acid smell after charging

dee bee

Hi, can someone tell me what the matter might be. I left the camper on charge for a whole week after reading on this forum that it was OK to do so. But I noticed a very strong acid /rotten egg smell coming from inside the camper. It went away after I disconnected the power. The batteries were charged.

The next time I plugged the Camper in the same smell came back after just charging overnight.

I'm suspecting it's something to do with the leisure batteries. I had them replaced last year. Any thoughts?

They're about to explode. Don't charge them anymore.

Check your charger set-points.
It's ok to float charge batteries for a week. Anything higher will kill them.

The smell is hydrogen which is explosive at a mix of > 4% to air.

zambo

Sir Liamalot wrote: »

The smell is hydrogen which is explosive at a mix of > 4% to air.

Hi
As far as I know hydrogen does not have a smell,the smell of rotten eggs is hydrogen sulphide.
Yours zambo

*Kol*

Remember the Hindenburg!!

H bomb.

Aidan_M_M

dee bee wrote: »

Hi, can someone tell me what the matter might be. I left the camper on charge for a whole week after reading on this forum that it was OK to do so.?

really??????? where??

JonMac

Something is dodgy. I spent 33 days continuously on mains hookup in Spain last Winter, no problems.

A good charger will drop to float when the batteries are fully charged and hold them at ~13.2V > 13.7V temperature compensated.
A true float charger will also set charging current = self-discharge + constant loads.
A trickle charger is not a float charger it is constant current.

Most cheap chargers just drop to constant voltage, constant (low-ish) current..which in a lot of short-term cases is good because they're so bad they never finished charging in the first place and are using the float cycle to finish the job. These type should not be left to their own devices without frequent checking...probably with a hydrometer.
Some chargers load test the battery every now and again and test the drop to see if it needs a "refresh" ...on an old battery this can be detrimental because it's simply got a lower holding voltage and is getting cooked and short-cycled.
Some chargers have highly inaccurate voltmeters.
Some are relay based so cannot compensate accurately to float service demands.
Some will tell you they are charged and give you the internationally recognised fully charged smiley face or green led, you'll find with a hydrometer they are far from it or perhaps on an independent volt and current meter that they are actually boiling your battery.
In other cases the float current is so low it doesn't keep up with the loading and so keeps popping back into absorption (it shouldn't but I've seen some do it), others hold the volts in float and the batteries are discharging amps all the same.
Sometimes if it's not load compensating and there is a load, even a small one on the battery, the charger will be held in absorption and never reach float.

Most of the stock coach-build chargers I've researched have poor charging regimes. Usually they're designed to take a week or month to fully charge a battery if ever but as an upshot can be left connected indefinitely.
Personally I never use a charger without testing it on an independent meter. I've nothing against the cheapos but I know what they're good for and that's all I'd use them for.

There's a possibility Dee_Bee only one battery is bad. So might be worth investigating.
Definitely worth checking the water levels and charger.

Welcome to the joy of lead acid...never trust a charger or battery manufacturer, most of the time they're full of snake oil.

moodrater

As liam says you may still have one good battery, before you go replacing them I'd get the charger checked out and decide if you really need two. I know plenty of people that never park without hookup one battery is more than enough.

Usual story this time of year is camper was abandoned since last September, batteries flat for for several months batteries are scrap charger may be ok.

Could also be dreadful charger has ruined the batteries again buy a new charger or it will ruin the next lot too.

Or batteries wired arseways charger is pummeling one of them while trying to charge the other.

This is what happened to a fellow boardsie when he left his dead battery on charge in his caravan. People need to take it seriously.

moodrater

moodrater wrote: »

Or batteries wired arseways charger is pummeling one of them while trying to charge the other.

If you mean arseways like not cross loading/charging them I doubt it's the case. It's more a gentle erosion than pummelling.
I had mine wired arseways for years. It just ages the one nearest the load/charger faster, and cycles it harder. Then it pulls down it's neighbour who never got fully charged in the first place to maintain it's holding volts. It doesn't cause premature cell failure.

Symptoms are that of a cell suffering from too much heat. It is either overcharged, shorted, buckled, low electrolyte or a bad cell developed.

moodrater

Sir Liamalot wrote: »

If you mean arseways like not cross loading/charging them I doubt it's the case. It's more a gentle erosion than pummelling.

I was thinking more like where you have one under the passenger seat, one in the back with multiple earths and dubious cables sizing etc. seen old mercs and bedfords wired like that.

I did some experimenting with bad batteries after the last discussion we had, had a circa 12 year old battery with the equivalent of about 150ma of self discharge paralleled with a good battery, the bad battery was enough to keep knocking the charger out of float and the good battery was gassing away goodo. Anecdotally cross loading reduced the gassing of the good battery but now that I think of it if the good and bad batteries had been reversed the result would have probably been opposite Theres definitely a lifetimes worth of study to be had in batteries.

moodrater

Multiple earthing can encourage "reverse" galvanic corrosion due to the potential difference between grounds. Not a huge issue on vans, big one for boats though.

moodrater wrote: »

Theres definitely a lifetimes worth of study to be had in batteries.

Yup.

Have you seen inside the Tesla Elon Musk cars?
You might like this. He's making progress I was up to date on that thread in December and it was ⅓ as long. more money than sense but interesting.
Personally I think it's nuts running cars and houses on laptop cells; too much mixed materials.

Had a titter at this last night. "Halford's obviously supply a good battery....happy with that!"
This guy's mental, he dropped the neighbourhood voltage 50V messing with his homebrew 50KA transformer.

I'm guessing most of that vapour is H²O and the hydrogen is not concentrated enough.

moodrater

moodrater wrote: »

.... if the good and bad batteries had been reversed the result would have probably been opposite

I reckon the charger might've held float longer. Second battery is getting less power and using more so I doubt the older one would have boiled as much vice versa.

moodrater wrote: »

the equivalent of about 150ma of self discharge

How did you calculate that? Delta charged amps over time?

dee bee

thanks for all the comments. had no idea about chargers. just knew that i plug the camper into the house mains and the batteries get charged. also the only way i can check the charge level is by flicking a switch near the dash marked battery 1 and 2, which then moves a needle over a dial graduated 0, 1/4, 1/2, 3/4. its a 92 dethleffs, so no smiley faces or LEDs lighting up i'm afraid.

will check the connections and if they look ok (not fried) will bring them into the electrics crowd for further check up.

also aideen, i cant tell u on what thread i'd read the plug-in duration info, but i'm almost sure i'd read it in this forum. not accusing anybody of misinformation. only i'm responsible for my actions.

will update on investigation.

cheers

dee bee

dee bee wrote: »

a dial graduated 0, 1/4, 1/2, 3/4. its a 92 dethleffs, so no smiley faces or LEDs lighting up i'm afraid.

Same thing really it's too vague and probably reassuringly optimistic so when it says 50% the batteries are I'm guessing really 30%.

If you have any intention of using the van without a hook up then I'd advise before you spend any money on a new battery install either a digital voltmeter or battery monitor.
It'll tell you what your charger is up to and how your battery is doing.
Fiver sez 1/2 as read by your present dial is well below 12.3V.

Your connections will most likely be fine. It's just the chemistry in one or more of your batteries has gone wrongways. It'll be the one with the lowest voltage off charge most likely.