Community Forums

sawmillman · 09-11-2018, 11:12 AM

Hello everyone,
New batteries were put in about 6 months ago. It's 4, 6volt Interstates. I noticed almost immediately there seemed to be a little corrosion starting which I thought was unusual so soon. I looked a little closer today and noticed they are gassing around the terminals, you can see it bubbling. Getting really corroded. The strange thing to me is it isn't, or hasn't been plugged in to power or started in a couple of weeks. Any thoughts would b appreciated. I'm going to go out and clean them off and check the water levels now.

Old-Biscuit · 09-11-2018, 11:28 AM

YOU have a DC short somewhere ........possibly a bad cell

Need to disconnect the cables....(MARK THEM)
Then check EACH cell specific gravity using a hydrometer

Batteries do not boil/off gas unless excessive charging or DC short

Also......not wired correctly with cause boiling

FOUR 6V batteries
Wired in SERIES (2 batteries) and then PARALLEL (2 sets)

winniman · 09-11-2018, 11:38 AM

What is the voltage that the batteries are getting. Plugged into shore power, the converter should only be giving the batteries low 13 volts after the batteries are charged. Maybe your converter is messed up, and not dropping to float voltages. As stated, check all connections.

twinboat · 09-11-2018, 11:41 AM

Do you have solar panels on the roof ?

Skip426 · 09-11-2018, 11:41 AM

CAUTION !!!

If the batteries are off gassing , the vapor is explosive as well as corrosive.

Don't smoke anywhere near the batteries , and vent the area well before disconnecting . Any spark can be dangerous in this situation.

ONE of your new batteries may have an internal issue , causing the other three to try and bring it back up, by high rate discharging themselves .

If you had the batteries installed close by , call the supplier and have them tested.

Fiesta48 · 09-11-2018, 12:08 PM

Once you fix the problem, clean all the terminals well then put grease on them. It stops all corrusion.
I also put 4oz mineral oil in every cell to reduce corrusion. It does not hurt the batteries.

sawmillman · 09-11-2018, 12:32 PM

I checked to see if they were wired correctly, they are, thanks for the diagram. When plugged into shore or generator power it would always be around 13.3. It does have a solar panel on the roof ac that I suppose it came with. I figured it never worked because the light on the inside that should be on when the batteries will accept a charge has never been on. I'll check for the dead cells next. It always seems to accept and hold a charge as it should based on the volt meter battery test on the electric panel inside.

twinboat · 09-11-2018, 12:51 PM

Check the voltage AT the batteries on a sunny day.

13.4 is OK from the solar. Anything more, after a day or so, is to high.

vsheetz · 09-11-2018, 01:27 PM

If you have a multistage charger. Check proper charging voltages set in each stage. Interstate states a high absorption voltage - mine were gassing until I brought the voltage down a bit.

twinboat · 09-11-2018, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vsheetz

If you have a multistage charger. Check proper charging voltages set in each stage. Interstate states a high absorption voltage - mine were gassing until I brought the voltage down a bit.

He is dry storing it.

twinboat · 09-11-2018, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by winniman

What is the voltage that the batteries are getting. Plugged into shore power, the converter should only be giving the batteries low 13 volts after the batteries are charged. Maybe your converter is messed up, and not dropping to float voltages. As stated, check all connections.

He is dry storing it, no power for weeks.

tderonne · 09-11-2018, 09:12 PM

I have a similar issue, batteries bubbling and forcing liquid out the caps while at rest. I have 4 GC2 batteries, and one pair does it.

I can't find anything that explains why they are doing this. Everyone talks about them boiling when charging.

My case: They charge fine, specific gravity good in all cells. Load test OK (all 4 test the same). Completely disconnected they bubble for days and days, voltage stays good. Capacity does seem to be a little down, but they are 10 years old.

So are they simply bad? Internal problems causing bubbling? I could accept that, but i'd like to know why. And that wouldn't probably explain OP's six month old battery's problems?

What does boiling/bubbling/leaking at risk mean??

Searching_Ut · 09-12-2018, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tderonne

I have a similar issue, batteries bubbling and forcing liquid out the caps while at rest. I have 4 GC2 batteries, and one pair does it.

I can't find anything that explains why they are doing this. Everyone talks about them boiling when charging.

My case: They charge fine, specific gravity good in all cells. Load test OK (all 4 test the same). Completely disconnected they bubble for days and days, voltage stays good. Capacity does seem to be a little down, but they are 10 years old.

So are they simply bad? Internal problems causing bubbling? I could accept that, but i'd like to know why. And that wouldn't probably explain OP's six month old battery's problems?

What does boiling/bubbling/leaking at risk mean??

Unless there was a lot of trapped gas bubbles on the plates that are slowly releasing over time, the bubbles are a result of current flow through the battery electrolyte. The batteries aren't actually boiling, it's a reaction of the current flow through the battery actually breaking the water molecules down to hydrogen and oxygen, which has been mentioned is a highly flammable combination. Generally you get the most "boiling" when the batteries are in a charging mode with what basically amounts to excess power being wasted/used in breaking down the water molecules rather than being used for the chemical conversion (Charging) purposes. It's part of the lost power in the energy conversion process of the battery.

As for what it all means, you simply have current flow between the battery plates, either from an external supply or demand source, or from internal sources within the battery such as a cell imbalance, or variations in the different batteries within a battery pack.

YC1 · 09-12-2018, 03:34 PM

Sure sounds like a bad battery. Is it just one battery? If so use a hydrometer and check the cells.

Disconnect the batteries and let them sit 24 hours. Measure the voltage on each battery.

I have seen a tiny trickle charger cause boiling in batteries. A small solar panel is not likely but a larger one could if not regulated.