shorted battery in parallel set

[junkman42]

As might be expected just before getting ready for Arcaidia I noticed a smell in the bus!  On inspection found the smell coming from the battery bank.  One battery smoking hot and seven stone cold?  The one hot battery I am assuming has shorted out and boiled its self to death.  Am waiting for cool down to isolate it tommorrow and see if the rest will take a charge.  Has anyone run into this problem before?  In all of the different battery sets I have owned this is a new one.  Any help or suggestions?  John

[gus]

John,

This is one of the reaasons I always charge my batteries individually which also allows me to get a better idea of the condition of each battery.

Hopefully the others will still be good.

[Stormcloud]

I have 4 start batteries in a parallel/series arrangement to achieve 24 volts and lots of amps.
One of the original matched set of batteries shorted internally, and 'killed' the other 3 stone dead.

It was replaced under warranty with one that has a different manufacture date, but I havent
noticed any problems whatsoever with the batteries following their discharge.

Mark

[JackConrad]

  Several years ago, I purchased 2 new 12 volt batteries and installed them, connected in series, for my 24 volt bus engine system.  About 1 year later, one of them went bad and was replaced under warranty with a battery of the same brand but slightly lower CCA. So far, we have had no problems. This has been our experience and may not be typical.  Jack

[PP]

John,
that's what happened with my house batteries. Fortunately, only the one that shorted internally is screwed, the other 3 survived. I will be replacing just the bad one for now and see how it reacts with the others. Hope you have the same luck and only have the one bad one. Keep us posted, especially if you only replace the one. Good luck, Will

[HB of CJ]

Sorry about your batt blowing up.  Put that man in a dry cell.  He he he.  Years ago we also had a bat let go....a Nicad ED240 in a string of 10.  Quite a show let me tell you.  Also dead shorted out the entire string, but being nicads they actually enjoyed the experience and recharged fine.  Too bad Nicads are WAY TOO HEAVY to be used in Bus Conversions.  Happy Hollidays.  HB of CJ

[gus]

I wouldn't go near a large NiCad, they have a bad reputation for running away and creating havoc all around. Newer ones may be better but they aren't worth the extra cost and risk.

Believe it or not most of those were installed on small turboprop airplanes, mostly because of their very high starting capacity. However, the explosions may have canceled that advantage!!

[Jriddle]

I never had a battery blow up till two years ago. That year I had two blow. One in my bobcat while cleaning snow out of driveway and street. This battery split the case wide open. The second happend while flying from Townsend MT to Elko NV. My wife and I had just crossed the boarder in NV and started to hit some mild turbulence. If you have flown in NV you know what I mean. Just as we crossed some mountains north of Wells I felt the plane shudder. I thought to myself what it felt like to have your plane hit during WWII. All gauges read normal and we continued on to Elko about 50 miles away. When we landed the wife thought the smell was me so she didn't say anything. I didn't know what it was. When we parked I saw some fluid drip from the battery vent. The case didn't split but it blew acid out the caps. What a mess. I spent the next couple hours cleaning. Thin aluminum doesn't react well with battery acid. I did lose some paint from battery vent to the tail cone. I didn't think about acid running back there while flying. This may be somewhat off topic but be careful when dealing with batteries. I for one would not want one to go off in my face.

[junkman42]

Waited two days for the battery bank to cool down.  Removed the boiled dry battery and turned on the heart  and it appears that the remaining batterys are charged.  I suppose that I will find out on the way to arcadia as to the state of the batteries!  I will replace all eight after taxes and the new year gets stabilized.  Thanks for all of the  comments.  Regards ,John

[chazwood]

Let me hijack in here for a second and ask a question. I have two start batteries doing 24 volts..... does that mean each battery is 12 volts and can be charged with a normal car battery charger if I charge them separately?

Thanks.

Chazwood.

[Busted Knuckle]

Let me hijack in here for a second and ask a question. I have two start batteries doing 24 volts..... does that mean each battery is 12 volts and can be charged with a normal car battery charger if I charge them separately?

Thanks.

Chazwood.

Yes!   BK  we do it all the time!

[chazwood]

Let me hijack in here for a second and ask a question. I have two start batteries doing 24 volts..... does that mean each battery is 12 volts and can be charged with a normal car battery charger if I charge them separately?

Thanks.

Chazwood.

Yes!   BK  we do it all the time!

Are you yankin me? (it can't be that easy)

[Stormcloud]

He's not......and it is.

I do it also....charge 24 volt start battery bank (comprised of 12 volt batteries) with a 12 volt charger.

[chazwood]

SWEET  Thanks! I'm on it!

Merry Christmas!

[LegalEagle82]

What is the best manner to install a disconnect switch when the batteries are wired in parallel.   I was looking at putting a switch between my house batteries to keep them seperate when not in use, and to disconnect to avoid drain issues.  My current setup is simply 2 8d whiled parallel.  I assume I would just need to run the positive from each battery to the switch.  Looking at a disconnect that would allow me to run either batter or both or disconnect both.   Seems like it would help maintain the batteries, make it easy to independantly charge the batteries etc.