Community Forums

timekeeper · 08-09-2018, 12:03 PM

I'm a volunteer fireman and this was a morning call.
RV was parked inside an enclosed garage and plugged in.
It had not been run for about 1 month?
Fire seemed to start in the house battery compartment.
No one was hurt, owner has been parking it in the same place for 7 years.

**JohnRR** · 08-09-2018, 12:06 PM

That’s too bad, you do everything that appears right and things still go bad.

TriMoot · 08-09-2018, 12:10 PM

It would be very interesting to hear what the cause was....wonder what type of batteries...AGM, Gel or Lithium?

Old-Biscuit · 08-09-2018, 12:27 PM

Boil batteries.........boom ---fire

Where RV was parked for past 7 yrs doesn't much matter

Glad no injuries.

Deucenut · 08-09-2018, 12:43 PM

So sad. Hope he has proper insurance and get it repaired/replaced.

DeWat · 08-09-2018, 12:44 PM

Are you pretty sure about it looking like the area of the house batteries (just asking, not arguing)? It looks like most of the damage is the PS rear where the chassis batteries would be located. I don't know where they put the house batteries in the X-Series Provost.

timekeeper · 08-10-2018, 12:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TriMoot

It would be very interesting to hear what the cause was....wonder what type of batteries...AGM, Gel or Lithium?

Batteries were AGM
Will report back as to actual cause when it is determined.

timekeeper · 08-10-2018, 12:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old-Biscuit

Boil batteries.........boom ---fire

Where RV was parked for past 7 yrs doesn't much matter

Glad no injuries.

Yes I know being parked there when not in use for 7 years is not a BIG factor but it does go to the fact that nothing was newly positioned in its resting spot.
He did mentioned that one of the chargers he was using was NOT through the supplied inverter but an aftermarket plug in one?

timekeeper · 08-10-2018, 12:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeWat

Are you pretty sure about it looking like the area of the house batteries (just asking, not arguing)? It looks like most of the damage is the PS rear where the chassis batteries would be located. I don't know where they put the house batteries in the X-Series Provost.

I am not a Prevost guy ( see my sig) so you could very well be correct that it was in the chassis battery’s compartment. We did see that it seems to have started in a battery compartment close to the engine on that side pictured.

He said he did have insurance....but as we all know ...was it replacement value or the current value, will come into play. I didn’t have the heart at the scene to go into that detail with him .

BigLar368 · 08-10-2018, 04:22 AM

Our RV boiled the batteries enough to peel off the paint inside the battery compartment. Luckily it did not catch fire. I unplugged the battery temp sensor and it has worked great every since.

CountryB · 08-10-2018, 05:48 AM

Perhaps it would be wise of all to add some sort of fire/smoke alarm in the battery compartment. Is there a battery hard wired (12VDC) smoke detector available for "exterior" RV use?
Just an audible alarm might be better than nothing - of course you would need to be able to hear it from the near-vicinity of coach for it to do any good.

redbaron · 08-10-2018, 08:11 AM

Now this scarce me we are going on Vacation for 5 weeks Coach is plugged in now to 20amp should I just disconnect Batt. + cable to be save ????
George
2013 Monaco Monarch 33SFD :

RKins · 08-10-2018, 11:47 AM

Service your batteries before you leave - 5 weeks is no problem, just make sure the water level is right before you leave.
The OP said the coach was started a month ago - I'm not sure that it had sat for 7 years, just has used that garage for the past 7 years.

Dennis_K · 08-10-2018, 11:52 AM

I recently had a chassis battery apparently short out internally. It was one of a pair wired in parallel and the good battery was powering the bad battery. I just happened to notice it before something bad happened. The bad battery was smoking slightly and making a slight noise which is what caught my attention. The bad battery was too hot to touch and didn't stop frying until I pulled the ground wire off of it. No idea how much longer it would have been before a fire would have started and burned down my garage and house.