I had my 30ft Georgie Boy in storage for the winter. Went to pick it up and found Auxillary batteries (2x12V) dead. I put a charger on them and once home, ran generator for a couple hours. Two weeks later my wife and I took the unit out for the weekend. After parking for about 20 hours and plugged into campground 30amp service I heard a hissing sound from under hood. Upon checking I found one of the batteries venting steam from the cap vent holes. Can you tell me what caused this? I disconnected he two auxillary batteries, the hissing and venting stopped but being RV newbees, this alarmed us.
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And well it should, very possible you have a bad cell in the battery.
Did you check the electrolyte level before charging ?
Any possibility that the battery may have frozen up while it was discharged?
Time to remove the batteries and have them load tested, parts stores will test batteries carried in for free.
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99DSDP 3884, Freightliner, XC, CAT 3126B, 300 HP /ALLISON 3060
2000 Caravan toad, Remco & Blue Ox.
As with any electrical issue you always have to start with the basics. You can't do what worked for somebody else. Your problems may or may not be the same.
Always start by determining what your charging voltage it to the batteries. Yes maybe the battery was out of water but you don't really know until you re-fill the battery then check the charging voltage. Most all battery chargers will charge a dead batter around 14-volts. A maintenance charge should be around 13.-6 volts. So refill the batteries and when your engine is running and charging coach or engine battery check the charging voltages. If it over 14.8 -15-volts it's charging to high which will cause overcharging and boil the water out of the battery. If it's charging in a reasonable range then you did not service the batteries and ran out of water. Just add water and charge the batteries.
When you skip troubleshooting steps on electrical issues you start chasing your tail. You wil replace things that are not broken or bad and you won't solve your problem. PM me if you have any other questions.
TeJay
__________________ TeJay Auto Instructor/4-yrs USAF/ Liz: RN/ WBGO 2014 Vista 30T/ F-53/CHF/5-Star/Koni * Bella & Izzy * Golden /Cocker mix/ Louie The Cat* All Retired
An steaming battery is nothing to play with. If it was hot enough to give off steam, I think Skip426 is giving wise advice. Remove battery and have it tested at an auto center. If it proves O.K., then you can test charging voltages.
Take photos and label your battery cables before removing the batteries. After they are out of the RV you can remove caps and check electrolyte levels. If they are way down, add distilled water.
Not sure where you live, but discharged batteries can freeze in winter. I think you've also learned your battery disconnect switches don't 100% stop parasitic loads.
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Bob & Donna
'98 Gulf Stream Sun Voyager DP being pushed by a '00 Beetle TDI
Linear Mode
