That thing really popped!

 

Oh boy, Kenny. It blowed up reeeeeal good.

 

That’s the way we do ‘round here 😉😝

 

That one decided it didn't want to be a battery anymore. I have seen a few pop, that one went bigtime! Do not like what it left behind corrosion.

 

I don't know that I'd want to test it with a new battery. Maybe a good used one out of something else.
Calling Generac might get you some guidance. You'll need to get passed the person that does the troubleshooting and actually talk to one of the engineers. The troubleshooters work out of the same offices as the rest of Generac.
If it was just a bad battery, eh. That will just leave you unsure for a few years.

 

Yeah I think I'll borrow the one out of the 455 to do some testing.
We installed this about 2008, it has 500+ hours on it, not sure how much they'll be wiling to help.

 

WOW,, I'm with you and others,, I would be testing the system with a old battery.

 

 

That battery might have been leaking for a while. That's a fair amount of corrosion there. You're going to need a battery anyway. You could always buy another cheap Duralast from Autozone again. Personally, I like using an AGM battery for my generator so I don't have to worry about leaks.

Best,

 

I'd put the new Battery in its own box. Fat 50 can may work.

Looks like this has been overcharging or something for a while judging from the rust/corossion.

 

Yuk. Hope this is not something to look forward to. Just had my new Generac unit installed last month, and today it kicked in for the first time for 2.5 hours after a thunderstorm, thus was glad to have it.

I think that our electric grid will become an increasingly weak point in our national infrastructure, thus outages will become more common. A house 1 mile away from me was purchased last year by a guy who works for our regional electric utility, and the first thing he did was install a generator. Hmmmm….

 

I installed this unit in 2008, and it has over 500 hours on it now. Bought right before they came out with the aluminum enclosures they have now-of course. Some of the rust you see is years old, and there is some you can't see far away from the battery, so that's not the only reason for it.

 

That is impressive...first I have seen a battery do that...

 

Sorry to see what you are going through. I hate Generac and love Kohler

 

FWIW I have an 08? 15k LP Generac that has blown at least 4 batteries so far exactly like that. Have checked voltage and seems ok, clean it up and exchange it at Sam’s for new one. Generator still works great, exercises weekly. The whole corner of metal cabinet has corroded away around bottom. The only thing I can figure is it has always been after about 2 years of use, probably gets overcharged over time and loses electrolyte even though I can only find sealed batteries in that odd size. Getting ready to exchange again asap since it’s been 2 years...

 

I'd suggest going to the forums at www.zillerstore.com . They are very helpful.

 

That sucks. Glad you caught it before it ate a hole to China

 

Is there a charger maintainer on it? The only time I have seen a battery explode was when a spark occurred over a charging or recently charged battery.

Had one blow in my face once. Old charger had a volt and current meter in it. The volt meter registered as long as it was connected. Sparked when I pulled the cable off. That charger didn't have a volt meter after that day.

 

Is there a charger maintainer on it?

I don't know about Kenny's generac, but my 22kw unit has a built in trickle charger (as long as you've got "shore power")

Yes, it's built in to the control board somehow.

Time for a baking soda bath to rinse everything down with.

Already done, thanks.

 

Looks like Duralasts new model Durablast.

 

 

didnt read all the comments but OUR generac 17kw does not use a "generac" control board to charge the battery .......the battery is independently charged and maintained via a 110v charger maintainer that is hardwired in but easily replaceable ....i know this because ours quit charging the battery several years ago .....two wire nuts later out with the generac unit and in with a battery tender charger maintainer to replace it is still working perfectly....our battery is a very very tight difficult fit.....this is how ours came from the factory so if you need to replace the charger maintainer any off the shelf good unit will do just fine as a replacement

 

As someone already said, post this up on the zillerstore.com under topics. Great source on all things technical for Generac generators. I remember reading something about bad charging modules in some older Generac. Best solution was to buy a charger module like a Noco Genius.
I don't have a Generac... I bought an Aurora a few years ago, but I drop in on zillerstore forum almost every day, just to catch up on various problems and solutions.

I'm sure glad you didn't happen to be opening that gen access door when it exploded. I met a guy a couple years ago who left a battery on high charge. A day or two later, as he went to check on it, it blew, just like yours. It blinded him permanently, and he was home alone when it happened. Scarred face and blinded. Terrible tragedy.

 

Had that happen to the battery in my generator.

It popped when the generator went to start the weekly exercise. My guess is the electrolyte was low and it shorted. Was not fun to change in subzero temps. Checking the water level is now part of my maintenance routine.

 

Had that happen to the battery in my generator.

View attachment 845748
It popped when the generator went to start the weekly exercise. My guess is the electrolyte was low and it shorted. Was not fun to change in subzero temps. Checking the water level is now part of my maintenance routine.

Exactly why I used a sealed AGM battery. I don't know about Kenny's generac, but my 22kw unit has a built in trickle charger (as long as you've got "shore power") as well as a heating pad and block heater for when the temps dip down below freezing.

Best,

 

Time for a baking soda bath to rinse everything down with.

 

2013 we bought a 10kw Generac, came with a

charger.
I questioned why there was no built in charger, never did find out why, now I know why.

Growing up we never charged a battey without removing the caps first.

 

I had the same charging problem as others have, had electrician install a battery tender same as above. My generac is same size and age as yours, my battery did not blow up, just would not charge and the battery I have now is at least ten years old maybe more.

 

You guys are a lot more brave than I am. I normally don't keep a battery past 5 or 6 years, even if it still takes a charge. For a car or a generator, "when I need it to work, I NEED it to work." I rotate the old one out as a spare until I get tired of looking at it.

Best,

 

The newer Generacs have the charger as part of the control panel, but not so the older ones. The new ones control the charge better than the old separate units, so I can see replacing it with a maintainer. I think it has to be a min. of 4 (?) amps though, since it has to power the panel.

On another note, the Ziller people don't like the battery heating pads or the intake heater. The pads short out and then the generator starts since the 240v that powers the pad blows a fuse. Plus, I think they can cook a battery (not sure). The breather tube heater make the tube brittle and then remnants get sucked into the engine.They like the oil filter heater.

 

Hopefully no secondary damage from the acid. I have a very similar unit but thankfully haven't had a battery blow yet. Charging also runs through the circuit board in the unit. My unit doesn't have an hour meter which it probably should have as we lose power frequently. I try to keep track of the time it runs but an hour meter would be better.

One thing I found out is when the battery is getting even a little weak, the weekly charging cycle quits. It will still start fine on manual but even a little low voltage interrupts the auto cycle. Seems weird to me but I've had it happen to me and had a Generac service guy scratch his head over the same thing with another customer.

 

Heh....within a year of buying our home, we had 2 power events that lasted for multiple days. We sorta got by with a portable unit for the refrigerator and a few small items, but that didn't help us with things like the well pump. So I invested in having the whole house 22kw system installed with an automatic transfer switch....and in the last 2-3 years I think it's been used "in anger" for maybe 4 hours total. Sigh... But I do set it up to automatically exercise for a half hour once a week just to make sure it's operational and periodically trip the transfer switch to run it with significant load to make extra sure.

Best,