dawki Posted November 26, 2010 Share Posted November 26, 2010 Hi all Got a little problem with the van that hopefully somebody may be able to help me with. Went inside the van last week and noticed a dreadful smell, gave everything a clean and rinse but not really anything wrong, opened a window for a couple of days and it seem to disappear. Went inside again yesterday just about notice a very very slight smell but nothing really. Came out and hooked it up to the mains for a charge up. Went back in this morning a was greeted by a right pong after putting my nose into every little corner of the van I think it is coming from the battery locker. Is this poss? I have twin batteries and a sergeant EC325 charger I did notice one battery was quite warm and the other cold. Not sure if it is the batteries or the charger causing the problem, batteries just over 3 years old Any help much appreciated Cheers Dawki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ips Posted November 26, 2010 Share Posted November 26, 2010 You sure you aint got mice's ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philman Posted November 26, 2010 Share Posted November 26, 2010 If you leave the charger switched off for a day and then measure the terminal voltage of each battery it could indicate if you have a problem there, it does sound as if a battery has failed but you need to do some checks before you buy a replacement ( or two ). Remember that batteries can give off explosive gasses so be careful that you don't make a spark or anything similar near the batteries. Phil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawki Posted November 26, 2010 Author Share Posted November 26, 2010 not aware of mice but you never know. I do think it is battery related and yes it is a gas like smell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted November 26, 2010 Share Posted November 26, 2010 I had a really bad smell during summer it turned out to be the fridge evaporator (behind outside grill) was full of orrible liquid, a quick clean and all was OK, much head scratching though....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJay Posted November 26, 2010 Share Posted November 26, 2010 We had a battery exlode last year. There was a right mess in the battery compartment, so be very carefull with it. Take the batteries out of the compartment and see if you have any liquid underneath! Sujest you wear gloves just in case PJay PS ours was three years old as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scramblers Posted November 26, 2010 Share Posted November 26, 2010 If one battery is quite warm and the other cold this would point to a problem with a battery, even if it's not causing the smell. With a few exceptions, batteries have a 12 month guarantee and if treated badly can have a useful lifespan of 2/3 years. Paying particular attention to the warmer of the two batteries, and assuming that the batteries are not "sealed", I suggest you:- 1) Check each cell with a hygrometer, an abnormal reading would indicate a faulty cell. 2) Check the acid level, the level should be just above the plates. If low top up with distilled water. 3) Check the terminal connections to may sure they are sound. Dirty or loose connections can cause a battery to warm up. Good luck with solving your problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyg3nwl Posted November 26, 2010 Share Posted November 26, 2010 Hi, It definitely seems like you have battery trouble. Be very careful and disconnect both, remove from the van and thoroughly clean the locker area with a mild alkaline solution to neutralise any potential acid fume residue The battery that was hot should be thoroughly inspected for mechanical distortion of the case, and if any can be seen then most likely has an internal faulty cell. The cold battery, may have gone open circuit and will show no voltage on test.. I would anticipate that both will need replacing. I would also check that your charger is working correctly, ie it should charge the battery fully, then reduce the charging current to a low maintenance charge. Once done the battery should show around 13 volts once the charging has cut back to maintenance rate hope you can get it sorted. tonyg3nwl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dshague Posted November 26, 2010 Share Posted November 26, 2010 is the waste water tank smelling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brambles Posted November 26, 2010 Share Posted November 26, 2010 dawki - 2010-11-26 2:59 PM Hi all Got a little problem with the van that hopefully somebody may be able to help me with. Went inside the van last week and noticed a dreadful smell, gave everything a clean and rinse but not really anything wrong, opened a window for a couple of days and it seem to disappear. Went inside again yesterday just about notice a very very slight smell but nothing really. Came out and hooked it up to the mains for a charge up. Went back in this morning a was greeted by a right pong after putting my nose into every little corner of the van I think it is coming from the battery locker. Is this poss? I have twin batteries and a sergeant EC325 charger I did notice one battery was quite warm and the other cold. Not sure if it is the batteries or the charger causing the problem, batteries just over 3 years old Any help much appreciated Cheers Dawki As Tony has mentioned, reomve batteries wash down etc. Discard the battery which was getting warm..Its dead with a shorted cell and no point going further with it. No question if this, if that, Get rid of it. Now as to the other battery, check the electrolyte level and top up and place back on charge, but keep an eye on it and the charger in case there has been a fault in the charger. If you are needing the capacity of two batteries then discard both batteries and start again with two new ones. I am really only suggesting you check the charger with the 2nd old battery to ascertain the charger is working correctly. I would suspect the failed battery has dragged the good one down with it and probably now is badly sulphated and has lost capacity. If the second battery is OK on electrolyte level etc then just one of these things and maybe being left to self discharge for long periods or maybe you use an awful lot and they have just done their life with respect to number of cycles. However if the 2nd battery is low on electrolyte then you have not been checking and topping them up when required. I would also be concerned you where getting the smell in the van. Make sure you have vent pipes fitted to take any gases from charging outside the van. The gasses are extremely explosive. Sorry it is not good news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawki Posted November 26, 2010 Author Share Posted November 26, 2010 Many thanks for your replies i will take the batteries of in the morning and check them out. sounding like 2 new batteries i be thinking Just out of interest would the leisure batteries normally be checked as part of the habitation service? Cheers Dawki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 