Boiled battery
Hi all,
very new caravanner here so please excuse my lack of knowledge.
We have a Sterling Eccles Jewel 2006 and have only been away in it twice.
the van has been at home and for the last 2 weeks hooked up to the house electrical supply with no issues, the battery charger switch has been continuously switched on as I believed this was the correct thing to do and the charger would regulate itself.
Last week I heard our carbon monoxide alarm going off with 25ppm showing on the monitor, strong gas/egg smell coming from inside the van, there has been no gas on and on the off chance I checked the battery as it was the only thing I knew was being powered.
Needless to say the battery was boiling hot! I disconnected and let cool down, I put a multimeter on it and it showed 11.1v I have hooked it up to my motorbike smart charger which has a recovery mode and can charge up to 125amp to 14.7v so I presume it would be enough for a 110amp battery.
48hrs later it’s still at 11.2v so I presume it’s goosed?
anyone any ideas what’s went wrong?
should the charger not be left continuously on?
how do I know if it is the the battery that has failed or if there is a fault with the charger?
battery is possibly 5/6 years old and has always been on ehu sites and just really used to power a mover and not many times a year.
battery is ‘vechline’ branded 110amp.
apologies for the longwinded post but hopefully it makes sense and has all info needed for your assistance.
Thank you.
Comments
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A battery that is 5/6 years old is probably due for replacement anyway.
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I don’t think that anyone will disagree that you’ll need to replace the battery, which was likely within the next two years anyway. Older chargers weren’t, smart, but smart chargers have progressively become the norm over the last decade. Older chargers didn’t normally cause battery failures like yours. I’d google the model member of your charger to see if others have had the problem, maybe you’ll find it’s specification too. Then there’s always the manufactures customer support team to try.
A quick tip - if your charger model number is hard to read, at the rear, too small etc, photograph it with your smart phone and view the picture in comfort, without a cricked neck.
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Your battery has failed but it’s done well. Charger probably OK but difficult to say - it should give around 13.8 volts. If it is giving a lot more or less then there is something wrong.
For your type of charger you should not leave it on continuously as the battery life will be reduced although it should not result in catastrophic failure as you have experienced. The older chargers (and in many new caravans) are mainly for top-up and maintain and periodically you should take the battery out and recharge with your smart charger, especially if you have been using off of EHU and the battery is discharged.
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I would replace both battery and charger in van, then if your away for 2/3 weeks on EHU you will be safe from this happening again ( that is if you put a smart charger in ) and will help when stored at home as don't have to keep taking battery out to recharge so don't have to buy a smart charger for home use. if you can understand what I am saying. Better safe than sorry.
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Even with a smart charger, a duff battery will overheat as it tries to bring the cells up to fully charged level. Just after buying my MH, I connected the hookup and left it on for a couple of days. Upon opening the battery compartment to check on things, it was red hot and, had I not done so, the consequences don't bear thinking about. Replaced the battery and the charger behaved as expected. I wouldn't rush to replace the charger until it is proven to be faulty.
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I imagine that replacing the charger with a smart charger could cost £150 - £200 when there is a good chance that the original charger is OK. Also, the OP states that he uses his caravan on EHU so a smart charger is not really worth the extra cost.
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Replacement isn’t just a matter of cost, it’s also one of complexity. It’s fairly likely that your van electrics are built from modules with multi pin plugs at the end of multi wire pieces of a loom, to minimise assembly costs. There’s no chance of an up to date charger matching your van wiring’s multi plugs, so you’d have to identify the role of each wire and match it to the correct pin on a compatible plug.
Unless you are certain that the charger has failed, I’d leave well alone. If it really has failed, it may be worth investigating the possibility of a manufacturer’s repair/ exchange.
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There is no need to replace any charger unless its faulty. All chargers will have a final charging voltage of around 13.8 volts.
The only advantage of a smart charger is its ability to charge a discharged battery quicker, I've had both types with my latest a multi stage one in a 2017 swift, it does nothing that my last caravan charger did, which was a single stage.
Both can be left on permanently, but I personally only do that when the caravan is in use, and even then often turn it off and use solar only.
As for a battery needing changing at 5 years, well my last battery was 9 years old, as the one before it was.
A battery or charger of any age can go faulty, a smart charger can boil a battery by giving out 14.4 volts continually, and a battery can develop a shorted cell, resulting again in the charger both single and multistage boiling the battery.
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Not strictly true that the only difference is charge time. A regular charger will provide 13.8 volts which is not enough to recharge a discharged battery for which you need 14.4volts (for a sealed battery). A smart charging system will take the battery off line when EHU is available and recharge it properly. Also, a regular charger will damage a battery if permanently connected whereas a decent smart charger will ramp down the voltage and current to maintain a trickle charge. Even cheap trickle chargers are not necessarily designed for permanent connection.
Take your van off of EHU if not needed to protect both charger and battery.
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