Just a battery failure - or something more?

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dovekie

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May I ask peoples opinion on this?

I had a “Redflash 1100” engine starter battery get hot and swollen yesterday. Photo attached, it looks like one cell has expanded.

The battery is 10 years old, used for engine starting, worked fine all it’s life. I left it (with no charging attached), last August. Back on board yesterday I connected the boat’s mains charger (Mastervolt Chargemaster 1 Mains battery charger 12V 50-3 – also 10 years old). Noticed a hot smell within 20 minutes and found the battery pictured.

I am not worried that a battery cell has failed after 10 years. My concern is whether I should consider / check if there’s something wrong with the charger? It appears to be behaving normally, all lights normal, and it charged the domestic bank (330Ah 12V) with no problem and no battery warming.

Many thanks in anticipation.
 

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If it's charging the domestic bank, it's probably OK, but I'd check the voltage it's putting out, just in case. Paul Rainbow will know the desired voltage better than me, but I'd regard around 14-14.5v as OK, and over 15v as definitely not.
 
I have had similar happen ... not with a Redflash though .... batterys left long period ... my fault not making sure stayed full charge ... froze in winter and one actually split the case ... another bulged on a cell causing failure.
When I put charger to that second one to see if I could use for 'garage / bench' use - it smelt and got hot.
 
Agree possible overcharging voltage. Never really seen the point of charging a Red Flash from the mains charger. The self discharge is very low and if you have a means of starting the engine from the house bank you have a back up. The Red Flash in my Morgan lasted 19 years. Similar usage pattern to a boat - long periods of inactivity between short bursts of usage. Only extra charging was a trickle charger if I leave it for more than a few weeks. On the boat I have a trickle charger from the house bank to the Odyssey start battery.
 
I had similar happen to a normal LA starter battery last year, from a fairly new 25a Victron charger. Filled boat up with fumes one night, thankfully the CO monitor woke us. I had upgraded from a 10A charger due to an enlarged house bank, but the failed battery seems to have pulled the whole 20A via the VCR. It has made me think about whether it is a good idea to have start batteries connected to high output chargers even by VCR.
 
ithet said:
I had similar happen to a normal LA starter battery last year, from a fairly new 25a Victron charger. Filled boat up with fumes one night, thankfully the CO monitor woke us. I had upgraded from a 10A charger due to an enlarged house bank, but the failed battery seems to have pulled the whole 20A via the VCR. It has made me think about whether it is a good idea to have start batteries connected to high output chargers even by VCR.
Click to expand...
The battery will only take what current is required dictated by the state of charge and internal resistance. For the battery to have "Pulled the whole 20amps" it must have been faulty or the charger was incorrectly set up possibly charging at an excessively high voltage??
 
Thank you all.
The voltage on the Redflash now is 10.52.
I shall check the charging voltage when I am next aboard.
And I hadn't understood before the very low self discharge of Redflash type batteries - and the whether starter batteries need to be charged in this way at all.
Thanks again, Jon
 
dovekie said:
Thank you all.
The voltage on the Redflash now is 10.52.
I shall check the charging voltage when I am next aboard.
And I hadn't understood before the very low self discharge of Redflash type batteries - and the whether starter batteries need to be charged in this way at all.
Thanks again, Jon
Click to expand...
Your Redflash has a shorted cell, the charger would have tried to put as much charge into this as possible, which would cause it to get very hot and gas a lot. Steer clear of gassing batteries, as they can explode. Turn charging off, allow to cool and the gas to dissipate.

Unlikely to be caused by the charger, but double check the voltages anyway.
 
PaulRainbow said:
Your Redflash has a shorted cell, the charger would have tried to put as much charge into this as possible, which would cause it to get very hot and gas a lot. Steer clear of gassing batteries, as they can explode. Turn charging off, allow to cool and the gas to dissipate.

Unlikely to be caused by the charger, but double check the voltages anyway.
Click to expand...
Thank you Paul
 
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