Hot Battery..!

[Guest]

I have 3 starter batteries and whilst running earlier (when stationary) to get some hot water we had a burning/acid type smell from under the bed, on investigation I found the middle of the 3 to be extremely hot, almost too hot to touch, also the digital relay and the wires from it were quite warm....any thoughts please..

[Oddfellow]

Battery is being overcharged or is knackered; potentially both now. Hot wires is a sign of too much current. 

[Aboattime]

Sounds as if your battery is " cooking ", needs replacing.

 

[annv]

Hi Jemka Disconnect the offending batt immediately before it takes the two other batts down,and venterlat the gases NO naked flames,  when its cooled down remove from boat, the batts us it has shorted inside. John

[OldBerkshireBoy]

Couldn`t be a loose connection could it guys?

[Smoggy]

Loose connection wouldn't give the gas smell, ditch the hot battery as it probably has a shorted cell, overcharging batteries can be a big bang.

[grendel]

i had one in my van, wasnt holding charge very well, charged it with a battery charger then several hours later went to start the van, the battery exploded spreading acid for 20 feet out of the front of the van. get it out of the circuit as it will drain your good batteries and kill them too.

[CambridgeCabby]

If the battery has got very hot and the terminals/cables also , disconnect it now , as said it’s knackered and potentially a fire hazard and the fumes are harmful also .
 

Dont try and resurrect it it isn’t worth the risk and tbh it will be fruitless.

I would be amazed if you have x3 starter batteries though I would have thought they would be more likely domestic bank , but could be wrong .

Pop into Sutton or Boulters and they can replace it for you and also check your alternator output , hopefully is just a case of a battery wearing out .

 

[Guest]

16 minutes ago, CambridgeCabby said:

I would be amazed if you have x3 starter batteries though I would have thought they would be more likely domestic bank , but could be wrong

We have 2x leisure batteries under drivers seat in the lounge next to the inverter and 3x starter batteries under the bed in the boudoir..

[SteveO]

We had something similar happen to us a few years ago.  The first warning I got was that our carbon monoxide alarm went off. I didnt link this with the battery at all. Then a couple of days later my wife noticed that the floor above the battery compartment was warm. I took the battery in question out of circuit and we had no further problems. 

[Smoggy]

If you have 5x batteries I would change the wiring to 1 engine battery and 4x domestic.

I got given a load of "failed" BMW batteries and tried a 2014 one on my starter circuit, both engines at the same time after 30 seconds of preheat on a cold day after a 3 week gap, both started fine, there's no point having multiple start batteries for an inland boat, not even for a coast hopper,  you can always jump from the domestic bank if needed.

[Guest]

This is an ex hire boat so I think that the distribution is complicated. 

[Smoggy]

Time to uncomplicate things then, in hindsight if you have 3x starter batteries and one is getting hot then just take it out of the system and insulate the terminals and see what happens, I assume all 12v systems and not 24v?

[Guest]

52 minutes ago, Smoggy said:

Time to uncomplicate things then, in hindsight if you have 3x starter batteries and one is getting hot then just take it out of the system and insulate the terminals and see what happens, I assume all 12v systems and not 24v?

I going to pop round to Boulters in the morning see if Sonny can sort it, its a bit beyond me....thanks for the input all 👍 

[Guest]

So at Boulters we changed the middle of the 3 batteries as it was showing faulty (the other 2 are fine) and we now have a "smiley" face on the display and the fridge has resumed cooling the wife's wine to a palatable temperature.. 

[Smoggy]

I guess if the fridge has restarted it's not an engine battery.

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, Smoggy said:

I guess if the fridge has restarted it's not an engine battery

Its a strange setup Smoggy, 3 starter batteries under the island bed in the back and 2 leisure batteries under the seat in the main cabin which is where the inverter is, plus there is the solar panel on the roof...its beyond me. When all batteries are isolated the bloody fridge still works...to the delight of the wife!.

[Oddfellow]

1 minute ago, Jemaki said:

Its a strange setup Smoggy, 3 starter batteries under the island bed in the back and 2 leisure batteries under the seat in the main cabin which is where the inverter is, plus there is the solar panel on the roof...its beyond me. When all batteries are isolated the bloody fridge still works...to the delight of the wife!.

Well, the wiring is a mess then and that's a BSS failure.

There is no way you should have three starter batteries. One per engine is all that's needed in a 12v system. 

 

[Vaughan]

Is it possible that your two "leisure" batteries are to run the inverter, and you then have a bank of one starter and two domestic batteries?

 

14 hours ago, Jemaki said:

In your picture, I notice that one battery is at 14.8 volts and I assume this is the starter. If all three were connected in parallel they would show the same charge.

 

[Cheesey69]

on our last hire from Brinks, we indeed had a battery bank to run the inverter, one to run fridge, two for leisure and one starter battery plus solar and shore charger/power.

The battery isolators formed an impressive sight as did the power board.

It had one extra alternator just for domestic use. 

Never ran out of power, not even close.

Its a set up I aim to copy.

[grendel]

marthams boats usually have 3 big batteries for leisure, these run the fridge and the lights and shower pump. i bave never had a problem with the fridge.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Vaughan said:

Is it possible that your two "leisure" batteries are to run the inverter, and you then have a bank of one starter and two domestic batteries?

 

In your picture, I notice that one battery is at 14.8 volts and I assume this is the starter. If all three were connected in parallel they would show the same charge.

 

The symbol on the left represents the solar panel, when charging the little arrows flick across the screen. I'me not sure about the battery symbol or which of them it represents as all three are in tandem, the light bulb symbol indicates when something is being used.

[Vaughan]

A battery fully charged at rest, will show 12.7 volts.  These batteries have therefore recently been on charge. I assume you stopped the engine not long before taking the photo.  I had also assumed that the very small trickle amperage was coming from the solar panel.

The starter battery will show a high voltage as it is always fully charged, just as it would be in your car.

The only true way to test the batteries is to let them rest for an hour, after they have been charged.  You cannot tell anything about them while they are on charge and that includes the solar panels.

Those 3 batteries cannot be connected in parallel or they would all show the same level of charge.  One of yours, is therefore separate from the other two.

[JanetAnne]

On 04/10/2020 at 20:44, Smoggy said:

....you can always jump from the domestic bank if needed.

Or tow/push start it 

[Smoggy]

21 minutes ago, JanetAnne said:

Or tow/push start it 

Best on a downhill stretch of water though.