Well we have come away in our new troll 3rd trip since we got her and we have had a problem. We charged our 12v battery under the seat in the fitted charging unit when we came back from our day out our neighbours told us that an alarm had been sounding. It was our carbon monoxide arlarm and the caravan smelt bad and seat was red hot! we unplugged from power switched of gas etc. disconnected battery terminal then went back onto mains power as the nice man on the Cravan club site gave us a fan to cool the battery down enough to remove it, while we sat outside and waited thank goodness we had a bottle of vino in the fridge.

thankfully no lasting damage done we think, but I think this might be why we all had sore throughout that morning!

We brought our caravan used from a dealer with no instructions they said they didn't supply a battery for our battery charge facility. Could it be that we have used the wrong type of battery? What is the right type? Can the charge facility on board over charge the battery so it bubbles and hisses and gives off gases like ours have or is there something wrong with it.

For my twopennyworth your battery is charging but not cutting out!! Therefore it is giving off dangerous noxious fumes. Myself, I'd change the charger and replace the battery with a gel type leisure battery, (you may have a leisure battery that is older and the newer ones aremuch better imho) a battery should last years and in over 28 years of white box / Eriba ownership I only ever had 4 batteries!

I may be wrong but thats my opinion, someone will correct it if I'm wrong

Edit. Further to the above you really want John E (i think from memory) he knows his stuff

Quote: Loveourtroll wrote in post #1

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Could it be that we have used the wrong type of battery? What is the right type? Can the charge facility on board over charge the battery so it bubbles and hisses and gives off gases like ours have or is there something wrong with it.

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Well done always good to get proper advice on issues of safety! Glad to see we have at least 1 who knows what he's talking about

I met a couple in York Rowntree CC this year who had a Familia 310, their bip unit had also cooked their battery. They had gone out for the day and came back to a van full of smoke and bulging leisure battery....

This may be unnecessary information but I feel it's worth stating that if you found your battery hot to the touch DO NOT move it! It may be close to exploding and the consequences would be awful.

We didn't move it as was scared about exploding issue hence we sat outside with a fan on battery til it had cooled down enough to move and was still cautious even then! We where both very concerned that it might explode so didn't want it staying in the van!

We will obviously have to get a new battery which type should we get?

I can get my husband to check the volt thing! I'm away in the van on my own next weekend so we need to get it sorted for then. Luckily we are on a caravan club site with all facilities so can use electric but my trip next weekend is just a field!

Quote: Loveourtroll wrote in post #8

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...which type should we get?

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Thanks guys we are going to look into getting a gel one I think our old one was a sealed not gel. It was 100Ah so will look for another one same as we are hoping to get a motor mover in the future! How do we know if ours is a bip unit?

Quote: Pepé Le Pew wrote in post #12

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I wouldn't buy anything at all from Halfords. They are very expensive, and by and large the staff don't know one end of a spark plug from the other.
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