Battery blow up - HJ60

[dogstarmessenger]

Today after driving around all day and then stopping at the gas station , one of the bateries in my 24v HJ60 blew the top right off of it when I went to start her back up. Now this is something i have never had happen before and was wondering if anyone has any idea what might have caused this to happen
Also upon hooking up a new battery i noticed that on the right side batt. the cables are normal red to positive and black to neg. but on the left they are hooked up red to negative and black to positive . Now i know this isnt the problem because if it was originally hooked up that way it had to be right since i have been driving the rig for a year now with no problems - but to be sure i just used the new battery i bought just to complete the circuit and start the rig then i disconnected the red lead (hooked to the neg term.) and drove home
On the drive 1st i had no electical power at all then it kicked in - all the gauges and lights and such worked the voltage gauge even said 24v then as i started up the bumpy dirt road to my house all the gauges dropped and i then had no electrical again - but the truck still hauled ass all the way back up the hill - but when i got home the truck now would not shut off - i guess it needs electical power to kill the engine so i shut it off manually.
So thats my story and i am hoping that i can just hook up this new battery and get back to normal but the reason i did not do that at first is because i did not want to risk just blowing up another battery if the problem lies elsewhere like the alternator or voltage regulator
I was hoping someone had some input
give thanks

B

[dieselbigot]

The exact same thing happened to me years ago when I first bought my 70. The battery blowing up was your 12V side being overcharged and it blew as a result. For starters, replace both batteries. One thing about a 24v system is that both batteries need to be equal...otherwise one drains down to "match" the other. That leads to the more important part of the fix. You must have a drain on your 12v side that is drawing power from your 12v side battery. You need to fix that. Got any 12 v accessories hooked to that side?

Heres some good reading on 12v accessories on a 24v system:

http://www.a1.nl/phomepag/markerink/12v&24v.htm

As for the battery cables being hooked up "backwards", that is correct. You have two 12v batteries hooked in series to create a 24v power source. Hook the cables up like they were originally.



Don't skip the first step of replacing both batteries or you'll just blow up the new one you purchased in a very short time frame. Good luck!



B

[Stone]

When people tap off of the low side battery for their 12v power (very bad), that battery eventually gets drawn down. The high side battery gets cooked and the low side gets drawn down. As Dieselbigot has advised...start with a fresh set of batteries. It will allow the charge from your alternator to properly charge both batteries.

[dogstarmessenger]

I do have a 12 volt stereo system and power seats
everything was already hooked up and working fine from the PO
ran that way for about a year.....is that possible?....to go that long without noticing any problems and then one day BANG - battery acid everywhere?
seems like i would have noticed something 1rst
thanks for the input !!

[silvercrusher]

First thing you should do is clean the whole area with a baking soda/water paste to neutralize the battery acid before it causes more problems. Get on that or you will pay $$$$ in the long run.

[dieselbigot]

Yes....this is possible. You can go quite a while with improperly wired 12v accessories before it will cause an imbalance in your batteries. How are the 12v stereo & seats wired? Do they run through a 24v converter? Is there an aftermarket converter or are you running through the crappy 5amp factory converter? You'll want be be sure that your 12v stuff is properly wired and running through a sufficient 24-12 converter. G&S sells a nice 20 amp converter that you may want to look into. If you don't address the wiring issues, plan to replace your batteries frequently

[Stone]

Originally Posted by dogstarmessenger

I do have a 12 volt stereo system and power seats
everything was already hooked up and working fine from the PO
ran that way for about a year.....is that possible?....to go that long without noticing any problems and then one day BANG - battery acid everywhere?
seems like i would have noticed something 1rst
thanks for the input !!

Yup...definitely. The 24v system is really not that hard a system to work with as long as you understand what you can and cannot do with it. Brett T.'s got some good advice. Good luck...let us know what you find.

[arutgers]

Originally Posted by dieselbigot

G&S sells a nice 20 amp converter that you may want to look into.

I Have installed a third battery beneath the driver seat which is charged by a 10 amp 24/12V converter. This way you can draw high currents at 12 V. And, because the converter is wired to the "acc" position, I have a permanent 12 V from the third battery without draining the main 24V system (many radio's require a permanent 12V).

Furthermore I know there are devices that will keep both batteries at exactly the same charge. With this you CAN draw current from the first battery at 12V, without the risk of over/undercharge. I haven't had time to look into this further, but it would be the way to loose that third battery ...

Ton

[Stone]

Originally Posted by arutgers

Furthermore I know there are devices that will keep both batteries at exactly the same charge. With this you CAN draw current from the first battery at 12V, without the risk of over/undercharge. I haven't had time to look into this further, but it would be the way to loose that third battery ...

Ton

That's exactly what the Solar Converter does...it has a load balance feature the shunts excess voltage from the high side battery to the low side as needed to keep the voltages equalized. Even though the Solar Converter has a maximum rating of 20A, there's no reason why you wouldn't occassionally be able to pull more than that and have the low side battery "catch up" later. As long as it's not a large constant draw...

[Greg_B]

You mean this thread?

Shameful pimp'n...

http://forum.ih8mud.com/diesel-tech-24-volts-systems/33070-solar-converter-final-setup.html

hth's

gb

[Stickboy]

i think it's the biodiesel you've been running; i once had a windshield wiper motor go out because of the stuff......

[Island Moose]

Originally Posted by arutgers

Furthermore I know there are devices that will keep both batteries at exactly the same charge. With this you CAN draw current from the first battery at 12V, without the risk of over/undercharge. I haven't had time to look into this further, but it would be the way to loose that third battery ...

Ton

I looked into this option, it's a switcher/controller that isolates one battery from the other to avoid over/unercharging. It's used in the marine industry.

For me it came down to cost, the system ran a few hundred bucks, a lot more than either a thrid battery, or a simple step-down, which is what I did. I now have a convertor and a separate 12V fuse panel in my glovebox to run my stereo and CB.

[iron_giant]

Originally Posted by moose_sv1000s

I looked into this option, it's a switcher/controller that isolates one battery from the other to avoid over/unercharging. It's used in the marine industry.

For me it came down to cost, the system ran a few hundred bucks, a lot more than either a thrid battery, or a simple step-down, which is what I did. I now have a convertor and a separate 12V fuse panel in my glovebox to run my stereo and CB.

Moose,
How did you end up keeping the 12volt from overcharging. i am setting up the same setup with a seperate 12v deep cycle and was wondering if you found a regulator of some sort to prevent it from getting fried. i.e. 24volt to 12 volt converter to charge regulator to 12 volt deep cycle to fuse panel to accessories. I guess you could do it through manual switches but I'd like to make sure the battery was properly charged. Thanks!

-david