Bad Battery....leaking Acid

[BassnChris]

One of my deep cycle batteries went bad and while on the chargers boiled the water/acid out. Not only into the battery tray but down into the bilge.

 

After I pulled the batteries out I poured 6 large cups of water with baking soda into the trays and the bilge......then rinsed out with the water hose for about 5 minutes.

 

You could hear the acid 'sizzle' when I began pouring in the baking soda mixture.........by the time I was done with the baking soda mixture you could no longer hear any 'sizzle'.

 

Just saying, keep an eye on your batteries while on the charger......they can make a mess and could cause a lot of damage!

[papajoe222]

Chris, have your charger checked out if you don't know how to do it yourself.  What happened is an indication that the auto shut down on the charger failed either due to a fault in the battery (deteriorating plates sometimes make contact), or the charger.  It isn't uncommon for a two or three stage charger to have one bank go bad.  I'd have it checked out before hooking up another battery to that bank.

[BassnChris]

Chris, have your charger checked out if you don't know how to do it yourself.  What happened is an indication that the auto shut down on the charger failed either due to a fault in the battery (deteriorating plates sometimes make contact), or the charger.  It isn't uncommon for a two or three stage charger to have one bank go bad.  I'd have it checked out before hooking up another battery to that bank.

 

I moved the charging cables to different batteries and made sure the error followed.........so I believe the charger to be ok...............put in the new batteries and all is fine.

 

Appreciate it Joe.

[slonezp]

You've had some bad luck with the boat this year. I hope next year is worry free

[BassnChris]

You've had some bad luck with the boat this year. I hope next year is worry free

Appreicate it...........it still floats and goes..........I'm happy for now!

[Jig Man]

Messing with battery acid is one of the major factors for me moving to AGMs.

[Way2slow]

I would check my charging and float voltages from the charger.  If it's a name brand, quality on board, charging voltage should not be more than about 14.6 VDC and float (maintenance if it has that cycle) voltage should not be more than 13.2 VDC for a flooded cell battery.  Any more than this and it will cause the water to evaporate too fast.

 

If it's one of those cheap charger, maintainers, no matter who's brand that sells for around $50 - $75, I would not try to use it as a maintainer, period.  Done seen too many batteries destroyed by those.

[cyclops2]

Boat batteries can be beaten into failure.  The wave bangs do not help keep the cells from shorting out.