon concrete.
Nuthin' wrong with better to be safe than sorry.

Woulda, shoulda, coulda can oftentime be an expensive lesson.
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Old 01-06-2011, 10:20 AM   #14
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For modern batteries it is a myth.
Hi John,
In 1985 I had a modern plastic case battery that obviously didn't know about this myth. One month on dry concrete in the basement was all it took. Since then i usually use short pieces of 2 x 4 under the battery and that seems to work.
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Old 01-09-2011, 10:16 PM   #15
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See www.batteryfaq.org/ for more good information.

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Old 01-10-2011, 02:22 PM   #16
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Update, my battery was very low on water, filled it back up and it charged up fine, glad it wasn't dead. Also, it was still working before I filled it up with distilled water. Back on trickle charge and it shows it's fully charged.
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Old 01-10-2011, 05:51 PM   #17
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I killed a new deep cycle last winter. had it on wood blocks but somehow it was moves to the basement floor... dead!

those new ones that look like 6 cans of pop may be different.


[QUOTE=John Hussey;233155]For modern batteries it is a myth.
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Old 01-12-2011, 06:29 PM   #18
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There is no way the battery would give off enough hydrogen to get the concentration of gas to the lower explosive limit, I'm not worried about that.
Believe a battery can explode.....maybe not your basement but that battery sure can and I'll detonate it for you if you wanna see......while its boiling
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Old 01-12-2011, 08:26 PM   #19
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I don't think I said that a battery can't explode, but I did say that I didn't think it would give off enough flammable gas in my basement to cause an explosion due to buildup of hydrogen offgassing. I have seen batteries explode.
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Old 01-12-2011, 09:38 PM   #20
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As DC current is passing through a lead acid battery it charges the battery by changing PbSO4 to Pb on the negative electrode and PbSO4 to PbO2 and on the positive electrode. Any excess current electrolyzes water to 2:1 stoichiometric mixture of hydrogen and oxygen. That mixture is highly explosive by itself, it does not need air. If battery bubbles due to charging it is either boiling hot making water vapor or produces the stoichiometric mixture of hydrogen and oxygen. I cannot explain “concrete phenomena” but potential of explosion of overcharged battery is definitely probable.
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