[ZookiBoi]

Hi guys I recently put a new battery into my sierra and recently it's been spewing water out the tiny holes in the plugs and causing massive amounts of acid build up all over the place

Why could this be happening?

Thanks

[royce]

some is good, if you think its too much the battery might be getting overcharged

[ZookiBoi]

It's too much ha

So what do you think could be causing this royce?

[Scales]

you could possibly be boiling your battery, what voltage are you getting on the terminals when engine is running? (if its too high, youve probably got a shagged voltage reg on the alternator) also what are your water levels at? (should be JUST touching the bottom of the "spout" that you see inside the hole)
If its a new battery, there shouldnt be any "calcium" build up.

answer those 2 questions and we can provide more help.

my gut feeling is voltage reg.... but without knowing voltage i cant tell.

[MacDaddy]

royce wrote:

some is good, if you think its too much the battery might be getting overcharged

X 2
Yeah, my guess is its being overcharged...

Scales wrote:

you could possibly be boiling your battery, what voltage are you getting on the terminals when engine is running? (if its too high, youve probably got a shagged voltage reg on the alternator) also what are your water levels at? (should be JUST touching the bottom of the "spout" that you see inside the hole)
If its a new battery, there shouldnt be any "calcium" build up.

answer those 2 questions and we can provide more help.

my gut feeling is voltage reg.... but without knowing voltage i cant tell.

X 2
Sounds like its boiling to me too... agree about voltage regulator...
You may be up for another new battery... a stupid question, but did you connect the battery up properly, all the wires back where they were ?

[tazmanier]

Also the voltage sence wire could have gotten knocked off somewhere? only know for sure that the EF falcon altinator has a voltage sence wire that you attach to whatever part of the elec sys you want to keep at a steady 14.7 volts. If this wire is not connected preety sure the voltage it sences is nothing therefore the reg bumps the voltage up to maximum to try and compinsate. preety sure thats how it works. dont know on other altinators though. will try on mine tommorrow, might be a bit loud tonight as it doesnt have exhaust manifold yet

[Moag]

Another common cause if charging system is ok is topping up a flat battery.

If topping up a battery, make sure the plates are just cover, then fully charge and
finally top it up to full.

[ZookiBoi]

Ok so I got some numbers from my battery

12.4V when car is off and 14.2V when car is running

These are good figures yes?

[Moag]

ZookiBoi wrote:

Ok so I got some numbers from my battery

12.4V when car is off and 14.2V when car is running

These are good figures yes?

SOC or State Of Charge of a lead acid battery will give you a bit of an idea of the charge.

It's best to test voltage after the battery has rested for 24hour, through overnight word be fine.

The reason for this is batteries hold a surface charge (voltage) above real SOC.

Below is a graph for a deep cycle lead acid to give you bit of an idea as to were's it's at.
But note all batteries are a bit different.



Your SOC might be a bit low if the measurement was taken just after charging

A quick and dirty way, to remove the surface voltage is to take the battery voltage reading (note it down)
Turn on a load like your lights for a minute (with engine off) take reading with them on,
then a reading with them off, have a beer, smoke or nice cup of tea and then another reading.

For voltage from your alt, take a voltage reading while idling and another while at ~2000 revs.

[Moag]

Creepy

[royce]

Moag wrote:

Creepy

BWAHAHAHA I scrolled down and thought oh shit ive edited one of moags posts rather than making my own

[Moag]

I got home replied to a email notification...

Yours was better