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A stink from under my seat


DamperMan

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Her in doors bought some furniture and it is ready for collection today.    I went in the garage too get the camper out which has been in hibernation since early september ...Except for 1 trip to wicks to get plaster board.       I opened the door and holly stink there was a horrible pong!....   First though was that maybe i'd not emptied the waste water...  But a quick sniff at the sink and that was fine.   Then a quick sniff of the chemical toilet encase i'd forgot to empty it...Fine..   a quick route about but the smell was every where and really acrid.  So strong I coun't really say what the smell was.    Anyway it only just started.  Which i thought was odd as its been on the Ctec since being parked up.  Driving to work freezing to death with windows open everytime i closed my window the smell was back, and seamed to engulf me immediately..    It reminded me of my work experience placement at Pembroke petrochemical labs.   A real sulfurous smell, i wan't sure if there was a whiff of burning wires in the mix.  I had to stop the van and have a fresh Sniff.      The smell was everywhere but i thought it was worse at the back of my seat.  Envisaging finding something rotting I moved the seat forward and nothing was to be seen.    But the battery was roasting hot.   I disconnected it lifted it out to see it was also leaking...  The condition window looked empty.     This battery was the original "petrol" starter battery.  When i fitted a TDI engine I also fitted a large battery in the engine bay (at the rear vw T25).   So really only the rear battery was needed.  But still more batteries the better in my eyes :) in a camper.   So if you go in your garage and there is a horrendous smell  don't blame it on the dog,  it might be your battery!   

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or Stilton cheese rolling under the seat and left a few days sealed up in summer in a very hot car, don't ask me how i know, but the medics did a wonderful job of reviving me after the gas attack!

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My money is on a faulty alternator overcharging the battery, causing it to outgas.

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I'm confident it was just a dead battery and since there's 2 batteries the problem was hidden until it was really bad.   I have a voltmeter as part of a ecu readout and off load it's 14v.  With heaters on , lights it's at 13.6 so it's about right.   

Not sure what the ctek it was attached to pumps out but I will check it before leaving it connected.

 

 

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I had a bad smell from my seat when I span off at the hairpin on a wet track day at Hullavington! :p 

 

Seriously, though, if the two batteries were in parallel and one was dying, the other could have been chucking current into it willy-nilly to try to balance the terminal voltages.

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Yes i have wondered about that.  If one was at 12v and the other 14v the average is 13.5 so the alternator would keep tthrowing power at the combined battery. 

I guess now its back to one battery on the van (non leisure) circuit i'll see if the other battery is ok or it was the cause of the other battery expiring.  Time will tell!.   

 

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I thought it was normal to fit a charge relay between the batteries, to stop them arguing with each other.

I've had a number of batteries fail or be abused over the years, but never heard of one stinking.

 

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Someone I know had this. He called the AA and they told him to switch off the car immediately and get out. Apparently the gas given off by the battery is (or is largely) hydrogen so is highly explosive. 

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