Battery Gassing Off Charger

[Dagwood]

Well this is a new one on me. I uncovered my batteries to check the water and they have continued gassing or bubbling overnite after being disconnected from power. They are low on water as expected but the plates are still covered. These are 6 volt interstate workaholic deep cycles. Should I add water or pull them out? They are only about 2 years old. I do leave the MH plugged in but thats mainly for the AC in this Fla. heat. So is this normal?

[Gary RVRoamer]

Add water, but why are they still bubbling? You said it was disconnected from shore power and no generator running? The bubbling lasts after the charger goes off, but generally not after more than 10-12 hours have elapsed.

Sometimes a high rate of discharge can cause bubbling due to heat. Is that a possibility?

[RV Wizard]

IF you do not have a high rate of discharge intentionally, look for a shorted cell in the batteries. Bubbling has been an indicator of this problem. If every thing is good, you should get many 5 to 10 years out of batteries.

[Dagwood]

Gary and Mike thanks for the replies. This is going on 2 days now and the bubbling has subsided somewhat but is present in both batts in all cells. My converter is a single stage with a constant 13.6vdc. I believe it may be slightly overcharging in this summer heat so maybe santa can think about a 3 stage with a charge wizard this winter.
I am going to reinstall them and do a load test. If they do good I will get an auto water system and just watch them a little closer. If not then I would be forced to get new batts and converter now. With the change left over from 500$ I could buy a hot dog or 2. Oh well.

[Gary RVRoamer]

Sounds to me like its time to invest in a good quality converter/charger. $200 but it will save you money on batteries.

My 2002 Dolphin LX had a nice Magnetek 9000 charger in it. 50A and 2 stage (Acceptance and float). What kind is in your 04 that has only one stage?

[Dagwood]

Well Gary after I looked I do have a PD9160 with current limiting but it always puts out 13.6 volts. I just ordered the charge wizard to go with it. I would have done that earlier if I had just looked.
I leave it plugged in all the time for the AC here in Fla. but I'm sure you are familiar with that.
Thanks for the help

[wa8yxm]

Questions:
1: How many batteries do you have?
2: Were ALL CELLS on ALL BATTERIES gassing?

3: If the answer to the first is 2, and the answer to the second is YES, I have no clue

[Dagwood]

#1 2batteries both 6 volts
#2 Yes both batts are gassing. They were off the charger since yesterday( monthly exercise) and I checked them tonight. I could hear a slight gassing but did not remove the caps. Also the voltage was normal. I think the gassing may be normal with the charger set on 13.6vdc. That is why I just ordered a charge wizard for my converter so in an idle state it will cut back to 13.2vdc. Happy trails.
James Wilson

[wa8yxm]

I would think that if the converter is not powered, gassing should stop fairly quickly.. Unless there is a 2nd issue I don't yet know about

PD-9160 with wizard.... VERY HARD TO beat that one.. There are a couple of things that can set one converter above most all others.. and that charge wizard is one of 'me

It properly controls the charge to do a very nice BULK charge (14.x volts) then an absorbtion charge (14.y, y is less than x) then drops to a float voltage not too far removed from what you have now.. And if it sits there for long enough it dues a quick 15.z run to equalize and/or desulfate the batteries.. This will, in time, boil them dry.. Mine takes a year to get 'em down to where I need to and water.

[Dagwood]

Happy Ending
Well I received my charge wizard, installed it and it seems to be working good.
Naturally it started on normal 13.6 but I was impatient so I manually switched it to the trickle charge. My MH voltmeter tracks along exactly with the advertised voltage. I just left it and it was showing 13.2 vdc.
Now can anyone explain to me why I did'nt do this 2 years ago?

James Wilson

[RV Wizard]

Originally Posted by Dagwood

Happy Ending
Well I received my charge wizard, installed it and it seems to be working good.
Naturally it started on normal 13.6 but I was impatient so I manually switched it to the trickle charge. My MH voltmeter tracks along exactly with the advertised voltage. I just left it and it was showing 13.2 vdc.
Now can anyone explain to me why I did'nt do this 2 years ago?

James Wilson

Lack of information you get from this forum!

[hamguy]

Originally Posted by RV Wizard

Lack of information you get from this forum!

Hi there. Care to expound on the comment? If anything a question is answered with 1-2 correct answers and the rest are of the form, "Well I don't have the same XXX as you and have never had the problem, and really don't know anything about the problem BUT HERE IS WHAT I WOULD DO!"

[Dagwood]

HAMGUY
I can't answer for anyone else but I took it as a joke.
My son told me about this website several years ago and I am an avid reader here. There is info here that would cost a fortune to accumulate elswhere. I know there are other good rv forums but I like this one so have stuck with it. That said any time you ask a question from a group you will have answers that are sometimes not useful but people just wanting to join the fun.I might have been guilty of that myself.

Anyway I bought a hygrometer so I can get a better feel for my batteries charge state. Now as soon as it quits raining maybe I will use it or maybe when it cools off. Now thats a joke bec ause I live in Fla. In my old age I am much less tolerante of this heat
Happy Trails
James Wilson

[DAN L]

Originally Posted by Dagwood

HAMGUY
I can't answer for anyone else but I took it as a joke.
My son told me about this website several years ago and I am an avid reader here. There is info here that would cost a fortune to accumulate elswhere. I know there are other good rv forums but I like this one so have stuck with it. That said any time you ask a question from a group you will have answers that are sometimes not useful but people just wanting to join the fun.I might have been guilty of that myself.

Anyway I bought a hygrometer so I can get a better feel for my batteries charge state. Now as soon as it quits raining maybe I will use it or maybe when it cools off. Now thats a joke bec ause I live in Fla. In my old age I am much less tolerante of this heat
Happy Trails
James Wilson

maybe you can use a hydrometer to measure specific gravity in a battery. i don't see how a hygrometer will help in this regard.