Battery's gurgling while being charged?

[Kistler]

Sorry, to bother you guys with my stupid questions, but one question is--do batteries normally gurgle while being charged?

Mine have now been on my 15 amp Schauer charger (using the automatic, maintenance free mode) for 17 hours. The charge rate has dropped from 15 to about 11.....the directions on the charger say that the rate will drop to "near zero" and then the charge will be maintained.....so far I wouldn't say the batteries are boiling but they are warm to the touch and like I say "gurgling".

Someone told me--I believe on this forum--that the oxide or whatever--nasty residue I complained about, was from loose connections. The connections were't loose????

It seems the "stuff" is coming up from the bottom of the compartment...have I got a loose connection underneath somewhere? The doors are hinged at the bottom, as you all know, and the stuff spills up just back of there and then has spoiled the look of the fake chrome on the outside.

Any ideas? Especially how to stop the process...

[markdoane]

First thing I would do is re-boot the system. Maybe the controls have 'locked-in' to a false low reading. Turn off, let it rest a few hours, then reconnect.

Otherwise, you may have a short. Something doesn't sound right, unless the battery was completely and totally dead when you started. If you have a shorted cell, the battery might have switched to 'electrolysis' mode (not good), breaking the water into hydrogen and oxygen. Don't use any open flames!

Regarding the white stuff. What type battery is it? If it has vent caps (not 'maintenance-free'), then you may have had an electroloyte spill.

[Kistler]

The batteries are Interstate SRM-27 600CCA 750MCA, Marine/RV Deep Cycle Mega-Tron s....

OK I unplugged and disconnected the charger; I used my jumper cables for the parallel hook-up by the way.

Do you think I should vary the battery to which I hook the charger? How about the neg charger line to one battery and the pos to the other?

Kistler

[markdoane]

Did you take them out of the trailer? If so, maybe try charging them one at a time.

If the amperage has been dropping, that's a good sign. If you're doing both of them together, 17 hrs is too soon to give up. If they were pretty well discharged, I would let them go a little longer.

If you try doing them one at a time, and the amps drop on one but not the other, that may indicate a bad cell. If you charge them separately, give them a final topping-off charge in parallel to equalize the charge between the two.

If one of the batteries has a bad cell, it will try to draw from the good one. Not a good thing.

[Kistler]

Thanks, Don. I guess I'll try one at a time.

Kistler