Battery hissing

[Joner001]

Sorry if this has been asked before but I couldn't find anything.

I have an 1983 Westfalia Joker.
All the wiring etc seems to be original.
I have had this van for a few years and never heard this before.

I went to a campsite and hooked up my van. After a 24 hours or so my main battery started hissing.
So i disconnected the battery and tried to run just off the hook up.
All the interior lights flashed on and off and my light display on my sink unit flashed to.

I didn't have a leisure battery connected as I didn't think I would need it.
I take it the battery was hissing because it was being over charged. Am I supposed to switch anything?
Should I have a leisure battery connected even when using hook up?

Thanks.

[ghost123uk]

Welcome to club 80-90

It is a shame that your first post is in regard to a problem rather than a relaxed "hello". But, as your problem is almost life threatening, let's proceed.

Your battery certainly should NOT be hissing. Don’t underestimate the seriousness of an exploding car battery. An explosion, followed by a shower of hot Sulphuric acid can blind folk and permanently disfigure your face and other skin. The fire that might result can kill you or your van. I strongly suggest that if you do not understand 12 Volt electrics, you leave the leisure battery disconnected until you can get help from someone who knows about such things. By the way, it's not a case of "switching something" as the system is designed to be inherently safe with respect to the above. There is definitely summat wrong. Trouble is, trying to figure out what it is at a distance is not easy. If you are not experienced with using a multimeter to measure current, you are going to struggle "DIY'ing" it I am afraid. Where in the world are you (with regard to someone who knows coming to check out what is going on).

To answer your other question. The hook up / charger system is not designed to power your accessories with no battery connected. This is why it was all flashing on and off.

Please be careful

[clift_d]

If I was to make a guess I would say the most likely thing is that your leisure battery has died and is off-gassing when it charges i.e. on a hook up. You say you've had the van a few years, and I'm guessing you've not replaced the leisure battery before and that it's probably reached the end of its life.

You might not realise it but it was probably also off-gassing when you were driving as the battery also charges off the alternator. We had a leisure battery that died and started giving off hydrogen sulphide gas when it was being charged both on the hookup and while driving - we could tell as we could smell it - it just took us a little while to work out where the smell was coming from.

As above, I would suggest you don't take any chances by reconnecting it, and that you get a replacement battery - have a look in the wiki with regard to finding info on what type of batteries will fit.

[Joner001]

Hi Guys,


Thank you for the advice and the welcome.
I may of been a little bad with my explanation.

I went to the campsite with no leisure battery only my main battery (ie van battery)
As I was using hook up when I got there and wasn't running anything on the road I didn't take a leisure battery as its broke.
It was my main battery hissing whilst on hook up.

So I thought it would be ok not to have a leisure battery as I was on hook up, Is this wrong? Should I have a leisure battery even when on hook up?


Thanks.

[ghost123uk]

You certainly should have "a battery" in circuit when on hook up. I take it your van has one of those "Zig" (or similar) fancy control panels. If it has, and the main battery is hissing whilst on hook up, but otherwise starting the engine ok, I would think the charger part of your hook up circuits is maybe faulty and needs checking. iirc (I don't have a fancy Zig unit, I use a very odd, but good set-up) they can be set via switches to either operate and charge other the main or leisure battery, though of course it is much more usual to have it set to the leisure battery. Mind you, if on a hook up (and it's all working correctly) no big reason why not to have it on the main battery I suppose, as if it was working correctly, it should, over time (ie at night) put back any power used during the evening.

Again "iirc" the Zig type units only supply summat like 5 Amps, so if any gear you have connected up exceeds that, it will be draining whatever battery is in use, but will "top it up" when the "stuff" is off for the night.

Do you have a multi-meter and know the basics of how to measure DC voltage with it? if "yes". we can offer some advice as to how to do some basic checks.

[Joner001]

It is all standard on my van from when first new. Whatever Westfalia installed. I don't think I have ever ran the van without a leisure battery before. Could the problem be that I should use a leisure battery? Not just the main battery. On a standard westfalia how does the hook up work? Is it supposed to switch off charging the battery when it is fully charged and direct the power to only the items consuming electricity?

[California Dreamin]

Westfalia has the fabelled BBB charger (buzzing black box) lol. This charger is multi-stage but not 'SMART' like modern chargers. It also has dual output and is wired to charge both leisure and starter batteries at the same time. What this means to the average Westy owner is: left weeks on end the batteries can boil dry. That combined with the fact that modern batteries are 'sealed' and cannot be topped up means the best you can do is fit larger battery capacities in both boxes which will reduce the relative water consumption. I seem to remember that the BBB is a 7amp charger? so the bigger the batteries, the slower the charging.
Although seperate outputs I would guess the output would be increased by removing the leisure and charging just the starter (unloading one of the outputs/increases the other).
Interestingly, most owners carry out the mod which completely disconnects the starter battery from the interior lights/radio but your appears to be still connected. Strange how the camping electrics still work?

Martin

[captain Byrne]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/360581780176" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[ghost123uk]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/360581780176

£2 cheaper here = http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-100AH-Pow ... 53f4566bf2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[captain Byrne]

£2 cheaper here = http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-100AH-Pow" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... 53f4566bf2

That one won't fit under the seat - too big.

[ghost123uk]

^^^ Ah, good point (mine is in a cupboard so I don't have that worry, but good find )

[Joner001]

Thank you for the help guys. Got a battery from Alpha Batteries today. Going away to Snowdonia for the week, so I will see how it goes.
Much appreciated.