Club 80-90 Forums

Does anybody know the *regulations* for using and charging lead acid batteries inside a vehicle? I know it sounds like a strange question, since many of us have a leisure battery or two inside our campers, but in the course of trying to install a battery bank and appropriate charging equipment into our works van, the first technician I spoke to here said he thought there were regulations about having them in a sealed, externally vented, enclosure. I can see the logic in this, due to the risk of explosive gases being given off during charging, but on the other hand, my daily driver has it's starter battery under the boot floor, from the factory, and that's certainly not gas tight.

I suspect that for our personal vehicles we have more freedom, but for a works vehicle I have to be very careful to follow regulations, so does anyone know the situation?

My Merc was a 19 seater bus with an electric hoist (1993) - the 2 batteries were situated under the driver's seat, not sealed box, open to the atmosphere. If this was considered to be OK on manufacture I would be surprised if it has been changed since. Our VW vans were built as work vehicles, even as fire trucks and they put the battery virtually in the open under the drivers' seats.
I suspect that the technician is 1/2 remembering about gas bottles!

Thank you. You may be right. I did think for a moment that camper vans are usually safe due to the gas drop holes that are there for LPG, but of course the hydrogen given off during battery charging is lighter than air, so gas drop holes don't make sense, whereas a sealed compartment would. It might also be related to air flow I guess, to keep the hydrogen/oxygen mix below explosive concentrations. In my car, the battery only gets a charge when the engine's running, so maybe the airflow from front to back of the passenger cabin takes care of this issue.

The technician's comment doesn't 'feel' right I agree, but on the other hand I can't point to anything definitive to disprove it. Yet. The British Standard that seems to apply (BS EN 50272-2:2001 Safety requirements for secondary batteries and battery installations. Stationary batteries) would cost £174, so I'm hoping somebody will be able to give a definitive answer.

The only time that a battery gives out copious quantities of gas is when it is overcharged , the normal amount that is given off is soon dispersed. I can appreciate the concern though as I have experienced a battery explode - it was on charge under a sheet of ply and an angle grinder spark ignited the gas - it was being treated with a de-sulphater which uses high voltage pulses which causes more gas. Most leisure batteries come with a hole or place for a hole where a plastic tube is fitted to enable venting outside. My last two had these. Maybe this was the result of some new EU regulation - the technician may remember such a change?
Maybe worth dropping an email to one of the bigger battery suppliers like Alpha on ebay - they are usually v. helpful.

Isn't that standard for stationary batteries?

Anyway, you can view it here
http://m.doc88.com/p-373880768224.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Fords solution i have never seen a 12v battery without those vents however you normaly only get the plastic adapter and bung for the other end if you buy from a proper battery supplier.

Oldiebut goodie wrote:The only time that a battery gives out copious quantities of gas is when it is overcharged , the normal amount that is given off is soon dispersed. I can appreciate the concern though as I have experienced a battery explode...

Indeed, but I guess it's this type of situation that needs to be safeguarded against. We've also had a similar experience - the batteries didn't explode, but they got close.



But we've now bought 4 identical Trojan 6V batteries, and they're going to spend their whole lives wired up as a 12V bank, draining and charging together, to minimise the chances of this sort of thing happening.

keytouch wrote:Isn't that standard for stationary batteries?

Anyway, you can view it here
http://m.doc88.com/p-373880768224.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thank you - good job I didn't shell out for the wrong standard then.

MGP wrote: Fords solution i have never seen a 12v battery without those vents however you normaly only get the plastic adapter and bung for the other end if you buy from a proper battery supplier.

I guess it might just be that simple after all. I'll see what venting arrangements the Trojans have. But of course, if this is a genuine concern, then who knows what additional precautions might be mandated by the regulations....

I wouldn't be charging up batteries overnight in a confined space whilst I slept anyway. I'd have thought its more common sense than regulations. Ok in the day when you're up and at least a window open. If it didn't kill you, you'd wake up with a sore throat.

I've vented my 4 batteries the same as MGB.

CovKid wrote:I wouldn't be charging up batteries overnight in a confined space whilst I slept anyway. I'd have thought its more common sense than regulations. Ok in the day when you're up and at least a window open. If it didn't kill you, you'd wake up with a sore throat.

True - but this isn't a camper, it's a works test vehicle. We've bought a Sterling battery-to-battery charger for it (it's nice when it's not your own money!), so that the batteries get a decent charge while we're driving, but it does mean we'll be on board while they're charging.

ninja.turtle007 wrote:I've vented my 4 batteries the same as MGB.

I'm looking into this now. The batteries are Trojan T-105s, that each have three vented caps - makes them easy to maintain, but not so easy to vent outside via a pipe. I think Trojan have a solution for this, so I've emailed them.

Yes there are regulations regarding mounting security, ventilation, sources of ignition, and acid spill if the vehicle ends up inverted.
When I needed them I got them from the local library, they got them in a few days.

No you can't do it like this.

Mine are sealed batteries so no need to vent.

lloydy wrote:Mine are sealed batteries so no need to vent.

Sealed batts exploded in the same way when they get an internal fault, with no prior warning.

i never said they didn't, Mine just don't need the vent pipe to atmosphere that open lead batteries do

i never said they didn't, Mine just don't need the vent pipe to atmosphere that open lead batteries do