My husband got to our boat and the batteries were firecracker hot. Could lightening cause this? He turned off all DC power for about 45 minutes, turned on the charger and it went to 30 amps, but the batteries are still hot. Help....
Hot batteries on 2007 catalina 350
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Leave DC power off until batteries cool. Later, disconnect terminals from batteries. You have a short in your system for some reason. Use the resistive scale on a multimeter and trace out the short. If you do not have expertise, get help.
Chief
Chief
Sounds like a shorted and failed battery. Isolate any batteries in parallel and stop charging them. After they cool down measure the voltage of the batteries previously in parallel. If one is considerably lower than the other that is going to be your suspect battery. Also ensure you have no shorts or don't smell any "burning wire" odor..
Well, unless you where running the boat the whole time till you got back I'd say the alternator regulator is not the problem.
Sounds like a shorted battery. turn off the charger and disconnect the battery cables. Test the voltage on each battery. The bad one will show a much lower than normal voltage after sitting for an hour or so.
Sounds like a shorted battery. turn off the charger and disconnect the battery cables. Test the voltage on each battery. The bad one will show a much lower than normal voltage after sitting for an hour or so.
Don't jump to conclusions before testing in order each of the components in your 12V circuit. Start with the batteries by disconnecting all and checking each one individually. A bad battery will show a significant lower voltage. If convenient take the batteries to an auto parts store where they will usually bench test them for free. A failed one is easy to identify but you may want to have the others checked as well to see their condition. If the batteries are good then reconnect them to the charger leads only and charge them. Then reconnect the heavy gauge wires and with everything off use a test lamp to determine the presence of a load or short. By flipping all breakers to Off and turning each one individually to On try to isolate the circuit with the load or short. If you locate one circuit that lights up the test lamp at the batteries check any connected appliances to it or the wiring . Of course if you determine early on that one of the batteries was bad I would just stop there and concentrate in replacing and testing the batteries.
.Gentleman, Thanks for the great advise. I was at the boat last night after a bad lightning storm, one of our worst in 30 years. My intent was to stay on the boat last night to get things ready for a short day cruise we have plan for this weekend.
When I opened up the boat you could smell the strong odor of somethig being burnt. Then the smell became ovious smell of hot acid. I did turn off all 12 v circuits and i also turned off the charger that showed to be pushing 30amps to Batteries. I waited as long as possible for the batteries to cool, but the oder was still to strong to stay down below for long.
I had a friend that lives onboad, check the batteries this morning and he said they had cooled down but were still a little warm, hatches were open for better ventilation. He did notice that one of the batteries had a little more acid that had boiled from the vent caps, and also noticed that the last two banks on the battery was still making a sizziling sound.
Today I plan on disconecting both Batteries and having them checked, One of the batteries is about 9 mounths old, it was replaced a couple of days before purchase, The other Im not sure off.
One of my concerns or questions I have, is how hot both of the Batteries were so hot. If one shows to be ok with test, should it also be replaced as well?
The charger is a Charles 30amp 5000 SP series charger. I can only assome that it is ok because it was still pushing 30 amps before I shut it off. Could it of possibly damadge the charger, if in fact it had been charging a shorted battery. I will try to look for a maunal for charger today, but am pressed for time at work.
Thanks again for all the replies!!!
When I opened up the boat you could smell the strong odor of somethig being burnt. Then the smell became ovious smell of hot acid. I did turn off all 12 v circuits and i also turned off the charger that showed to be pushing 30amps to Batteries. I waited as long as possible for the batteries to cool, but the oder was still to strong to stay down below for long.
I had a friend that lives onboad, check the batteries this morning and he said they had cooled down but were still a little warm, hatches were open for better ventilation. He did notice that one of the batteries had a little more acid that had boiled from the vent caps, and also noticed that the last two banks on the battery was still making a sizziling sound.
Today I plan on disconecting both Batteries and having them checked, One of the batteries is about 9 mounths old, it was replaced a couple of days before purchase, The other Im not sure off.
One of my concerns or questions I have, is how hot both of the Batteries were so hot. If one shows to be ok with test, should it also be replaced as well?
The charger is a Charles 30amp 5000 SP series charger. I can only assome that it is ok because it was still pushing 30 amps before I shut it off. Could it of possibly damadge the charger, if in fact it had been charging a shorted battery. I will try to look for a maunal for charger today, but am pressed for time at work.
Thanks again for all the replies!!!
Most likely a dead cell in one battery.
If the batteries are in parallel, the good battery will try to equalize the voltage by creating a high amperage circular current (HOT). After a while, the bad battery will discharge the good battery until they both reach an equilibrium, which is significantly LESS voltage (like 11 volts). Meanwhile, the charger is trying to get them both to 13.5, but it can't. A stalemate....
The result: hot batteries, hot charger
BTW, never heard of a shorted battery before.
If the batteries are in parallel, the good battery will try to equalize the voltage by creating a high amperage circular current (HOT). After a while, the bad battery will discharge the good battery until they both reach an equilibrium, which is significantly LESS voltage (like 11 volts). Meanwhile, the charger is trying to get them both to 13.5, but it can't. A stalemate....
The result: hot batteries, hot charger
BTW, never heard of a shorted battery before.
Figure of speech for one with a bad cell. Some consider that a deterioration of the plates may facilitate arcing just shorting the normal flow of electricity but I would not know if that is correct. Not something I'd be curious about.
Regarding the charger. I would test to insure that it has not been damaged. A sustained 30A charge seems a little high for a lengthy period of time. Take a known good but partially discharged battery and connect the charging leads to it. Turn on the charger breaker. Make sure the lights or whatever indicator the charger has are signaling a proper operation. After a few minutes take a voltage reading at the battery terminals which should be above 13V but not higher than 14.5V. Allow the battery to charge fully and observe as the charger cycles from bulk to maintenance. Take periodic voltage readings. If it charges the battery OK and the voltage remains within range and it does not get too hot to the touch I would say its good to go. Voltage readings taken while charging a battery are unreliable but what you are looking for is an indication that the charger is putting out adequate voltage to charge but not a runaway high voltage that could be damaging.
Batteries can internal short. If enough lead from the plates drops down into the bottom of a cell it can short out some or even all the plates within that cell.
Chief
Chief