Bulging battery-is it ruined?

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by Cadence

My guess would be a shorted cell from crap settling. Someone hadn't been using distilled water. Save a nickel spend a dime.

They are 8 years old dual use batteries, surprised they lasted this long. Off to the scrap yard with the lot and time to start again with something more suitable for use as a house bank.

Pete

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by Pete7

They are 8 years old dual use batteries, surprised they lasted this long. Off to the scrap yard with the lot and time to start again with something more suitable for use as a house bank.

Pete

Could be. Those plates only last so long. Might be time to cashier them all?

[ZULU40]

Originally Posted by Pete7

Are these suitable for use on a catamaran? they seem to weigh quite a bit. would you really want 1/2 tonne of lead on board? how about 4 golf carts instead would that be a better match?

Pete

AGMs wont vent, maybe why they bulged. Golf cart batteries definitely would have vented, but then what ...

If acid in the bilge isnt scary enough its entirely likely the batteries with less electrolyte would run even hotter to the point of ignition, fire and a significant explosion ferrying burning acid around the boat. Nice ...

I dont know what went wrong, Id like to hear him say he had AGMs and an appropriate charger, and Id like to caution people about using bus bars which in extreme sea conditions will crack battery cases with the loss of electrolyte and aforementioned consequences.

Might be a lesson in this for all of us re cell temperature monitoring alarm.
And it could be he got off lightly ... and Id like to add that AGMs would be my choice for house batteries, but not for engine starts

[ZULU40]

Originally Posted by Cadence

My guess would be a shorted cell from crap settling. Someone hadn't been using distilled water. Save a nickel spend a dime.

The former is possible, the latter not, if they're sealed batteries.

[boat driver]

8 years battery bank is good life.
replace entire bank. be very cautious removing the damaged ones, WEAR EYE PROTECTION. a battery becomes unstable at this point and if jarred or banged is very capable of exploding resulting with injury or death.

check charger output on other bank after damaged bank is disconnected. if charging voltage is outside of 13.8-14.6 parameters- suggest it being checked for failure as well before putting new batteries in-

read up on batteries and chargers-types, voltages, expectations.
eight years old suggest some new technologies may be available as well.

as far as expense of batteries- a properly balanced and maintained battery bank will last 5-10 years proportionately related to poor design or maintenance.

[01kiwijohn]

Sounds like an internal short. Check the date code. If over 4 years, replace the whole bank. Do not intermingle good, new batteries with questionable ones. Vheck oer the whole system while you're on the job.

[Ostinato]

I have also had problems with Odyssey batteries shorting out. While trouble shooting the issue I talked to one their TA supervisors who said essentially I would be lucky to get 2.5 years out of them as a typical cruiser. I was going on four. I eventually dumped them for gel batteries.

Despite the hype I do not believe any one makes an AGM suitable for cruising unless your willing to go to maintenance lengths such as equalizing. If read you the literature from companies that sell both (like Victron) you’ll get a more balance statement of what each type is best suited for.

I did end up keeping two for starting batteries. They seem to do this very well.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by boat driver

8 years battery bank is good life.
replace entire bank. be very cautious removing the damaged ones, WEAR EYE PROTECTION. a battery becomes unstable at this point and if jarred or banged is very capable of exploding resulting with injury or death.

They are scary as hell.. the batteries that went bad on me in Panama were gurgling and squeaking as we very gingerly off loaded them.. my mate who was also going through at the time and is an elec tech was white faced the whole time..

[motion30]

Originally Posted by guyrj33

Six of these 2v AGM's from Rolls would make a really nice house bank.
With the possibility of getting 1,000 - 3,000 cycles from them.

http://www.rollsbattery.com/wp-conte...S2-1180AGM.pdf
WEIGHT: 73.50 kg 162 Lbs.
LENGTH: 474 mm 18 2/3 Inches
WIDTH: 175 mm 6 7/8 Inches
HEIGHT*: 366 mm 14 3/8 Inches
CAPACITY AH
@ 20 HOUR RATE 1100AH 55.00Amps

about $800 each.

So $800 each x 6 ? Damn they should be nice they should polish your boat once a month for that price

[BlackHeron]

Originally Posted by Mitchell87

Ran outside naked no less and disconnected shore power. And turned on my water heater in an attempt to draw out some charge quickly. ( don’t know if this was a good idea or not)

Your AC panel should have a breaker labeled "Battery Charger" -or failing that there is one labeled "Main." That's all you needed to do to shut the battery charger down and/or the entire AC system inside the boat. If not then you need to attend to this ASAP.

[Zil]

Originally Posted by Dadrock33

Method #3, as is stated, could a suitable fuse be used to combine the 4 batteries on one side and then take the main line "on" to the rest of the system? How big would that fuse need to be? Thanks for the help.

My bank is as #3. I have Blue Sea 5191 fuse blocks on the three positive terminals, 2/0 cables to a heavy buss bar. There is then a cable from the buss bar, fused at the buss bar, to inverter. The same for smaller fuse block and charging system. As my heaviest use is the inverter, fused at 250 amps, I used 300 amp fuses at the 3 battery terminals. Large fuses for least voltage drop, still within the safety range of the 2/0 cable.

[IslandHop]

Seen those new li-ion batts, one less than the size of an l16 will replace 4 l16 guaranteed for 10yrs , or 20

[hzcruiser]

Originally Posted by IslandHop

Seen those new li-ion batts, one less than the size of an l16 will replace 4 l16 guaranteed for 10yrs , or 20

You mean Lithium-Iron-Phosphate or LiFePo batteries?

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Swollen or bulged means nothing,

They usually swell before the burst like this AGM. I'd really like to see photos of the op's charger and batteries.
I'd bet he has no fuses on those batteries.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by boatpoker

They usually swell before the burst like this AGM

Of course they do, any thing does doesn’t it?
However an AGM battery is a VRSLAB, that is valve regulated sealed lead acid battery, there is a valve, an AGM will vent gasses, but must build up enough pressure for the valve to open before it does, so a slightly bulging AGM means nothing, nor does a slightly caved in looking AGM. Short an AGM and it will hiss at you, just like any battery will as it vents gases, just under normal conditions, they don’t vent, they recombine gases back into water.
Read here on Lifeline’s manual where it says what causes bulging or caved in looking end walls.