Out dry camping an my battery got low so I started the generator an also hooked up a separate battery charger. I left it on for about 6 hours an when I checked it the battery was hot to touch an was emitting fumes, now my control panel will only read 1 light when you push the buttons to tell you battery status. Any idea what it will take to fix this?
Control Panel
- Thread starter Dick 641
- Start date
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uchu
Well-known member
Welcome to the forum.
By your account, you probably overcharged and killed the battery. Time for a replacement.
By your account, you probably overcharged and killed the battery. Time for a replacement.
Babe2201
Well-known member
How old are the batteries? Usually when a battery emits fumes it is junk.
Ksouers
Well-known member
Replace the battery. If you are smelling sulphur, you’ve already cooked it to death. You likely have very little electrolyte left. I would wager it was probably low when you started charging. What is the battery chemistry? Flooded lead-acid, AGM?
Have a peek inside the cells if it’s flooded, it’s likely very dry. DO NOT ADD MORE WATER to try to save it, that will only make more explosive hydrogen gas and sulphur fumes, increasing the risk of a fire or explosion. Make sure that you keep up on maintenance on the replacement.
Kevin
Have a peek inside the cells if it’s flooded, it’s likely very dry. DO NOT ADD MORE WATER to try to save it, that will only make more explosive hydrogen gas and sulphur fumes, increasing the risk of a fire or explosion. Make sure that you keep up on maintenance on the replacement.
Kevin
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Kirk
Well-known member
As others have said, replace the battery. There are several possible things which could have caused this and none are good. If the battery was low on electrolyte, has a shorted cell, is badly sulfated, or any of several other conditions can cause this. Probably the most likely would be shorted or sulfated but once it has been hot and outgassing like that it is usually damaged beyond recovery, even if the only cause was low electrolyte.
Mark_K5LXP
Well-known member
Throwing the BS flag on this one. Adding water will not cause any of those things to happen.
In order for any battery to get hot and vent there has to be a bunch of current going through it after it reaches 100% charged. The two primary causes for that are a bad charger, or a shorted cell in the battery. If you have any electrolyte left you can try measuring specific gravity in each cell. That will usually reveal if one cell is low or dead. Often the dead cell will have more electrolyte in it than the others. Watching the battery voltage under load will also show a weak or dead cell after a relatively short operating period. Odds are high this battery is mortally wounded and there's no bringing it back, but I would make sure before you get too far with the next one that the charger is operating properly or you'll repeat this process.
Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
Ksouers
Well-known member
Adding water by itself will do nothing. But adding water AND trying to charge it again to save it will cause more heat and outgassing creating a dangerous situation.
Kevin
Mark_K5LXP
Well-known member
OK, but you have to add water to do any recovery attempt, which would include some degree of charging to mix the electrolyte. In that you're correct, you wouldn't just add water and press on as though nothing happened, you'd watch it and see what the problem was. Generally when things go this far south the battery is not long for the world anyway and you'd have to address it no matter what. Even if you did ignore it and let it get hot and vent again, eventually everything stops working on it's own. The only time it's venting is while it's being overcharged, so remove the charge source and the gassing and heating stops with it.
Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
Ex-Calif
Well-known member
What's the date code on the battery and how low did you get it? If the charger has an amp meter, how many amps was it pushing into the battery?
Sort of rhetorical questions. The battery is junk at this point.
Domo
Well-known member
Do you have a multimeter and can you measure voltage of the battery with the battery charger disconnected after 15 minutes of sitting without the charger connected?
That simple voltage reading will tell us more, very quickly.... however, others are correct - all electronic devices operate on magical internal "smoke and mirrors" - if you let the smoke out the device seldom works again. (Yes, I'm being sarcastic - but the effects are true... if you see smoke, something fried that shouldn't have.)
Let's hope you just had some innocent water vapor escaping!
That simple voltage reading will tell us more, very quickly.... however, others are correct - all electronic devices operate on magical internal "smoke and mirrors" - if you let the smoke out the device seldom works again. (Yes, I'm being sarcastic - but the effects are true... if you see smoke, something fried that shouldn't have.)
