Batteries gurgling long after charge

[Tony G]

Right, and the bubbling helps keep the battery contents mixed does it not? The conversion of the water to oxygen and hydrogen gas during charging is the main reason flooded batteries need to be routinely watered AFAIK. I guess if it was fully charged and not moved it's possible the batteries are still in a very fully charged state and hence the bubbling. Is it normal for these rising gases to carry some of the acid with it? The pools around the caps are certainly acidic as it takes a lot of baking soda/water to neutralize the area.

For what it's worth I'll throw my meter inline and check for any current drain while the cart is sitting. I should mention this cart is very new to me and it hasn't seen any deep discharging whatsoever yet - only when it is moved around the shop. Perhaps I'm getting a bit ahead of myself; once I'm finished my upgrades i'll ride the heck out of it and keep it charged and watered and see what happens.

sportcoupe - I haven't had any luck finding new caps either however I have a friend that runs the local Interstate shop, I plan on getting in touch with him to see what's available.

Thanks to all.

[TxPowderCoater]

Originally Posted by Volt_Ampere

The bubbling is a reaction to overcharge not to heat. When the batteries overcharge, they turn the H2O into H2 and O2. These hydrogen and oxygen bubbles can ignite. All chargers overcharge because that is the only way to keep a series battery pack balanced.

but they said they do the bubbling without a charge, even bubbling weeks later....thats what I was trying to find an answer for, I understand why they bubble with charging but if they are shorting internally, it will create heat which causes the gas you speak of. Overcharging does create internal heat on the batteres.

[Tony G]

Alright, so after a full charge cycle and 12 hours of rest my batteries read the following (V):
#1(drivers front):12.86
#2: 12.83
#3: 12.83
#4(passenger front): 12.80

Pack voltage: 51.1

These readings were taken while the batteries were still in the cart, connected, with switch placed in tow mode - not sure if that counts as proper OCV reading. I'd like to provide hydrometer results but unfortunately I broke the glass bulb on mine before I even had it out of the package. I've noticed the voltage always decreases from batts 1 through 4 whether charged or not. Is that common?

They are still bubbling but no more or less than they did 3 weeks after a full charge. When I open the caps I hear a slight release of pressure and can visually see a few bubbles rising. How exactly does the acid mixture get out through the caps if it is only gas that is rising? Is there some vapor that condenses somehow once it is released?

Tony

[Lgbnme]

My batteries do the same thing. They gurgle all the time. I thought maybe I had a bad battery in the bunch and the gurgling was the other batteries discharging to the weak one. They gurgle all the time. When Charging as expected even days or weeks just sitting in the garage. Lift the seat and you'll hear them. Old post but did anyone have a explanation?