Really bad smell in the van (1 Viewer)

[Gina M]

Thank you, can we just switch to lithium if so what are the benefits??

 

[pelican]

It not the battery is it of so take care

I think the poster means.
It's not the battery is it? If it is take care.
PS. She most likely correct!

 

[Abacist]

The battery’s internals are now damaged and the battery is now a serious risk if it is charged again.

Did the battery fail due to old age or was the charger at fault for over charging the battery for not going to float mode when charged?

No point doing anything until the charger has been proved to not be at fault.

 

[Just smiffy]

I wouldn’t put it back in Gina if it’s done it once it’ll be more likely to do it again and next time could be worse. The battery is at an age to be replaced anyway…

As for lithium yes you could drop one in but ideally you need to investigate the charger and the solar charger to see if they have a lithium profile. Put Pictures or specs on here of them and someone will tell you if they are suitable…

Lithium is not much more money then gels batteries now…

 

[Gina M]

The battery’s internals are now damaged and the battery is now a serious risk if it is charged again.

Did the battery fail due to old age or was the charger at fault for over charging the battery for not going to float mode when charged?

No point doing anything until the charger has been proved to not be at fault.

I think over charging is the fault. Van was on EHU as well as having solar panels charging. Or does one cancel out the other?

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[David and Sally]

I think over charging is the fault. Van was on EHU as well as having solar panels charging. Or does one cancel out the other?

The electronics should work all that out. Having solar and a charger is quite normal so no need to worry.

For the cost of it just replace the battery and monitor it for a while.

 

[Barclaybasher]

If you've had the van a number of years and have been happy with existing solar and 12v usage I would just replace the battery, keep things simple

 

[Diabalo]

It's not worth the risk to put a 7 year old battery back in, it will let go at sometime and probably at the most inconvenient time.

 

[Derbyshire wanderer]

Assuming the charger and solar controller are working correctly.
If the battery has overheated even once, then it is faulty and must be replaced. The individual cells are supposed to share the charging current evenly and if one cell is faulty it can end up taking an overload and causing heat which boils off the electrolyte and hence the smell.
These gases are explosive and will cause a huge amount of damage should they be ignited.

 

[HKF]

Thank you, can we just switch to lithium if so what are the benefits??

I don't know the total ins and outs of this but I do know you'll need a new solar controller and you can't just put in lithium as a replacement.

One of the main benefits for us was gaining on the payload. Our one new lithium weighs less than one of the two batteries we had before! Also, they pretty much look after themselves. No constant checking on the charge, as they hold it for much longer. Overall, we're very happy with our upgrade

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[TheBig1]

Just because the battery now reads 12.7 volts it does not mean the battery is usable. The voltage will drop off under load as the amp/hours capacity has dropped way down.

A decent modern charger with multiple profiles and charging regimes will detect the feedback from the battery and switch off if the battery has become faulty. The same way it detects the charging status and switches between bulk and maintenance charging. Older chargers just pumped out 13.8-14+ continuously.

If your charger has gone faulty and is no longer switching from bulk, then it needs repairing or replacing before it kills a new battery. I would say though at 7 years, the old battery is at end of life anyway

 

[VXman]

Thank you, can we just switch to lithium if so what are the benefits??

Benefits - more capacity. you can run Lithium down to 0% capacity whereas a normal lead acid battery can only to to 50%. So if you have a 100AH battery in Lithium you have 100AH of power. If you have a 100AH lead acid you only have 50AH. Also a lithium will allow you to power more power hungry things off an inverter like kettle/hair dryer/air fryer.

However you would need to ensure your wiring was sufficiently chunky for that kind of use. Also, you would need to have a charger that could charge lithium batteries properly - have the correct profile. (your charger is faulty you would need to replace that anyway) and also possibly replace the solar controller to also ensure it can charge Lithium correctly. Lithium requires higher voltages to charge.

