Battery explosion and DC problems

[sunvoyager]

hello to all from a very newbie with a problem
and since some of you RVers are highly experienced maybe one of you can help me.
I have a 2007 GS sunvoyager and last week while connected to shore power the number one house battery literally exploded sending acid all over the engine compartment two pounds of baking soda later I replaced both batteries however the local electrician ruled out bad battery problems as he checked the entire dc current system turns out one of the positive wire (total of two) coming out of the intellisense dp 9180 converter is open and it appears to be the disconnect wire ,as we tested the other and found it to connect to batteries. the converter has been benchtested and is ok and shut down when the explosion occured but we cannot find the other end of the disconnect wire!! we checked the entire distribution compartment and zip nada!!cannot find this wire .
we suspect there maybe a fuse or relay maybe between the converter and the distrbutuion box but we are at loss as to where any ideas from the experienced rvers would definitively steer us in the right direction.
thanks..

[Gary RVRoamer]

I think perhaps you mean the Progressive Dynamics Intelli-power PD9180 converter?

If so, there is no "disconnect wire", just positive and negative battery charge leads. The basic install instructions and diagram can be found here: http://www.progressivedyn.com/converter_install.html

Trouble shooting help here:
Troubleshooting Guide for PD9100 Series Power Converters

[sunvoyager]

thanks for the link to the converter trouble shooting however my PD 9180 converter has FOUR OUTLETS 2+ AND 2- and four heavy gauge wires were connected to those outlets. the pictures on the links show only two outlets. '
more searching I guess..

[nbounder]

Refresh my memory - is the 9180 an 80AMP unit with no charge wizard, or is it a marine unit?? I have seen some marine units which accomidate and control two separate batteries.

[Jackm]

The vast majority of battery explosions are caused by excess gassing as a result of low battery fluid conditions before or at the time of the explosion. As for what triggered the explosion, it could have been anything. Keep in mind, battery explosions are almost always a symptom of problems with the battery, not the associated charging system. I finally went with Sears Platinum, a sealed gel type battery. I was sick and tired of finding the water levels too low.

When you're cleaning up, be sure to clean everything below the battery storage area. When my battery exploded, I also used tons of baking soda to neutralize the acid. However, I must have missed some because a year later, all four bolts that held the Kwikee steps in place broke off. The cause? Acid had seeped through the holes (in the battery compartment) where the bolts went through. Twelve months later, they all gave out at once. Good luck and consider yourself lucky you didn't get hurt.

Jack

[RV Wizard]

Sunvoyager, welcome to iRV2.com and to the RVing lifestyle. We are glad to have you join us here. Be sure to visit the Gulf Stream Owners forum farther down the main page. Be sure that both fuses on the charger are good. One may have blown. There should be a fuse or circuit breaker between the batteries and the charger. One set of the cables on the converter are connected to the batteries and may or may not go through the battery disconnect. To find out, have the coach plugged into shore power or have the generator running and battery disconnect on for use. Measure the battery bank voltage. Disconnect the house batteries and again measure the voltage at the battery bank. If it remains in the 13.8+ range the charger goes around the disconnect, straight to the battery bank.
The other set of cables may feed the 12 volt distribution panel inside the coach where the fuses for each branch circuit is located. Again to verify this, the coach will always have 12 volt power when the shore power or generator is running; even though the battery disconnect is disconnected. The charger would then also always be charging the battery bank when is has the necessary 120 vac applied.
Jack is correct in the fact that the explosion is due to a low water condition. Once you have new batteries installed and the system is working properly, check each well of the battery bank with a hydrometer. This will let you know if you have any weak cells. The specific gravity of each cell must not vary more than .01 of each other. If you find one farther out of specs, return it to where you got it and get one that is good. The charging system does not recognize a battery has a weak cell and will continue to charge the whole bank, trying to get the total voltage up to full capacity. This can overcharge the other cells causing excessive off gassing, corrosion as a result on the terminal lugs, excessive water consumption, case swelling and short lived batteries. Let us know what you find out and keep us posted.
Enjoy the website!

[wa8yxm]

I'd like to know how he eliminated a bad battery if the battery exploded.. #1 reason for explosing is excess gassing, #1 reason for that is over charge, #1 reason for that is a shorted cell.

I'm guessing the battery had a shorted cell

[sunvoyager]

Originally Posted by nbounder

Refresh my memory - is the 9180 an 80AMP unit with no charge wizard, or is it a marine unit?? I have seen some marine units which accomidate and control two separate batteries.

you are correct the PD 9180 without charge wizard with four dc outlets is installed in my RV it is not a marine unit according to PD

[sunvoyager]

thanks for your info I will keep you abreast of news when we fix the problem

[rogueii]

I use a Xantrex Pro-sine 2000 watt inverter/charger. I has an In-Line 300 amp fuse. between the inverter and Battery bank. (4 Trojan T105).

Just a Note--I am replacing my Four T105's and found the price range around $89.99 to $95.84 each. Previous shopping 2 months ago was from $134.00 to $160.00. I found a Master distributor, who put me on to a local Golf Cart shop. Need to shop around, the Battery shops are way over-priced for TrojAN T-105'S.

[wa8yxm]

Originally Posted by nbounder

Refresh my memory - is the 9180 an 80AMP unit with no charge wizard, or is it a marine unit?? I have seen some marine units which accomidate and control two separate batteries.

9180 is indeed 80 amp, Wizard is optional (plugs in) as it does with all the 9100's

[Gary RVRoamer]

I had a 9160 that I bought back in 2002 and it also had two sets of output terminals, designed for charging two battery banks or one battery bank plus a 12v distribution panel. As I said earlier, though, there is no "disconnect" on any PD converter that I have ever seen or heard of.

[sunvoyager]

thanks RV roamer

I did not clearly explain myself when mentionning a disconnect I referred to the wire not the converter the secondary positive wire even though disconnected from the converter has given the electrician some concerns as it seems the problem arise from that wire we believe it connect to the 12 volts distribution panel we have to ( not me the electrician ) ascertain where it connect exactly at the distribution panel and why it causes the converter to shut down the minute it gets reconnected at the converter outlet. will post the answer when we get it fixed....

[wa8yxm]

You were clear, others choose to read it wrong

You said you have a wire that goes to nowhere, it is Disconnected

Or that's how I read it