I have a Cat E200B excavator with a Mitsubishi engine.Today I noticed I could smell the batteries. When I checked they were warm to the touch, batteries are new and the alternator id putting out 28.3 volts which Cat says is right.Is there anything someone might think I can check to find out about the battery smell. Thank you for all you help
Possible the alternator is over charging in Amps. Hook up a digital hand held machine that will check the system if possible. Also If you can determine if one of the batteries is hotter unhook it then after running see if the other cools down. If so the hottest has an internal short from the factory. Good luck.
Well, 28.3 sure sounds high to me. Like ABD said, I suspect overcharging.
I always thought that as in a truck it put out more volts just after starting and if everything from heater to lights were on but the regulator cut the output of volts one batteries charged.If my alternator follows this thought should it drop back to the 24 volts as my truck goes from 14 volts down to 12 when working.It has an interior regulator in the alternator on my machine.Is there a way to check the regulator while on the machine?Thank you for the help with my excavator to those who contacted me
That's my guess, one of the cells is shorting so that it's overcharging (boiling) the other cells. Check the battery voltage in the morning and I bet one says 10 volts. Otherwise 28.3 is none to high, so that's not a problem.
I'll check that first thing in the morning Thank you
Voltage sounds about right to me, the internal resistance of good batteries at full charge will limit current flow and the voltage will stay about the same. Keep in mind that a single 12 volt battery will usually charge at about 14.5 volts so a pair of them needs roughly 29 volts to fully charge them both. By chance do you have something 12 volt that is running off just one battery? That will create a condition where one battery is at full charge, the other that has the 12 volt load on it is less than full charge so the resistance is low and the current increases through the already charged battery which cooks it eventually. Just something to look for. If the new batteries were not equally charged, or mostly discharged before installation it may just be they needed a good initial charging.
I think I have a summer fan hooked to one battery but I might have bought the 24 volt fan i'll look at it as well in the morning thank you