Let's hope you just had some innocent water vapor escaping!
Ksouers
Well-known member
And that was the point I was trying to convey, perhaps clumsily. A warning that it's a lost cause, and replacement is the only practical solution. The battery is dead and there is no need, and perhaps dangerous, to try to recover it.
The OP stated he added an additional charger to the battery, a bad practice with expected results. Not enough data to draw any conclusions about the condition of the chargers other than it's bad practice to use multiple chargers resulting in the situations described.
The attached picture is the result of failure to religiously keep maintenance practices, even for a little bit. This was one in a 24 volt string for my small off-grid solar farm, I let my rebalance rotation slide for too long. When I did finally rotate the batteries, the electrolyte on this one was low so I topped it off and put it back in the string in a different location. I should have been suspicious noting that this battery needed more water than the others. Ignition source was probably a spark from an electric motor. Lesson learned, the hard way. It made quite the impression.
Kevin
Mark_K5LXP
Well-known member
Spontaneous rapid disassembly can be a harsh lesson. Even "good" batteries can suffer from it so caution needs to be exercised whenever servicing them. Acid spray in the face and eyes will really ruin your day. I think it's a pretty rare occurrence but I can see your point to not tempt fate. Just making the distinction it's not the addition of water that's the risk, it's the application of charge current into what might be a wounded battery.
Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
tlmgcamp
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 16, 2016
- Posts
- 834
Piggybacking my question on this thread, but I think the answer my be helpful to those reading this. My TT came with a 100w panel and a control unit that I will send pic when I can. I believe that the panel continuously charges to battery. Since there is no switch to disconnect the panel, am I at risk of cooking the battery?
Mark_K5LXP
Well-known member
By definition, the "control unit" (controller) should be adjusting the power delivered from the panel to the batteries. Unless yours is broken, it can be reasonably assumed it's doing that job for you.
Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
Ksouers
Well-known member
Arizona Wind & Sun used to have some nice documentation on batteries and controllers, but it looks like they've revamped their site quite a bit.
Mostly it will depend on the age and condition of your battery. Your panel is certainly capable of doing it if you don't pay attention to the battery. Keep up with the maintenance, inspect the electrolyte at least bi-
weekly, always keep a bottle of distilled water handy-- it's cheap. And keep the battery fully charged. Most batteries do not die a natural death, they are murdered.
Kevin
tlmgcamp
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 16, 2016
- Posts
- 834
Whole rig purchased new last spring. Documentation on controller is a bit lacking. Thanks for response
John From Detroit
Well-known member
Second. There are two (point 2) types of battery chargers and over the years (About 55) I have been driving I've used both.
One is the "Dumb" charger. it puts out around 15-16 volts.. and knows not when to quit.
Some are current limited to say 2 amps but they still overcharge (Trickle chargers) (That's the point 2)
The others (And again there is a point 2) are "Smart chargers" They actually measure battery voltage. Most put out (These numbers are rounded) about 14.5 to start with, then drop down to about 13.5 once they sense "Full up".. and again some are limited to just 1-3 amps (Battery Tender or Tender mode)
The one I have now is 70 amps for jump starting, 20 amp Buli-smart charger 2 amp Tender mode. (About a C-note at Auto zone. Deltran battery tender line)
On board converters... Like the external chargers come in both types as well.. Dumb and smart.
Some modern "Dumb" ones put out 13.6 period. Never fill the battery... Others are like the older ones that put out around 14 volts and never "Throttle Down".
Ksouers
Well-known member
If you are unsure of the parentage of your controller, personally I would replace it with a good quality one.
Morning Star has some nice affordable PWM controllers. If MPPT is more your style, I recommend Blue Sky. At your wattage, either one is fine. Just make sure it's capable of handling 8-10 amps.
Kevin
Morning Star has some nice affordable PWM controllers. If MPPT is more your style, I recommend Blue Sky. At your wattage, either one is fine. Just make sure it's capable of handling 8-10 amps.
Kevin
PeterChang
New member
The battery should be replaced, and you can use DC to DC charger to safely charge the battery.
Contributor
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