battery bulge

[keithl]

I have a question in regards to house battery during storage.

This winter my coach batteries-- 2 bulged and 1 actually cracked on 2 ends.

I had the coach plugged in to a 110 household outlet is all any ideas what could have caused it i was told by the dealer they were new as of January 2018 the 4th seems to be OK but 0 charge i am replacing them but not sure what the cause could have been. 

keith 

[sstgermain]

Sounds like the SG (specific gravity) was low and they froze.

[desertdeals69]

1 hour ago, keithl said:

i have a question in regards to house battery during storage this winter

my coach batteries 2 bulged and 1 actually cracked on 2 ends i had the 

coach plugged in to a 110 house hold outlet is all any ideas what could

have caused it i was told by the dealer they were new as of january 2018

the 4th seems to be ok but 0 charge i am replacing them but not sure 

what the cause could have been. 

keith 

Over charged.  That can happen to a brand new battery.  If you leave it plugged in the charge needs to be about 13.2 volts no higher.  A trickle charger can overcharge if left on too long.

[richard5933]

When you get the new batteries, you need to confirm the charging rates for your battery maintenance system (charger, inverter/charger, or whatever you're using.) There are specific voltage levels that the batteries need for the various levels of charge. Mine is set at 14.4v for boost mode, 13.6v for bulk charge, and 13.2v for float/maintenance mode.

If your charging at too high a voltage for too long you'll lose all your electrolyte and do damage. A fully charged battery will not freeze at winter temps in the lower 48 states.

Did you check the water level in the batteries while they were in storage?

Probably a good idea to carefully check the area under/around the batteries to make sure that there was no damage done when they cracked due to leaking battery acid.

[hermanmullins]

10 hours ago, desertdeals69 said:

Over charged.  That can happen to a brand new battery.  If you leave it plugged in the charge needs to be about 13.2 volts no higher.  A trickle charger can overcharge if left on too long.

Correct, if you want to keep your batteries on some sort of charger when stored, get a charger that is a maintainer and not a trickle charger. A maintainer will only charge as needed while a trickle charger will be on low charge all the time and can and will over charge a battery.

Herman

 

[keithl]

Yes I see now that I probably should have checked water level before storage and checked level of charge just didn’t expect the batteries to break or bulge we store in an area that doesn’t get much below 30 degrees 

[wolfe10]

Overcharge, undercharge (to total discharge) or running out of water can all cause the same symptoms-- ruined battery.

[keithl]

Considering a battery new 9 months earlier how often should a person check water level?

I'm assuming the dealer checked before installation. but i think the dealer lacks in some of there service abilities.  

[wolfe10]

Keith,

Lots of variables-- ambient temperature, depth of discharge/rate of recharge,  "regular" converter or smart (and properly programmed smart charger or inverter/charger), actual battery design etc.

Again, this is for wet cell batteries only, not AGM or Gel.

[richard5933]

49 minutes ago, keithl said:

Considering a battery new 9 months earlier how often should a person check water level?

I'm assuming the dealer checked before installation. but i think the dealer lacks in some of there service abilities.  

I check monthly. It's easy for me to check the house batteries since I have a watering system installed. All I have to do is connect the water supply hose to the system, drop the other end into a jug of distilled water, and then squeeze the rubber bulb until resistance is felt. Here's a link to what I use - they are available to fit most batteries out there and will vary from brand to brand:

https://www.trojanbattery.com/products/hydrolink-watering-system/

Checking the chassis start and generator batteries is done the old fashioned way - remove the caps and look inside with a flashlight. I do that about once every 6 weeks or so. To make it easier to get the water in those batteries I use a opaque squeeze bottle like you find at a restaurant supply.

The more a battery is discharged and recharged, and the more it's charged at higher voltage levels (first stage of charging) the more water is lost.

[ianbullock]

22 hours ago, richard5933 said:

I check monthly. 

I agree with Richard.  I pretty much check once a month, or as soon as possible thereafter if I have forgotten,,,,