Quick answer needed

I have 3 Interstate SRM 4D batteries for my house. One got very hot, disconnected it, opened all the vent fills and waiting for it to cool off. It has not started to cool yet.
Do Lead acid batteries self destruct/blow up without anything connected to them after they got hot with the rest of the house and charger on it? Need this answer quick if you can!

Second, I need to replace these. I don't want to spend a fortune and want to stay lead acid or compatible. Any recommendations?

Just for clarification, I don't have anything connected to them now and vents are off with room ventilated.

I can't imagine how a battery could self destruct without anything connected to it. If you want to make sure it doesn't crack and drain the acid into the boat, pull the battery out and set it on the dock.


When I replace batteries I always go to Costco. Intestate batteries, good pricing and a GREAT warranty program.


Good luck.

When you said you disconnected it did you mean from the other batteries in the bank or with the battery switch?
If its still connected to another battery there could current flowing through the other battery keeping it hot.

Lead acid won't 'run away' like the old Nicads would or the way some Li-Ions self-combust. I'm a happy customer with golf cart deep cycles in place of my 8Ds. They're a little taller than 8Ds. I'm not sure about the height of a 4D but if the box size allows 2 GCs, you should have more capacity than 1 4D.

Greetings,
Mr. FW. "...golf cart deep cycles in place of my 8Ds." 12V golf carts or twice as many 6V in series/parallel?

No it is completely disconnected from everything. Terminal have nothing on them. It seems to be cooling down. Measured voltage on this battery by itself after it sat for a while and it measured 10 volts. The charger was putting out 16 amps trying to compensate so no wonder it got hot. The other two are holding 12.5 but I will still change them.

Rogerh said:

No it is completely disconnected from everything. Terminal have nothing on them. It seems to be cooling down. Measured voltage on this battery by itself after it sat for a while and it measured 10 volts. The charger was putting out 16 amps trying to compensate so no wonder it got hot. The other two are holding 12.5 but I will still change them.

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If I was in your shoes, I would take out that 4D and drop it off at a battery recycle place and collect the core fee. Then if you need to continue to use the boat, connect the other two remaining batteries and get by with a smaller bank while you see about replacing them. If you don't need to use the boat, then just replace all three, trading them in for the core charge.

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
Mr. FW. "...golf cart deep cycles in place of my 8Ds." 12V golf carts or twice as many 6V in series/parallel?

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Pairs of 6V GCs in series/parallel.

The hot battery has one or more cells that are shorted internally probably due to sulfate build up on the bottom. They will get hot if a charger is hooked up even with no load on them due to the low resistance in the shorted cell letting a lot of charging current flow through.

Pull out the hot battery and reconnect the good ones. Then think about replacing them all with 6V golf cart batteries. Two GC batteries will fit in the space of a 4D and provide more amp hours.

If you stick with the 4Ds you will probably have another hot battery soon.

David

Rogerh said:

No it is completely disconnected from everything. Terminal have nothing on them. It seems to be cooling down. Measured voltage on this battery by itself after it sat for a while and it measured 10 volts. The charger was putting out 16 amps trying to compensate so no wonder it got hot. The other two are holding 12.5 but I will still change them.

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That battery is made up of six 2 volt (nominal) cells. If one became shorted (not uncommon), you would have essentially a ten volt battery but the charger would be trying to charge it up to 12 volts.

Tomorrow you can have it tested but I suspect it's toast.

Thanks all for your replies. All 3 of the batteries are out and will be replaced tomorrow. Still debating the 6V or the Interstates. The Interstates performed well and lasted 4.5 years. Had 6 V Trojans on another boat and they lasted about the same. But they are lighter but going back in I have gravity to help.

Rogerh said:

Thanks all for your replies. All 3 of the batteries are out and will be replaced tomorrow. Still debating the 6V or the Interstates. The Interstates performed well and lasted 4.5 years. Had 6 V Trojans on another boat and they lasted about the same. But they are lighter but going back in I have gravity to help.

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I am a huge fan of 6v wet cells. You can buy 6 of them at your Sam's Club or Costco for under $600. That is likely to be a couple hundred less than the 4Ds. You will get a house bank of about 630-660 Ah compared to the 600Ah from the 4Ds. The GC2 batteries will likely also give you longer life than the 4Ds (I can't complain too much though as I had some 4Ds in the sailboat that lasted 10 years).

All you need is to add three sets of short series cables which you can have custom made quickly.

"Any recommendations?"

Interstate might have 6v golf cart batts , other wise Trojan , although the Interstate warranty is better .Far more locations , dealers.