 

[RM_Marine]

Just buy some new batteries, why mess around with them to fail again.

Your 40k plus van is pointless really without good leisure batteries, everything normally goes wrong while away from home when it's a pain to sort.

It's don't with the arguments between yourselfs when away, when you can get it sorted now

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[Nanniemate]

I think over charging is the fault. Van was on EHU as well as having solar panels charging. Or does one cancel out the other?

When I had solar fitted to mine asked about lithium told not to waste my money due to the way I use van. Its out most weekends summer and winter no ehu I have 2 leisure batteries. Its a pvc. No microwave, hairdryer or airfryer type stuff. Its done a month touring no issues. Batteries failed like yours put 2 new in so far so good

 

[CleverTrevorUK]

Kids tend to smell bad if you forget you have tucked one away in a normally unused bed - specially if they have a phone or touch pad!

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[our poppy llll]

I was told, but I don’t know if it’s true, I just take other peoples word for it, that the solar panel and electric hook up and the charging system while driving on my Kon Tiki, stops charging both the leisure battery and the vehicle Battery when it is fully charged.
If this is true or not I really don’t know, I was told this when my batteries went flat and I called out Fiat assist, he measured the batteries charging and power with a monitor and sent the measurements to Lowdhams who replaced the batteries under warranty.

My pretty says when it’s been stood a week or so it smells, but I always remove the cassette toilet, wash it out and store in the garage. I always use a quality cleaner to clean the toilet and bathroom floor.
I fill the fresh water tank and heat up the water I then run the taps until it is 25%, I turn off the heater and run the cold for approximately 12,5%. I then drain both fresh and grey again. Some times I do this twice if I think it’s going to stand for 4 weeks or more. I also clean all the inside and leave the fridge and freezer doors open.
We are away again before we say bye bye and get another Moho. So it’s set up to go in a few days time, I’ll put 25% water in and toilet blue and bring the fridge down to cold. It’s full of fuel and adblue.
I can’t smell a thing.
I'll get her to shove her nose in and have a sniff…

 

[Marauder]

one has gone up from 13 to 13.6

that could be Battery master device (or solar)

 

[dggriff]

You haven't got an illegal immigrant trapped in some small space somewhere have you? Or strapped to the underneath of the van

A Border Control guy told me a couple of weeks ago when we landed in Portsmouth that it was fairly common to find stowaways in Motorhomes. Apparently it was usually a smell that first gave them away. The common trick they use is to hang on the underside of trucks until they set sail then find an unlocked motorhome which isn't difficult as some people don't lock theirs to avoid setting the alarm. I just lock with the key.

 

[dggriff]

It still smells in the van this morning. Batteries have come down slowly to 12v at the start of this the hab battery was 14v. Hopefully, when Mr Gina M gets back this afternoon we can open the bonnet and look in the engine and see what state the battery is in. I suppose we may still find a decomposed mouse in there but the smell is so strong it would have to be human remains!! I have been thinking for weeks now that I need to move the van away from the house in case of a fire in the van. This has been a wake up call for sure.

We had a terrible smell in our kitchen years ago. It was two weeks before I discovered a dead, soggy, rotting mouse entangled in the heat exchanger coils at the back of our fridge freezer. I'd started taking the fitted cupboards out!

 

[scotzsue]

Am wondering why you keep it on hook up when you have solar. Keep ours in storage so solar only when not in use. Just replaced leisure battery as it failed to run john's Cpap when we were away but new battery has beeen fine.

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[Nanniemate]

Am wondering why you keep it on hook up when you have solar. Keep ours in storage so solar only when not in use. Just replaced leisure battery as it failed to run john's Cpap when we were away but new battery has beeen fine.

I plug mine in the night before departure to cool the fridge or if home for flying visit keep it cold dint need to empty and refill then

 

[scotzsue]

I plug mine in the night before departure to cool the fridge or if home for flying visit keep it cold dint need to empty and refill then

Can understand that but not keeping it on hook up for months when not being used.

