Maintenance Free Lead-Acid Battery Leak

[Starstream]

We have a 100 hr. maintenance free marine battery that somehow managed to fall on its side while sitting on the floor of our Expedition. (61 lb. battery). While getting something else out of the vehicle, we discovered the battery had leaked.
Not sure when it fell, but it's was on its side long enough to make a stain that covered the area between the front passenger seat and second row.

The battery is less than a year old and hasn't been used much. Right now, it's not kept in the trailer all the time. We had taken it to test some items before the AS went to a shop for axles. Forgot to bring the battery back into the house.

Has anyone else had issues with a maintenance free battery leaking?

[AWCHIEF]

They are obviously not designed to be on their sides. Insure it is tied down to stop a reacurance and you should be good to go if it did not spell too much acid. Note, neutralize the spilled acid as soon as possible to prevent serious long term damage.

[Siegmann]

As you may know, sulfuric acid does not dry or evaporate. Baking soda solution, ASAP.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by Starstream

Has anyone else had issues with a maintenance free battery leaking?

Only when the casing was damaged (vandalized by means of an ice pick by an irate ex-girlfriend) or it was in some position other than upright (broken cheap-arse plastic battery tray in a Dodge Caravan).

I second Siegmann's baking soda recommendation.

[Starstream]

Thinking the battery may have been sitting just a bit on a small tissue box that made its way to the floor. Found the box smashed under the battery where it fell. Since we live in a large urban area, plenty of opportunities to hit the breaks. Probably heard it fall, then forgot before getting home. Middle age memory - not a good harbinger for the future.

Did the baking soda.

We're just a bit miffed because we didn't want a lead acid battery, but AGM instead. Unless it's hidden in some tiny print, lead acid is not on the battery's label. Does say "maintenance free". Doesn't specify AGM. We bought it in the store. The only reason we know it's lead acid is the retailer's website. Looked the item up after we discovered the leak. It left a rather big mess on the carpet, so going on a limb to say it's not usable anymore. Put it where it can't do any harm & will take it to a retailer we know sells AGMs. May as well get the core charge out of it.

[tjdonahoe]

If the floor has carpet, it will be gone, better get every thing washer out asp...

[Rich W]

Originally Posted by Starstream

We're just a bit miffed because we didn't want a lead acid battery, but AGM instead. Unless it's hidden in some tiny print, lead acid is not on the battery's label. Does say "maintenance free". Doesn't specify AGM. We bought it in the store. The only reason we know it's lead acid is the retailer's website. Looked the item up after we discovered the leak. It left a rather big mess on the carpet, so going on a limb to say it's not usable anymore. Put it where it can't do any harm & will take it to a retailer we know sells AGMs. May as well get the core charge out of it.

AGMs are lead acid too, but they are sealed. They are the only wet cell battery that can be shipped to you. I don't think standard lead-acid batteries are sealed, they have a small vent at the top of the battery where acid can come out

[Starstream]

From what we know of standard lead-acid batteries they're not maintenance free either. Just feel like that designation on the battery label is misleading, because we were looking for an AGM specifically. And it appears that's not what we got. If it hadn't fallen over and leaked, we wouldn't have known it's a standard battery.

[Rich W]

I said standard lead-acid batteries but I meant maintenance free. Standard batteries have removable caps so you can check the water levels. Maintenance free do not have removable caps but they do have a vent at the top and can also leak. AGMs are lead-acid but are totally sealed.

If it's an AGM it should state it on the side or top. AGMs are more expensive that marine. When transporting batteries I usually put them in a box that won't turn over, or if they somehow did, wouldn't dump acid into the car. Batteries are messy and dangerous, I hate dealing with them.

Some carpeting in cars is nylon and isn't dissolved by sulfuric acid. It may discolor, however. You need to neutralize it with the baking soda solution.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by richw46

Some carpeting in cars is nylon and isn't dissolved by sulfuric acid. It may discolor, however. You need to neutralize it with the baking soda solution.

Checking underneath the carpet to see if the acid has soaked through to damage the metal floor pan would not be a bad idea, either.

