Battery leaking.

[calcrc]

I checked my engine bay today and saw this ;(

I will have to take it out and clean it. What do you think happened ?

Winter, overcherged or defect ?

I noticed that there was something this winter and I left it but now it is much worse. It is my aux battery. It is marine deep cycle and the main battery is a normal one. You think that it might be in conflict and that I should put 2 of the same kind ?

Also my winch is plugged on the aux since I dont use it very often.

 

[Bumbo]

Well that doesn’t look good… how old is the battery?

That’s a lot of corrosion buildup, that happens when there is a lot of out-gassing, almost looks like it was an electrolyte boil off… perhaps the battery internally shorted or went bad and the dual battery setup kept trying to charge up a dead battery causing it to look all toasty.

What are you using as a ACR / dual battery charge controller?
What is the voltage of the battery after it was disconnected?
How does the starter battery look?
What is the alternator output voltage at idle and at 2000 RPM?

I doubt it had anything to do with starter vs marine, vs deep cycle… many mix all the time in a dual battery setup or other types of applications.

 

[rigtec]

...Looks like this battery's 'AGE' is a huge factor!

rig

 

[03_4x4Runner]

That battery has been leaking for a while. You must not open the hood very often.

 

[calcrc]

I bought the battery brand new its not even 2 years old. And I have the Wirthco Battery Doctor for my dual setup.

But I see what you are saying, if the Wirthco kept charging it for whatever reason it might have burnt it out or something.

I will take it out and bring it to Battery Expert store where I bought it and see what they tell me. Good thing I have another deep cycle I use for my trolling motor until I fix this :/

Thanks guys. like always helpful you are !

 

[calcrc]

That battery has been leaking for a while. You must not open the hood very often.

No only for filling up the windshield washer and when I change the oil and air filter. But I checked it about 1 month ago and it was not as bad as the picture.

 

[Bumbo]

2 years isn't that old... id venture to guess that battery might be on the lower quality side of whats available... generally 3 to 5 years depending on the grade.

Still looks like it was abused to a degree which would explain the reduced life. Heavy winching IMO is an abuse category... your positive terminal looks a bit over-heated / darkened in color.

Start using dielectric grease on your terminals to help fight corrosion.

I don't know much about the Wirthco, but other units like some of the options from Blue Sea like their smaller ACR-SI have a low voltage lock-out feature.

If it was a bad / shorted / dead battery, ACR-SI would have stopped it from combining if the cell voltage dropped below 9 volts... Its a saftey mechanism that protects the healthy battery from being bough down by the bad one. From a marine application standpoint, its a pretty big feature with the alternate option potentially being left stranded.

Can you remove one of the power cables and give us a voltage measurement? It would answer a lot of question...

 

[fourwd1]

Moving to General Discussion.

 

[calcrc]

2 years isn't that old... id venture to guess that battery might be on the lower quality side of whats available... generally 3 to 5 years depending on the grade.

Still looks like it was abused to a degree which would explain the reduced life. Heavy winching IMO is an abuse category... your positive terminal looks a bit over-heated / darkened in color.

Start using dielectric grease on your terminals to help fight corrosion.

I don't know much about the Wirthco, but other units like some of the options from Blue Sea like their smaller ACR-SI have a low voltage lock-out feature.

If it was a bad / shorted / dead battery, ACR-SI would have stopped it from combining if the cell voltage dropped below 9 volts... Its a saftey mechanism that protects the healthy battery from being bough down by the bad one. From a marine application standpoint, its a pretty big feature with the alternate option potentially being left stranded.

Can you remove one of the power cables and give us a voltage measurement? It would answer a lot of question...

If I have time today I will try and measure it. I will ask my friend if he can come and help me as I am not very electrical inclined. He has the tools for this kind of thing.

Will keep you posted and see what the store has to say when I bring it to them.

 

[calcrc]

Well I finnaly got time to clean it up. And I changed the battery also. I will bring it to the shop tomorrow as I had no time because of work.

I put the leaking one on charge and it was at 90% and it was at 14,1 volts if I am not mistaken.

I also put some dialetic grease on both batteries.

 

[Dropzone]

i could be wrong but it seems like you might have a parasitic draw on your aux circuit.
Does you winch have a blue tooth controller that you might have left on?
My winch has one and have found it turned on at times..

gonna repaint the battery hold down?

 

[TowMeOut]

Definitely repaint any of the corroded metal (hold down, etc.). Slather the contacts in diaelectric grease. I always thought those little felt discs from the parts store were kind of a gimmick. They actually make a pretty huge difference.

The previous owner of my truck must have had a similar issue with the primary battery. I think it boiled over to the point that it actually sprayed acid around. The inside of the fender and of course the area below the battery box were pretty chewed up. I've cleaned/primed/painted the area and it's much better but not like new. Did you check the area beneath the battery? It's likely got some acid damage too.

Good luck and let us know if you find any "smoking gun" issues with your setup.

 

[calcrc]

Yes I will repaint it. As for the winch draining the battery I have no idea. It seems to be off all the time. Maybe because I used the aux 2 or 3 times when the car was shut down.

And last summer I used a cutting disk that I plugged in the back of the truck to cut some metal but I left the truck running. Other than that I only used the winch a couple of times but the truck was running.

 

[calcrc]

Well I took it to the shop and they tested both the Voltage and the Amps while I was there. All is fine and the battery was full charged. They said it might have overcherged and it made the battery leak while it was boiling but once all cleaned up it is like a brand new one.

To be honest I have no idea what happened. Maybe the messed up temperature up here. We went from (Verglas) thats like + 5celcius to minus 35celcius in 3 days.

Only the winch is on the aux. All my lights are on the main...

Well thanks yet again for the help guys