 

[Coddywompler]

My battery was hot n stinking of rotten eggs. I drove it home from an hour away and my knowledgeable neighbour told me I should have topped it up with water every now and again . I didn’t know it was that type of battery . It could have exploded on the way home!!

 

[HKF]

I plug mine in the night before departure to cool the fridge or if home for flying visit keep it cold dint need to empty and refill then

I switch ours on just before we leave, then put all the stuff straight from the house fridge freezer into the MH fridge freezer.

 

[Bazzagas]

It seems that our leisure battery became over heated for some reason as it was at up to 14v and had a heavy sulphur smell coming from it. It is now back down to 12.6v we have taken it out of the van and Mr Gina M is confident it can be put back in and re-used as normal. It is 7 years old and shows no sign of any damage no leaks or swelling or smell of sulphur anymore, does anyone else agree. I googled it and was told no, it's a fire hazard

7 years old..I would change it anyway...its not a huge expense and you'll have peace of mind , probably with a 2 year warranty..

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[Outdoors Dad]

Like others have said just get a modern lithium battery it will give you more piece of mind. Lithium have BMS that informs you of battery health and will shut down when detecting charging devices that are faulty. To me your leisure battery is the heart beat of your van. Lithium are maybe just over double the price of LA but have double usable capacity.....it's no brainer

 

[Nanniemate]

Like others have said just get a modern lithium battery it will give you more piece of mind. Lithium have BMS that informs you of battery health and will shut down when detecting charging devices that are faulty. To me your leisure battery is the heart beat of your van. Lithium are maybe just over double the price of LA but have double usable capacity.....it's no brainer

Do you not have to change cables and other stuff not just the battery?

 

[Derbyshire wanderer]

Like others have said just get a modern lithium battery it will give you more piece of mind. Lithium have BMS that informs you of battery health and will shut down when detecting charging devices that are faulty. To me your leisure battery is the heart beat of your van. Lithium are maybe just over double the price of LA but have double usable capacity.....it's no brainer

Whilst lithium has both a weight and capacity advantage it isn’t a good choice for the majority of users due to the extra cost and other hardware changes that are also required to enable proper charging.
I am not convinced that lithium users have more piece of mind especially when reading about the results found on the BMS monitoring apps when the only important data is the current charged percentage that any battery monitor can provide.

 

[autorouter]

Do you not have to change cables and other stuff not just the battery?

If you are just changing the battery, and you use it just the same as the old battery, not adding extra devices like an inverter, then the existing cables will be fine. It's a good idea to upgrade from a split charge relay to a B2B (DC-DC charger) to avoid any risk of overworking the alternator. The existing mains charger and solar controller should be set to the lithium setting - if not available then the gel or standard lead-acid is OK, but the AGM setting is too high.

The reason people talk about changing cables is that when you fit an inverter, the amps demand is usually much higher than the usual amps for the usual habitation devices. Over 100A, as opposed to less than 20A for most devices. If someone wants to fit an inverter they often change to lithium at the same time, because lithium are much better at high currents.

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

It seems that our leisure battery became over heated for some reason as it was at up to 14v and had a heavy sulphur smell coming from it. It is now back down to 12.6v we have taken it out of the van and Mr Gina M is confident it can be put back in and re-used as normal. It is 7 years old and shows no sign of any damage no leaks or swelling or smell of sulphur anymore, does anyone else agree. I googled it and was told no, it's a fire hazard

It is dangerous to put the battery back. It may well read 12.6 v but it is highly likely that one or more of the cells is damaged and giving off the smell. If the battery is not vented it can explode with a pressure build up but it seems that yours has vented , hence the smell in the van
The gas is poisonous and contains hydrogen which is flammable. If you remember your schooldays chemistry with hydrogen in a test tube. The " squeaky" pop. Your van could be the next test tube.
Just buy a new battery you can get them on line delivered.

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