Battery boileth over

[Itsdoable]

Plugged in my fancy (and expensive) multi-stage charger, after putting a little maintenance water in the battery, and left it overnight. Next morning go to unplug it and the battery is boiling. Quite the mess.

Question is .. charger or battery caused it?

My guess is the charger malfunctioned. If the battery was defective, wouldn't the charger have prevented the overcharge and not let it boil? When I started the charge, the battery was >12V and working fine.

Thing is a few weeks ago I drove over 14 miles of the nastiest washboard dirt road I've seen in years. Surprised that all the screws stayed in the trailer! Guessing all that banging around could have damaged the charger internals.

Guest 10amp Waterproof Charger: GU2611-1

Any thoughts?

[msnglinc]

Proper procedure for our forklift batteries at work is to charge the battery fully then add distilled water to the proper full level. This way they won't boil over. There may not be anything wrong with the charger. Same principle as filling your overflow tank on the car. If its over full when cold it is going to push water out when it gets hot.

[Glenlivet]

A true properly working multi stage charger doesn't boil a battery like that. A battery that has reached such a temperature is almost certainly ruined.
Voltage controlled chargers are meant to vary the charge voltage so as to regulate the rate of charge. (The common way of referring to a charge rate by 'amps' is inaccurate as the actual amperage flow depends on many factors, and in the case of an old fashioned unsophisticated transformer and rectifier charger, will change as the state of charge changes)
The smart charger achieves its rate of charge by sensing the depleted batterys potential(voltage) and adjusting its own voltage overhead automatically, reducing it by degree as the battery reaches it's state of full charge.
There's no battery condition damaged or not, that would cause a properly working voltage controlled charger to output current at such a rate as to cause a battery to overheat.
It's a bum charger. JMHO

[pete42]

Proper procedure for our forklift batteries at work is to charge the battery fully then add distilled water to the proper full level. This way they won't boil over. There may not be anything wrong with the charger. Same principle as filling your overflow tank on the car. If its over full when cold it is going to push water out when it gets hot.

that's how we did ours too. I also added a penny on top of the battery the acid attacked the penny and the post stay clean.

[Itsdoable]

Picked up a new blem Interstate 27 battery today ($53). The guy said it could be either the battery or the charger and to bring in the charger for him to check. I'll let you know what he finds out.