Battery ran dry

[janism1956]

Our 2022 295RL had a weird smell coming from the nose. We finally isolated it to one of the batteries, a DEEP CYCLE marine/RV SRM-27. It had run dry. Can anyone give us a clue what could have caused that? We have a single solar panel (factory installed) and have added a second battery. We have been operating on 30 Amp shore power for over 30 days.

[Yoda]

Our 2022 295RL had a weird smell coming from the nose. We finally isolated it to one of the batteries, a DEEP CYCLE marine/RV SRM-27. It had run dry. Can anyone give us a clue what could have caused that? We have a single solar panel (factory installed) and have added a second battery. We have been operating on 30 Amp shore power for over 30 days.

The only reason I can think of is continuous overcharging.. How did you have it wired in with the second battery? Is the second battery low on water? Pictures of the set up would help. Other information that would help is what solar charge controller do you have. and do you have a multi meter to check voltages or battery monitor set up like the Victron BMV 712. So you know that battery is toast - sorry to tell you that.

Keith

[TucsonJim]

On your solar charge controller, can you please provide the make, model and settings? If you had the controller set for Lithium while using lead acid batteries, you may have cooked the batteries.

Jim

[janism1956]

Problem discovered: Loose nut holding the wrench...Hubby didn't wire the two batteries correctly. Batteries A/B red-to-red black-to-black, but battery B had both trailer black and trailer red. Result: Battery A overcharged, boiled dry. Watched a couple YouTube videos, replaced Battery A for $111, re-wired the batteries so that Battery A/B red-to-red and black-to-black Battery A Trailer black, Battery B Trailer red. With hubby doing most of the maintenance so glad I purchased the optional marriage counseling package.

[Country Campers]

Problem discovered: Loose nut holding the wrench...Hubby didn't wire the two batteries correctly. Batteries A/B red-to-red black-to-black, but battery B had both trailer black and trailer red. Result: Battery A overcharged, boiled dry. Watched a couple YouTube videos, replaced Battery A for $111, re-wired the batteries so that Battery A/B red-to-red and black-to-black Battery A Trailer black, Battery B Trailer red. With hubby doing most of the maintenance so glad I purchased the optional marriage counseling package.

I am not sure that how the batteries "were" wired is the reason that battery "A" boiled. I would still keep a close eye on the valuable liquid levels in the battery. If you RV is on constant shore power, at home/storage or while camping this can result in battery fluid boiling off.

Brian

[ncitro]

janism1956 Brian is right, while its recommended to span the bank and put one trailer cable on one battery and the other on the other battery, thats mainly for longevity of the bank. An issue as drastic and abrupt as what you had should not be caused by that. Definitely keep an eye on your water levels, I would not be surprised if there is still something going on.

[RPAspey]

You said the shore power is hooked up. So is the converter still energized so that it is also charging the batteries?

You added a second battery. Is that battery identical to the first? Same manufacturer, same model? If not then the impedance of the batteries will be different. As such, the charging will not be equal. This causes the lower impedance battery to overcharge and the higher impedance battery to undercharge. Batteries should be the exact same and even bought at the same time as the impedance changes with age.

Over charging equals fluid loss. Keep a close eye on the fluid levels. Check weekly until you get a good feel for the useage.

Most of the time, no one will notice any issues caused by mixed set of batteries. Sometimes it does just as you described.