Leaking Battery
Confirmed Issue:
One or more of the batteries in the Vandoit power cabinet appears to be leaking.
Affected Units:
Vandoit vans with the AGM battery system
Issue Explanation:
Wet battery acid or dried battery acid residue are found on or near the Vandoit batteries, indicating a battery leak. You may notice a decrease in charge capacity and faster drain on your battery bank.
Be aware that battery acid is corrosive and should not be touched.
Resolution:
1. Do you see wet battery acid and/or dried battery acid residue on or near the Vandoit batteries?
2. How does the inside of the van smell? If it smells sulfuric (like rotten eggs or sewer water), this is a sign that one or more batteries may be leaking.
Please see this article for other potential sources of a sulfuric smell.
3. Is the carbon monoxide detector going off? If it is, this is also an indicator that battery acid may be leaking.
4. If you answered yes to at least 2 of the questions above, you will need to remove the batteries and take them to a Batteries Plus or any local auto parts store to ask them to visually inspect the batteries for leaks and run a battery health test.
5. To remove the batteries, make sure the van is not plugged into shore power, the inverter is turned off, and disconnect the power cables from the battery terminals as you would a car battery. You may need to remove a black or clear panel on the power cabinet using a 4 mm allen wrench in order to access the batteries.
AGM battery terminals:
If these troubleshooting steps do not resolve the issue, submit a ticket through the Customer Support portal or email support@vandoit.com with a description of the issue you are encountering and the troubleshooting steps you have taken, along with relevant photos and/or video.