dawki - 2010-11-26 9:20 PM Just out of interest would the leisure batteries normally be checked as part of the habitation service? Cheers Dawki Just got mine back from Camper UK after annual check. Their report shows leisure battery to be below par, less than 3 yrs old. Stuart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallii Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 Smell of rotten eggs is Sulphur gas (hydrogen sulphide), the battery is sulphated and gives of the gas when it gets warm. It should be vented to the outside though, as mentioned, although with sealed batteries this may not be the case. Hallii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallii Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 Smell of rotten eggs is Sulphur gas (hydrogen sulphide), the battery is sulphated and gives of the gas when it gets warm. It should be vented to the outside though, as mentioned, although with sealed batteries this may not be the case. Hallii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawki Posted November 27, 2010 Author Share Posted November 27, 2010 Smell of Rotten eggs that was just about right, I have been looking at the van today, the smell has gone again since I disconnected from the mains yesterday. I have left the (good?) battery on the van and left it hooked up today to see what happens as Brambles suggested. The batteries are housed in a outside locker and are sealed batteries so guess no maintenance is possible, but the hab check was done about 3 weeks ago and no report of battery problems? Cheers Dawki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brambles Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 dawki - 2010-11-27 4:14 PM .......The batteries are housed in a outside locker and are sealed batteries so guess no maintenance is possible, but the hab check was done about 3 weeks ago and no report of battery problems?..... Hi again, Batteries can fail at anytime, especially with low temperatures and being in an outside locker will have got pretty cold recently with the weather. Tests on the batteries during the habitation service will be limited, probably just to checking the battery voltage off and on charge. I suggest for safety you switch off the charger before you retire for the night and check voltage in morning before continuing to charge again. Just a precaution. However, before charging visually check the battery. If it is swollen at all or has any wet or crud formed around the safety vent then discard battery. You say sealed, but is it sealed for maintentance, but still has a side vent for a tube to be added? If completely sealed (VRLA) it will have a safety vent on the lid. Mix up about 50:50 water and washing liquid and put a pool of this over the vent and leave to see if any bubbles are formed...it means the battery is gassing and venting. Bad news, and battery is near end of life and should be discarded. A lot of sealed batteries for Motorhomes are budget batteries, and you can only expect a life of about 150 cycles in perfect conditions. Not really a lot and 3 years is not bad. If it is a high quality sealed battery then 5 to 8 years at best can be expected, but 3 years coud be all you get if left discharged for long periods. By that I mean below 12.3 volts. Hard to generalise as every motorhome and way battery is used is different. I suggest you just use the battery which appears be ok to test everything works and then buy a new battery or batteries. The last thing you need is an unreliable battery if camping in the winter with or without hook up and more importantly on hook up sleeping in van you do not want it to start gassing which is potentially very dangerous. edit - typos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawki Posted November 27, 2010 Author Share Posted November 27, 2010 Thanks Brambles i will pop out and turn off cheers Dawki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scramblers Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 dawki - 2010-11-27 4:14 PM Smell of Rotten eggs that was just about right, I have been looking at the van today, the smell has gone again since I disconnected from the mains yesterday. I have left the (good?) battery on the van and left it hooked up today to see what happens as Brambles suggested. The batteries are housed in a outside locker and are sealed batteries so guess no maintenance is possible, but the hab check was done about 3 weeks ago and no report of battery problems? Cheers Dawki As the batteries are sealed, and in an outside locker, I would have thought that the chance of a strong smell coming from the batteries getting inside the motorhome would be remote. The smell would have been dissipated outside rather than rising into the motorhome. The smell seems to come and go as you connect and disconnect from the mains. This would point to a fault within the mains and/or battery charging system inside the motorhome. Unless you are familiar with mains electricity I would suggest you call on a friend to help you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 One warm battery and one cold battery indicate the possibility of one battery having a shorted cell. This would result in the "bad" battery trying to discharge the "good" battery assuming that they are both originally 12 volt batteries connected in parallel. This is the reason I advocate two 6 volt batteries connected in series is better than two 12 volt batteries connected in parallel. The EC 325 charger does go into a high voltage mode to fully charge batteries and it would never be able to detect a fully charged condition (and then revert back to maintaining mode) if the battery it sees is effectively a 10 volt battery. Turn the charger off Buy two new batteries, 6 volt golf buggy batteries and connect them in series would be my preferance. C. More here http://www.motts.org/second%20leisiure%20battery.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawki Posted December 1, 2010 Author Share Posted December 1, 2010 Hi All Just to update, I removed the iffy battery and as after an inspection the other looked ok I left it on charge for the last couple of days. All seemed ok with the charger the battery charged fine and no smells at all This was only done to check the onboard charger and I now intend to replace both batteries as I totally agree that it is not worth the risk of keeping them. I would just like to say a big thanks to you all for your help with this. Cheers Dawki . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scramblers Posted December 1, 2010 Share Posted December 1, 2010 Hi Dawki, Glad you have solved your problem. If I were you I would use an Elecsol replacement batteries. I have used them for 4 years now and they fit the bill. Accept a low level of charge via a solar panel on a cloudy day, maintenance free and come with a 5 year guarantee. They are also endorsed by Auto Trail, Caravan Club, Caravan Life and Which Motorhome. http://www.elecsolbatteries.com/Product-Endorsements/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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