E34T Battery woes
- Thread starter Petro206
- Start date
Can you elaborate on the specifics of "woe"? 
Was there a fire?
Was there a fire?
Overcharging? What sort of charge sources do you have and how are they controlled?
No fire thank god. Just opened up the hatch and noticed this white discharge. We hadn't changed any wiring...I assumed it happened while we were working on the engine and firing it up over and over again stressing the battery.Can you elaborate on the specifics of "woe"?
Was there a fire?
We have an older version of the Pro Mariner HD
"What is a sulfated battery? Batteries generate lead sulfate during discharge. Battery sulfation occurs when lead sulfate present on the battery plates after discharge is not converted back to usable lead during charging service."
While charging is usually controlled to avoid overheating...not so when discharging, repeated heavy discharge could have boiled your electrolyte and flushed the sulfates on the plates out onto the top of the battery. As battery voltage is drained, amperage increases corresponding. Some battery charging systems have an equalization charge which is somewhat like an overcharge to get things stirred up.
While charging is usually controlled to avoid overheating...not so when discharging, repeated heavy discharge could have boiled your electrolyte and flushed the sulfates on the plates out onto the top of the battery. As battery voltage is drained, amperage increases corresponding. Some battery charging systems have an equalization charge which is somewhat like an overcharge to get things stirred up.
Pete the Cat
Sustaining Member
I would say it was a failure of your regulator or the cables between the alternator and the regulator that control its output. It got out of hand and boiled the battery. Another possibility is that if the batteries were already old and sulfated that the regulator went into a equalization mode and the batteries were internally shorted and boiled. Despite what the regulator manufacturers say, not all batteries are meant to be equalized. So I would recommend checking and cleaning all the connections between the alternator and regulator. The modern regulators are generally on printed circuits and I don't hear of them spontaneously failing and causing damage like this. Electrical connections on a boat are a constant maintenance item that often result in engines not starting and electronics damage or failure.