Gassed from my leisure Battery

[Smarty Marty]

Greetings to everyone.
I had a strange thing happen to me a couple of weeks ago. It was the last weekend before lock down and managed to get away to Buxton for a few days. The carbon monoxide alarm went off in the middle of the night. Obviously this concerned me and my wife. Turned off the gas and opened the window. Then went back to sleep. Next morning my wife said she could still smell something. Could also hear a faint buzzing sound. Managed to track down noise to the leisure Battery. I have a Adria twin and it's situated just under my pillow in the fixed transverse bed. The battery was fizzing! Promptly disconnected and moved it outside. Have now discovered it is hydrogen sulfide gas that is given off. We have both suffered from a bad chest for a few weeks and am wondering if any connection? Has anyone any heard of anything like this.
Kind regards Martin

 

[Jev88]

Overcharged battery = hydrogen sulphide.
Stinks and is explosive.

Before installing a new battery get the charger tested as it may be pumping too much juice to your battery and could ruin the new one.
Also consider fitting a small vent tube from your battery to under the van to get rid of fumes of it happens again.

 

[Debs]

Yes, I had that happen a few months ago, the van was at home & it took me a while to work out what the alarm was was that I kept hearing. Long story but I had 2 carbon monoxide meters in my van & were being triggered.

Both leisure batteries were cooked & had to be replaced but then I found also had a problem with the electrobloc.

 

[Gaston aires]

We too have an Adria twin. In the instruction book it states.
Do not use lead acid batteries in this vehicle. We have two AGMs and no problem. Original fit was one AGM.
Lead acid batteries discharge off gas from time to time.
Phil

 

[MyrtleGuru]

Did it have vent tubes fitted? Do they cope if a battery is behaving quite that badly? Interested to know as my six-year-old lead acid batteries (which do have vent tubes fitted to vent holes below) are under the bed!

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[TheBig1]

Just for advice for anyone else reading this,

PLEASE do not disconnect a battery that is fizzing and gassing off. One tiny spark from the wiring and BOOM! a hydrogen explosion. Wait for it to stop the fizzing and leave the doors and windows open to evacuate the invisible gas. Also wait for the battery to cool before very carefully carrying outside. Batteries are great when things go well and potentially deadly when they don't

 

[Richard n Ann]

Our battery developed a shorted cell last year, I found out by the solar controller stopping charging, it had been throwing 7 odd amps in all day then suddenly zero. I checked the battery and it was hot! The Votronic controller has a thermistor on the battery and sensed the battery was too hot.
Might be worth spending a couple of quid on an LCD thermometer and sticking the sensor on the battery (another screen to keep checking ?)

 

[Campervan_man]

Smell is like rotten eggs.
Another sign the battery is bad is if the walls start to bulge.
Some people replace the leisure battery every year or couple of years which is not a bad idea.
I fitted an inverter this year so decided to change the motorhome leisure battery at the same time as the cab seat was being removed for access.

 

[TUCANO]

Just for advice for anyone else reading this,

PLEASE do not disconnect a battery that is fizzing and gassing off. One tiny spark from the wiring and BOOM! a hydrogen explosion. Wait for it to stop the fizzing and leave the doors and windows open to evacuate the invisible gas. Also wait for the battery to cool before very carefully carrying outside. Batteries are great when things go well and potentially deadly when they don't

Advice please, if a battery is fizzing then when and, how will it stop, thanks. Not that mine are but simply trying to understand.
Thanks.

 

[TheBig1]

Advice please, if a battery is fizzing then when and, how will it stop, thanks. Not that mine are but simply trying to understand.
Thanks.

the reason they are fizzing is the electrical current being applied to them. A bit like boiling a kettle if you like.. Switch off the supply to the battery and it will stop fizzing (boiling) after a few minutes

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[simsy56]

I had a battery 'explode' in a car many years ago. And when they explode, it is frightening. Total destruction of the battery, a dent in the bonnet, and just terminal posts hanging from the battery leads.

Be very careful with a fizzing battery!

Craig

 

[suavecarve]

Imperative reading.

I ve never heard of this before. Sheltered life and all that

 

[Ernesto]

We too have an Adria twin. In the instruction book it states.
Do not use lead acid batteries in this vehicle. We have two AGMs and no problem. Original fit was one AGM.
Lead acid batteries discharge off gas from time to time.
Phil

Genuine question out of interest for me and (potentially) others ..... I assume thats just for habitation/leisure batteries? And that the starter is a good old fashioned lead acid? I had always assumed Fiat would stick to cheaper starter batteries until they went to a start/stop tech?

 

[Pausim]

I would have thought good old fashioned lead acid starter batteries were the most likely to fizz. If they are not in a well ventilated compartment, like under the bonnet, they need to be properly vented so the gas goes outside.

 

[Gaston aires]

Genuine question out of interest for me and (potentially) others ..... I assume thats just for habitation/leisure batteries? And that the starter is a good old fashioned lead acid? I had always assumed Fiat would stick to cheaper starter batteries until they went to a start/stop tech?

The two mentioned are leisure batteries. The engine battery is a third separate lead acid.
Phil

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[HugoBNB]

We too have an Adria and it is on a Ducato chassis. The vehicle battery is under the passenger foot well inside the cab. Do I assume all batteries are Gel? How do I tell just by looking?
Thanks for highlighting this issue.

 

[Coolcats]

I had a battery 'explode' in a car many years ago. And when they explode, it is frightening. Total destruction of the battery, a dent in the bonnet, and just terminal posts hanging from the battery leads.

Be very careful with a fizzing battery!

Craig

When I was an apprentice a mechanic in the next bay shorted a Battery that had just been taken off charge, your right they make a heck of a noise 1/3 of one end of the battery was totally destroyed there was a bucket of water just by me so I just threw it in the guys face.........fortunately he wore glasses and no acid went in to his eyes ,, he wasn't quite sure a) to be grateful I had just soaked him, or if the soaking with clod water was a greater shock then the battery exploding. The good news was he was unharmed. I have to say I am always extremely careful around batteries. Another incident was a colleague who was installing UPS managed to short the cables and start a fire, no explosion this time but the cable fire smelt awful.

 

[ryan_flea]

This has been really informative. No issues with our batteries but good to know just incase ?

 

[Landy Andy]

Ducato engine batteries are in box under passenger feet, but the battery should be vented, via a tube to outside, so are safe to be inside even if lead acid battery.

 

[peterc10]

Our previous motorhome was an Adria. It has a sealed and unvented Gel battery, obviously fitted from new, under the small seat on the right as you entered via the habitation door. The Adria's manual said you should only fit Gel batteries. When I replaced this battery with two lead acid non-sealed batteries I vented both of them using plastic tubes going through the floor.

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[Phill D]

Our previous motorhome was an Adria. It has a sealed and unvented Gel battery, obviously fitted from new, under the small seat on the right as you entered via the habitation door. The Adria's manual said you should only fit Gel batteries. When I replaced this battery with two lead acid non-sealed batteries I vented both of them using plastic tubes going through the floor.

and
changed the setting on the lectrobloc

 

[funflair]

We too have an Adria and it is on a Ducato chassis. The vehicle battery is under the passenger foot well inside the cab. Do I assume all batteries are Gel? How do I tell just by looking?
Thanks for highlighting this issue.

If they are Gel they will say so on the case, the starter won’t be and should be vented.

 

[peterc10]

and
changed the setting on the lectrobloc

Yep