Battery Explosion

[GaylesFaerie]

So I went down to the boat today (2012 R27) to do a battery check (add distilled water if needed and check specific gravity of each cell). This would be the 4th time since purchasing the boat last August to do an in depth status - I checked in December, in March, in June and today. This is what I found:

Failed Batterty: https://photos.app.goo.gl/3yu2ygimhUrPbBA87

Both caps blew off, a chunk of plastic over cell 3 blew out, the plastic covering cells 1 and 2 cracked and almost blew off, and the corner of cell 1 split down the side spilling the contents of cell 1 & 2. Upon closer inspection of the back of the battery another chunk of the casing blew off as well...

Corner: https://photos.app.goo.gl/MqPAFKy84tHQT3XX9

I read somewhere to keep baking soda on board for just such an occasion and sprinkled it about and over 40 minutes added about two full cups to cell 3 which still has all its solution...

Baking soda: https://photos.app.goo.gl/AYAayyKzrZ5xyHG9A Yes, I had double nitrile gloves on and protective eye wear during this process. After taking out the other 3 batteries, I removed the bad one and placed it on 4 sheets of oil absorbent padding, tied it up and got it off the boat.

I last drove the boat on Saturday and found this today (Thursday). I'm no electrical maven but (smarter people please correct me if I'm wrong) it looks like plates in cell 1 sulfated to such a degree as to burst the casing. Upon inspection of the other cells in the other 3 batteries as well as the 4 full cells in the damaged battery - they all had plenty of solution covering the plates.

I check my Victron monitor religiously and it always showed 100% SOC and 13+ Volts charging. I mostly spend time at the dock plugged into Shore Power with the ProNautic Battery Charger ON, and take occasional trips for a couple of hours and then return. No over-nighting on the hook. Hind site being 20/20 I did notice in the last two weeks that my solar monitor would read "Bulk" instead of the usual "Float". My panel is 100W and uses an MPPT regulator.

The batteries as recorded in the boat's log book were purchased in April of 2018 so they are just over 3 years old (I was planning on getting new ones in the Spring). They are wet flooded lead acid chemistry:

3 x Ultrapower EV27TM House 110 Ah (House batteries)
1 x Ultrapower 1027M Starter 1000 MCA

What might I have done to cause this or is this just plain luck?

Any suggestions on replacements? I'm planning on 4 new ones.

GF

 

[Submariner]

I've heard of this happening when using starter batteries for a deep cycle application. Your batteries, however, are specified as deep cycle though.

The battery explosion is best described in the video below. Batteries give off hydrogen, when the plates become exposed from insufficient electrolyte they warp and if they touch, a spark occurs.

Why You Can't Use a Starter Battery as a Deep Cycle House Battery? (start at 2:50)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_tNOzVPuKs

 

[GaylesFaerie]

Correct, the failed battery is deep cycle (one of 3 in the house bank). My fourth is the engine battery and is a starter battery.

Forgot to ask in my OP, Can I still use Shore Power with all the batteries out? I'm thinking yes, but am checking here first. No, I won't use the battery charger but am just looking for lights, outlets and water.

GF

 

[Submariner]

Correct, the failed battery is deep cycle (one of 3 in the house bank). My fourth is the engine battery and is a starter battery.

Forgot to ask in my OP, Can I still use Shore Power with all the batteries out? I'm thinking yes, but am checking here first. No, I won't use the battery charger but am just looking for lights, outlets and water.

GF

As long as you don't turn on the battery charger, plugging into shore power would be fine to run all the AC loads.

I am assuming your deep cycle batteries are lead-acid batteries and not AGM since they don't say "AGM".
AGM would be a sealed battery without any electrolyte to top off over time.

 

[GaylesFaerie]

I am assuming your deep cycle batteries are lead-acid batteries and not AGM since they don't say "AGM".

Correct, very wet cells. They all have filler caps and I've topped them off before using distilled water.

 

[Submariner]

I am assuming your deep cycle batteries are lead-acid batteries and not AGM since they don't say "AGM".

Correct, very wet cells. They all have filler caps and I've topped them off before using distilled water.

I would verify that your battery charger is working properly. If it overcharges the battery, like, never stops charging them even when the batteries are full, that could be what caused this.

 

[knotflying]

I can only figure that your charger malfunctioned, the ACR's malfunctioned, or the solar controller (if you have one) malfunctioned or a short in the battery. This situation is from overcharging or a short in the battery. As mentioned above, before you put in new batteries I would check to make sure your charging system is functioning properly. By the way, I am an advocate of wet cell at Walmart. I replace them every three years regardless of apparent health. They come with a one year warranty and usually no questions asked. At about $90 each you can't go wrong. What I also liked was the fact that we cruised quite a bit for long distances and you could usually find a Walmart along the way if you had issues. I am told that Walmart batteries are made by Johnson Controls. They are a pretty large manufacturer of Batteries.

 

[Martin610]

Agree with Martin and LaZina. Sounds like overcharging to me.

Any battery will outgas when over charged. That gas can build up and blow caps off flooded lead acid batteries, split cases, or worse. That can occur at 14.5 volts or more depending on type of battery.

