Battery Smell

[doc g]

I've got 4 ,8-Ds (AGM) under my aft master stateroom bed that make up one bank of my inverter system. The other morning we woke up to a rotten egg stink after the generator was on and the inverter system was charging. I traced it to the batt'y box under the bed. Went thru 4-5 more charge /discharge cycles without any problem and last night the stink came back during charge phase again. I am reading stuff about thermal runaways ,etc . What do you guys think ? Is it dangerous? If a bad batt'y how do I figure out which is bad in the bank of 4,since they are sealed ??
Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!.......................Pat

[garyd]

I had a battery do the same thing. That battery smell is different than anything else on board.

It was easy for me to tell which battery because it was untouchable HOT. And therma runaway is a real condition that can happen and it is not good.



Garyd

[Brian Degulis]

Hi There could be something wrong but in a bulk charge cycle batteries do gas and make that smell. If your batteries are under a bed I would realy consider sealing the space there in from the interior and venting that space to the outside. The gasses not only stink they are corrosive and can be flamable.

Brian

[doc g]

The batt'y box is custom made epoxy and plywood with a fitted top and is sealed from the interior and vented thru the transom . It has been set up this way for many years and we've never had any problem with odor. I think that there must be something wrong to all of a sudden start smelling that H2S smell. Of course I do not know how much you need for it to smell bad. The batt'y box configuration has not changed...........................Pat

[Genesis]

Try to provoke it into happening and feel the batteries. I bet you've got one that has an internal short and, if so, yes, you need to replace it immediately.

[Brian Degulis]

Yeah if there in a vented box you must have a battery problem for it to just start up. If by chance you don't find a bad battery consider the posability than your vent was picking up just the right wind direction to blow it back. That happened to me one time we were staying at a marina and getting an oder in one stateroom. Turned out to be the port ER was being slightlt pressurized from a stiff wind hitting the vent in the hull just right.

You know if I had this problem Rotten egg smell in the master stateroom caused by a bad battery I would fix it but wouldn't ever let my wife know I fixed it. Think about after a great night of buritos and beer you have the perfect excuse it's those dam batteries again I got to get that fixed!!!!


Brian

[eze2bme]

Checking the batteries is definitely called for. I'd also check to make certain that the vent line isn't plugged up with something like a spider nest or wasp nest.

[doc g]

The thing that bothers me is that if I had a short wouldn't the battery charger be trying to charge the he** out of that bank? Also ,can a batt'y have an intermittent short? Is it normal for a battery to give off this kind of smell when it's charging? That bank seems to keep pace with the other bank as far as charge rate,voltage, amp/hours used and amps being consumed. I am going to remove the clamshell over the vent and check it to be sure it was open. Brian -all the burritos and beer in the world couldn't (I don't think)make that bad a stink !!!.........................Pat

[doc g]

Thanks everyone who replied!! I spoke to Lifeline Battery and was told that they are probably nearing the end of their life (6 years) and that alone could cause the stink as they are charged. So , I guess I will be buying 8 new Lifeline 8Ds soon. BUMMER! I hope to make the season with them....Pat

[Brian Degulis]

You know you said your batterey box was sealed to the inside I don't want to be a PITA but if it smells it's not sealed. Maybe it would be a good idea to get some weather strip or something and seal a little better. So long as it's vented to the outside it might get you some stink free cruise time untill it's convienant to replace em.

Brian