Battery Question

[altjimwilson]

My starting/deep cycle battery keeps making a bubbling sound. It's 100% charged, seems OK. Kind of weird, it has done this for over a month now (however it may have done it while in the boat too, but I would not have noticed).<br /><br />You see, I winterized about a month ago and took it out of the boat. I then noticed that one cell was a little low, so I added just a little water and charged it, and all seems fine. It just makes that bubbling sound all of the time (every few seconds). <br /><br />The sound is like that bubbling noise you sometimes hear when a battery is being charged. But, like I said this one keeps going and going without the charger! <br /><br />Weird, any ideas?

 

[flashback]

Re: Battery Question

this is just a guess, but the cell that is bubbling may be on the verge of shorting out and is drawing current from the other cells.....like i said, just a guess...... good luck

 

[SlowlySinking]

Re: Battery Question

Hi altjimwilson, how old is the battery and <br />have you load tested the battery? A load test will quickly pick up a bad battery. If so how did it do? The bubbling sounds like that cell may be partialy shorted and is discharging itself, same thing happened to me. If no load tester put a volt meter on the battery, see if it shows 12 or more volts, since its fully charged it will be about 12.6+/-, if it's below 12 (around 10) then you likely have one cell that's not holding its own. If you have a battery hydrometer and while wearing goggles (that acid is nasty stuff) remove the fill caps and check the Specific Gravity for each cell. The SG should be in the charged range (1.060 if memory serves me right) and the reading should be very close for all good cells, a low reading in one cell means trouble. Let us know what you find. Hope this helps. Good luck.

 

[Walt T]

Re: Battery Question

It should be tested with a hydrometer. I am not sure why it is bubbling, but all I know is.... I don't like it.

 

[Trent]

Re: Battery Question

As Walt said; Test with a hydrometer. Iv seen this with an internal shorted battery. Also load test with a battery load tester. Local auto parts store should have one.