I don't always trust the readouts from battery monitors. I like to put my multi-meter right on the battery terminals. Check each individual battery. For example your monitor may read 100% state of charge. But is it programmed to report overcharging? Is the charger set for your type of battery chemistry?

Recently, my solar controller failed. Was overcharging my batteries pretty bad. Replaced it, and I'm good. Caught it soon enough it didn't damage anything.

I would not leave the boat without batteries for a long period of time.

 

[GaylesFaerie]

Thanks everyone. Does anyone know to go about testing a battery charger? I have a ProMariner ProNautic 1220P 20 amp charger. My Solar controller is supposed to be all automatic with pretty much no user settings - it came with the Solar panel and I assume properly mated by the manufacturer of the panel. It is:

Hamilton Ferris F100 rigid solar panel (max power 100w, max voltage 17v, max current 5.89 amps) with a PowerBoost 15 amp MPPT controller with 3 stage charging.

<sigh> second time this season dead at the dock. GF

 

[knotflying]

Well, you shouldn't be getting more than 14.1 volts 14.8 max. I would call Promariner and explain the issue They should be able to give you guidance.

 

[GaylesFaerie]

Good advice, I will call ProMariner. In re-reading these posts, I'm confused about how a failed ACR would cause the failure. Can you explain further?

In addition, I'm still wondering about getting normal battery readings off my Victron but seeing the Solar monitor showing "Bulk" when normally it shows "Float" after the boat has sat for a few days. Is it possible for the two monitors to read differently? If so, then blame seems to be pointed toward the Solar charging unit.

In the mean time, I'm thinking of doing the following tests assuming that having all the new batteries hooked up won't explode another one:

1. Turn off the ProMariner and apply the Solar Charger, then I should see the 14.x charging volts on the Solar monitor and a Volt Meter applied directly on the batteries, correct? On new batteries I suppose its possible to see a bulk charge initially, so I suppose I should monitor the batteries closely with the Volt meter.

2. Disconnect the Solar charger and apply the ProMariner, then I should see the 14.x charging volts on the ProMariner, the Victron and a Volt Meter applied directly on the batteries, correct? Any other reading probably means the ProMariner or the Victron are bad?

Thoughts? GF

 

[Cutwater28GG]

i would definitely check that all the chargers are set to wet cell and not agm...

 

[Submariner]

In re-reading these posts, I'm confused about how a failed ACR would cause the failure. Can you explain further?

In addition, I'm still wondering about getting normal battery readings off my Victron but seeing the Solar monitor showing "Bulk" when normally it shows "Float" after the boat has sat for a few days.

In the mean time, I'm thinking of doing the following tests assuming that having all the new batteries hooked up won't explode another one:

1. Turn off the ProMariner and apply the Solar Charger, then I should see the 14.x charging volts on the Solar monitor and a Volt Meter applied directly on the batteries, correct? On new batteries I suppose its possible to see a bulk charge initially, so I suppose I should monitor the batteries closely with the Volt meter.

2. Disconnect the Solar charger and apply the ProMariner, then I should see the 14.x charging volts on the ProMariner, the Victron and a Volt Meter applied directly on the batteries, correct? Any other reading probably means the ProMariner or the Victron are bad?

I don't think a failed ACR would have caused your issue. I'd be looking at the battery chargers as it sounds to me like your batteries were overcharged.

That leaves either the shore power battery charger or the solar controller to test.

You could throw a blanket over the solar panel to eliminate that and test your battery charger. I'd turn it on and put a volt meter on the house bank to validate voltage and would watch it go from bulk to absorption to float based on the voltage. Then I'd turn off the battery charger and pull off the blanket and do the same with the solar controller. In reading through past tugnuts posts, there are examples of other boaters who've had a solar controller fail, as well as a battery charger fail. (but not at the same time).

Voltage from the battery charger (solar and shore power) and on your battery monitor should be very close. I say close, and not exact, as I'm assuming neither your solar controller or shore power battery charger are voltage and temperature compensated (would require an additional probe from the charger to the actual battery post for a more accurate reading).

 

[knotflying]

I mentioned the ACR because they are supposed to open when the voltage falls below (I Think) 11/8 Volts and also when it senses a full charge. If either your solar controller or the ProMariner are not changing the charge rate at specific levels that will cause the issue. You are on the right track by testing one system at a time. I would first call ProMariner and see what they can tell you about their unit and determining that it is not overcharging and perhaps call Morningstar or whatever manufacturer you have for the controller. It could be very possible that the culprit is the battery as well. The fact that it only happened to the one battery is an indicator that it may very well be just the battery.

 

[GaylesFaerie]

Prologue: I called ProMariner Technical Support and got the usual "All staff are busy helping other..." message. It did allow me to leave a message and within 24 hours I got a call back from a staff member who even supplied his direct phone line. Props to ProMariner tech support! The tech (Steven) sent me a short troubleshooting guide which I went through today and the charger checked out fine. Before I hooked up all the new batteries I checked their voltage and they were all close to 12.46v which according to the documentation from the battery manufacturer means they had approx 80% charge. I turned on the ProMariner and it started charging at 14.8v (exactly what the battery manufacturer specified for bulk/absorption) putting out 19.5A so that was good (its a 20A charger). Turned off the ProMariner and started the engine and the alternator was putting out 14.2v according to the Yanmar gauge. That seemed a bit low so I'd be interested to hear what others think about that.