[Rgentum]

A "maintenance-free, marine battery" is not necessarily a sealed, AGM battery. For example, West Marine sells for $99 a Group 24 "marine battery" that it states to be "maintenance-free" for which there is no indication of its being a sealed, AGM battery:

http://www.westmarine.com/buy/west-m...6rHRoCo2vw_wcB

Among other things, if this were an AGM battery, it would likely cost twice as much. And in fact, a comparable AGM battery West Marine sells for $199:

http://www.westmarine.com/buy/west-m...ecs-_-MB-_-PDP

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by Starstream

It left a rather big mess on the carpet, so going on a limb to say it's not usable anymore. Put it where it can't do any harm & will take it to a retailer we know sells AGMs. May as well get the core charge out of it.

Actually, it probably IS usable anymore. All you need to do is clean it thoroughly on the outside (baking soda again), fill it with distilled water, and bench-charge it with a good multi-stage charger.

After it's recharged, check to see if it's holding a charge. If it is, you've avoided the cost of a new battery. If not, you're only out a some time, baking soda, and distilled water, and you can still trade it in.

But don't get an AGM for your Airstream unless your trailer's inverter/charger is capable of handling one. Wet-cell and AGM have different charging regimes, and the charger that charges a wet-cell just fine can ruin an AGM, or vice versa.

[Siegmann]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

Actually, it probably IS usable anymore. All you need to do is clean it thoroughly on the outside (baking soda again), fill it with distilled water, and bench-charge it with a good multi-stage charger.

.

Could be an interesting experiment.

The loss of water during normal charging is just that, water. So refilling with water, just gets the electrolyte back to its original concentration.

He said it left "a big mess". So I'd assume that it leaked a fair bit of the acid. Refilling with distilled water would dilute the remaining electrolyte. I do not know how sensitive a lead-acid battery is to the concentration of the acid, but I assume its performance could suffer significantly.

I hope he tries your suggestion and reports back on the results.

[PKI]

Thanks for posting your problem with the battery so we get the benefit of your experience. Frustrating when stuff does not work the way we believe it should.

A plastic box is relatively inexpensive, protects the vehicle/coach, and gives you hand holds to carry the battery. Works for about anything that might spill or come-a-drift in a traveling environment.

We better pack a box of baking soda for this type of incident. Safe travels. Pat

[Starstream]

Our Airstream has some original wiring in it, but the Univolt was replaced with a brand new breaker box, converter and inverter. We've also installed some of our solar equipment and have everything except the panels. Wasn't planning to run any of that on anything except a sealed battery such as AGM (or Lithium if ever becomes affordable.) We decided early on that sealed batteries were a better option for our needs and tried to choose everything else accordingly.

The other battery did get us by for a bit, including a 3-week trip in an empty trailer to take care of some family matters. When we bought it, there weren't any batteries we found at the store labeled specificly AGM. Not a lot of batteries to choose from there either. Being forgotten in the vehicle and falling over was an unfortunate fluke, but now we know where not to buy a battery for the AS. One of the good things about big cities is the battery specialist just down the road.

We're traveling with a few animals so ripping out the carpet from the second row to the back lift gate is probably a good idea anyway. Utility flooring will be much easier to keep clean, and there certainly won't be any crying over it. (The old girl is a 1999. Not like we're destroying any value.)

Thank you for the advice and tolerance while we whined!

[Starstream]

For anyone who participated in this thread, or those who may find it later, it might help if we clear up why we were displeased with the labeling on our leaky battery.

Karl spent more than 20 yrs. in the Navy Seabees and had plenty of experiences cracking open standard, non-sealed batteries to replenish depleted fluids while in the field. Having to do so just doesn't meet his standard of "maintenance free". It's another reason he planned to switch to sealed batteries. He felt some of his AS experiences didn't need remind him too much of his military ones. After all his research on batteries, it was rather galling to find he made a rookie mistake and was tripped up by "maintenance free." And it seems the design of those batteries and how fluids are added has changed since he left the Navy almost 8 yrs. ago.

Mr. Leaky was a big box purchase with a minimum of information on the labels, & certainly nothing about refills or long-term care. It might be embossed on the 2 lids integrated in the battery top. Our middle-age eyes are reaching the point where spelling things out in black and white just works better for us. (Rather than black on black). The adage "you get what you pay for" unfortunately rings true here. We were reeling a bit from the prices of some AGM batteries we looked at. The big box battery is not a bad product as long as the consumer knows exactly what they're purchasing, and for the use we did get out of it, mostly got our money's worth. (After core-charge deduction)

Karl's wife, Kristal