Leisure battery leak

[ninja.turtle007]

Hi

When I plug my van into the mains the battery the leisure battery will leak from the caps at the top. Is the battery over charging?

[jamesc76]

Not only is it overcharging its had it! time for a new one, be very careful when it tis charging as the gas is nasty that it gives off!

[ninja.turtle007]

Do I need to have a look at the charging unit aswell? Or is it just because the battery is faulty. It still seems to hold a charge though.

Thanks

[bigherb]

You need to check the battery charger output voltage at the battery. Depends on what type of charger it is, but it should not be more than 13.5v for a floating charge or it will overcharge the battery.

[ninja.turtle007]

Hi

I have just checked the battery with a volt meter. I am getting 13.5 volts without out charging unit on and 14.55v with it on. What does this mean? I do not want to damage a new battery and am looking at replacing it this week.

Thanks

[Red Westie]

I'm not really sure why James thinks your battery is knackered.....overcharging (high charge activity with gasses being generated and bubbles actively rising in each of the cells) will often cause a small amount of resedue to accumulate around the filler tops (this obviosly depends on the battery and how it vents to atmosphere)
BUT NOTE* overfilling the cells can also cause leaking as the fluid in the cells expands with heat and gassing.
What you need to appreciate is: that most domestic chargers do not sense the batteries charge level so continue charging at the same rate. Ideally (but not essential) you need to change your charger to one that has multi stages and senses a fully charged battery. These turn down the charge rate depending on the batteries level of charge and turn either to pulse or a very low floating charge rate.
Generally though the crude battery chargers are fine as long as you don't leave them connected too long (max 24 hours) and keep an eye on electroyte levels (so the battery doesn't boil dry)
Besides checking standing voltage the most accurate way of checking a batteries condition is by taking specific gravity reading (with a hydrometer) and checking that you have ballanced readings (all specific gravity reading very close) Flat 1.150...fully charged 1.280 and anything in between.

Martin

[ninja.turtle007]

I'm using the charging unit that came as standard in Westfalia. Does this need to be changed?

[ninja.turtle007]

Also, I have a carbonmonozide alarm that will beep after the van has been on electric hook up for a couple of hours. Hence why I need to get this sorted. Obviously I don't use the hook up at the moment.

[Red Westie]

Yup...the original 'Black Box' charger fitted as OEM to Westfalia's is a little crude, it has 'staged charging' but doesn't go to pulse of float charge state like modern units so does tend to keep the battery in an active gassing state. It is dificult to say wether yours is 'Normal' or not. I would suggest if you can smell and taste the gasses in the air or if the battery temperature gets any warmer than skin temperature something is wrong (batteries do get slightly warm to the touch when being charged but the BBB charger is relatively low powered (think it is 6amps) so shouldn't be putting out enough power to get the battery anything higher than luke warm) BTW, I can have mine on mains (same charger as yours) without ever smelling any gasses, the battery does get mildly warm to the touch but certainly no warmer than that, mine is normal.
Yours could well be fine but use my guidelines. Faulty (shorting cells) get very hot and smelly, when they are in this state they are potentially very dangerous because there is a high risk of explosion.
Martin