Turned off the ProMariner and put the fuse back into the Solar charger and it read it was in Bulk mode again which made me nervous so I disconnected it. I guess 80% charge is right on the edge of bulk/absorption but for now I think I am going to change my charging habits: no more leaving the ProMariner and Solar charger ON all the time while docked. I go to the boat often enough that I'll check the Victron Monitor and if it tells me that the House bank is at 12.6v or lower I'll turn the Charger ON or activate Solar but putting in the fuse between the charger and the panel. Or if I take the boat out for a cruise, that will charge all four batteries up. So for the time being managing the batteries will be more hands on than I like but I really don't trust things for now. Of course I want to leave my fridge on all the time to keep the beer cold so I'll have to check often - things could be worse.

The fact that it only happened to the one battery is an indicator that it may very well be just the battery.

KnotFlying, I hope you are right but I haven't found a way to tell definitively if the battery shorted out on its own given its current destroyed state. So, for now I'll play it safe and assume it may have been a charger error - perhaps I should not have the ProMariner and Solar on at the same time? ...that said I've researched that having two (or more) smart chargers ON should not be a problem.

BTW, I did replace the Blue Seas ACR just to be safe and keep maintenance up on the boat since it was only $60 on Amazon.

I appreciate the help from you all. If anyone would like the ProMariner Troubleshooting Guide you can PM me and I'll send it to you. It covers most of their ProNautic models.

GF

 

[knotflying]

Well, it seems like you eliminated the charger as a culprit. It is not practical to maintain your current charging regimen so The next thing I would do is go to the boat and grab a couple of beers and engage the solar panel and see what happens with the charging over an extended period of time. That would be a six pack. 😀 If all looks good then I would chalk it up to a bad battery and then hope for the best.

 

[GaylesFaerie]

KnotFlying, I thought of doing that but wasn't sure on how long to wait and check: 6-pack, bottle of wine or bottle of rum. 😱 Seriously, I'm worried about leaving the Solar on that long and ruining another battery. Is it safe to assume that it won't ruin another battery in that amount of time? Its a 100W solar charger that puts out about 45W in full sun these days. If my calcs are correct that would be pumping in almost 4 amps to the 4 battery bank (house bank = 3x90). Right now the boat is sitting with no chargers running and I'm guessing the batteries at 80-85%. Saturday will be my first chance to try the test. GF

 

[knotflying]

With over charging it is the voltage to consider, not the amps. I would not connect the shore power. Take a look at your analog meter or use a multi tester to check voltage at the battery. Then reconnect the solar panels. You should be able to see the voltage on your remote meter and it should be higher than the meter readings you took previously. As the battery gets enough charge the voltage should drop to a lower level to the float state. This should indicate that the controller is functioning properly.

 

[GaylesFaerie]

Beautiful sunny morning on Saturday so I plugged in the Solar panel. It got up to 66W output.

Initial voltage prior to plugging in the solar was:
Volt Meter on batteries: 12.35
Victron: 12.38
Solar Monitor: 12.4

After 1 hour:
VM: 13.01
V: 13.04
S: 13.2

After 2 hours:
VM: 13.07
V: 13.07
S: 13.2

After 3 hours:
VM: 13.09
V: 13.09
S: 13.2

The Admiral arrived and ordered a ride. Turned on the fridge and drove around for 2 hours.

One hour after the ride the house bank was at 12.63 and the engine battery was at 12.82. The Yanmar gauge showed 14.2v during the ride.

I left the fridge on overnight and solar active and Sunday morning the house bank showed:
VM: 12.48
V: 12.59
S: 12.6

Went for a sail for 2 hours and upon return all batteries showed 12.7 (solar still plugged in and the ACR had closed). Left the boat this evening and the Victron showed a SOC of 93%.

My conclusion: The solar seems to be working, the batteries charging and all that seems good. The variability in the voltage readings based on the different devices is a concern. The Victron and Volt Meter almost always agree while the Solar monitor only goes to 1 decimal point in its readings. And the Solar monitor instructions refer to it as "the Victron" so it seems like it may be a private label device with reduced features for resale by the local solar manufacturer.

I still think I am no longer going to just leave the solar and ProMariner active all the time I'm away from the boat. I'm down there enough I can just turn them on should I need more juice.

Any parting thoughts out there? GF


The solar monitor showed output of 60W at 15+ volts from the panel, and the battery had 12.7v with 4.4 amps going into the batteries. No Shore Power or ProMariner. After a few minutes the solar monitor showed 13+v at the battery.

 

[knotflying]

I would say you are golden. I would not worry much about the slight variance between the instruments. Add a fourth instrument and you will probably get a different reading on that. Between the instruments themselves you will understandably get a different reading. Then you will also get resistance based on wire size and distance. The Solar is a small wire and a lot of length coiled up. Sounds like you may have had a short in the battery.