Battery Warning lethal gases

The same happened to me in our 3 month old Elddis van January this year. They blamed on the frost free water heaters in the water tanks running the battery down over the winter even though the tanks had no water in. They did a recall on our van and wired the heaters into the master switch so when that's turned off the heaters are turned off thus saving battery wear.

We were out at the time it started and when I got back I thought the van was going to set alight, there was steam coming out of the battery box and yes, it did stink. Since then I've had a solar panel fitted to keep the battery in good health and at the first habitation I'm going to ask them to disconnect the heaters or put in a switch so I can turn them on when I want to. It wasn't a pleasant experience for us that night!

You are lucky it was in a battery compartment a lot just sit under the drivers seat - have never undertood how they get away with that!

This also happened to me but in a caravan and not a motor home. The smell and heat was alarming even with the battery box being exposed to the elements. I was told it was due to the  contiuous trickle charge as I always leave the battery on charge through the vans system. Also my friend has experienced exactly the same in the last month. He was told the battery should be removed from the van and charged independently with a good quality charge. It would be good to know what is the main reason for this happening.

If a battery has a vent then surely it should be vented to the outside.

If Elddis haven't done so then surely they should be responsible for any damage.

Have you joined, or considered joining, the Elddis Owners Club - www.elddisowners.co.uk/ - they have a forum and asking about the problem may help you.

Thanks K & M, I'll look into joining the group.

You are lucky it was in a battery compartment a lot just sit under the drivers seat - have never undertood how they get away with that!

Write your comments here...are they lead acid or AGM batteries.  Even if lead acid they can be vented and all Fiat Ducato engine battereis are under the floor between teh driver and pasenger seat.

I may be wrong but I thought it was a requirement of the NCC that batteries should be vented to the outside?

It's certainly good practice but possibly MH's come under different regs.

Our battery box might be vented, I'll have to have a look next time I'm out with the van. The only thing I can say is if it is vented then the vent is not large enough when the battery is acting as a slow cooker on itself

I may be wrong but I thought it was a requirement of the NCC that batteries should be vented to the outside?

It's certainly good practice but possibly MH's come under different regs.

Write your comments here...I would have thought it was basic H&S to do this.  Foreign M/H's are not built under NCC directive but woudl asume any EU requiremetns would be similar or better.

This year just outside Rome in my caravan the same happened to me, my battery boiled, we had been out for the day and when we returned late at night and opened the door of the caravan the smell was awful, on investigation the battery was red hot, water was dripping out of the battery box. Fortunately after using gloves to take the battery out ( it was that hot) and venting the caravan etc we could go to sleep. Next day the battery which had been out all night was still warm, the side walls of the battery were also bowed. We are thankful it did not explode. My Sterling battery box is not vented and from what I thought was an isolated incident with me it would appear that it is more common and the manufacturers should be informed. I shall write to Swift and perhaps others would do likewise mentioning this thread to there respective manufacturer.