Battery hot and steaming/ smoking - Montana Owners Club

Carriage House with View · 08-26-2018, 07:42 AM

Hi - we are on our 2nd montana - rl3790- last night air conditioner on and bad smell thru unit- started checking cubby holes and battery so hot couldn't touch and steaming/ smoking-anyone know what happened here? Thanks - Linda and Lonnie

The Old Fogies · 08-26-2018, 09:05 AM

Not being there is hard, but your battery could have shorted out. This may be due to low or no water. Charging circuit could have gone bad and is over charging. Disconnect the battery and test the charging voltage. Check the water level. Most auto supply stores can check the battery for you.

Carriage House with View · 08-26-2018, 10:06 AM

Thank you - water levels were full - how does one check the charging circuit? We think battery is fried so will get new one - just want to fix the problem before we get new battery-

jeffba · 08-26-2018, 10:38 AM

with your converter off and as many 12 VDC devices as you can,check your battery voltage. Turn converter on and check. If you do not have a volt meter you can check the voltage on the Level Up Panel. that should get you an idea if battery voltage and possibly if Converter is over voltage.

mtlakejim · 08-26-2018, 11:40 AM

I would be inspecting the 12 volt primary wiring for a dead short (damaged hot wire) for sure!! If I’m not mistaken the hot wire from converter runs from fuse panel to battery with no fuses? That’s a fairly long run for a 12 volt primary wire and good potential for it to short to the frame

Carriage House with View · 08-26-2018, 02:05 PM

Can you close slides on just electrical power or do we need the battery?

Carriage House with View · 08-26-2018, 02:08 PM

Thanks to all who have responded- Want to know if slides can operate on electricity or if battery is needed-

mtlakejim · 08-26-2018, 02:16 PM

Your going to need 12 volt power for slides and jacks. Also the thermostats for AC. There are manual options to both jack and slides. List your model and if you have electric or hydraulic jacks on here and folks will be able to help you with manually operating both

CarWin · 08-26-2018, 02:45 PM

According to the OP,they have a RL3790,but unknown what year it is, as they didn't state that.

mtlakejim · 08-26-2018, 03:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CarWin

According to the OP,they have a RL3790,but unknown what year it is, as they didn't state that.

My apologies as I missed that

BB_TX · 08-26-2018, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carriage House with View

Can you close slides on just electrical power or do we need the battery?

Have seen posts where people said you had to have a battery. And posts where people said you don’t. So I guess the answer is maybe.

larry-n-steph · 08-26-2018, 05:24 PM

If the odor is that of a dead and rotting animal, it sounds like your battery has sulphated and shorted.

**DQDick** · 08-26-2018, 05:30 PM

The one thing no one is mentioning is that when batteries go bad that gas is dangerous and you must be careful. Batteries exploding is not uncommon and battery acid is also dangerous. Having been an LEO I've had occasion to be too close to a battery explosion.

beeje · 08-27-2018, 10:18 AM

I have not seen that in a camper however years ago I got home in my 2001 duramax to discover one of the two batteries boiling and very hot.

I assumed it shorted internally and I just replaced both of them.

larry-n-steph · 08-27-2018, 08:21 PM

I had the smell in my 2003 Montana and it turned out to be a sulphated/shorted battery. I thought I had a dead animal in the trailer belly. the battery was hot and steaming.

Carriage House with View · 09-02-2018, 03:16 PM

Hi - thank you all - first i was wrong on our unit --- its a 3790rd not rl---
And our problem was a bad battery- replaced it and no other issues - appreciate all comments and help - this is a great montana resource-

paulinbaja · 09-03-2018, 09:06 AM

Glad you caught it before a fire. Watch the area near the battery the steam may have carried acid to the surounding area. Make a solutionof baking soda and water IF you need to nutralize. IF you do paint the solution and leave it. Do it again in a couple of days, you are attempting to remove acid from porris materials. It will be eugly but better eugly than gone.

jcurryii · 09-04-2018, 06:12 PM

You can run the slides if you hook up power to your tv. Did this for a fellow camper who wanted his slides out but didn't have his tv at RV park.

DebNJim B · 09-05-2018, 04:52 AM

We had similar issue with an SOB. Was awoken at 2am by the gas detector with a distinct odor like sewer gas. finally found the battery boiling and steaming and hot. It turned out to have shorted internally and was replaced. No more issue after that. It was the cheap junk bat that the dealer supplied.

Renegade1LI · 09-06-2018, 03:32 PM

I plan to replace the batteries & tires for next season as both are not high quality. Certain items like tires & batteries should be the best quality you can afford. Its also a good investment to keep a 12 volt battery load tester in the camper, a decent one will check charging system voltage, battery voltage & it imposes a load on the battery to test its ability to hold a charge/bad cells. They are usually 40$ & up & some even measure CCA of the battery.

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