Battery Vent Tube Questions

All the info you ever wanted to read about valve regulated lead acid batteries (AGM and Gel included...)

If you have a 12v battery INSIDE the vehicle, please have it externally vented. Many times , there are no "do-overs" or "3 lives remaining" or starting over from your last "save" point in real life........

http://www.dekabatteries.com/assets/base/0139.pdf

From the above link....
"If any VRLA (gelled or absorbed electrolyte) battery is overcharged, gas will be vented from the valves. Hydrogen as well as oxygen will be released. If continued, the electrolyte will eventually dry out and the battery will fail prematurely. This is why charging limits are so critical."

Hydrogen sulfide inhalation killed mother, toddler found on Florida's Turnpike in June - Orlando Sentinel

From the above link.....
"The battery was not the original battery for the vehicle, nor the correct battery and is believed to have malfunctioned," Proudfit said. "In this particular SUV, the battery is located underneath the driver's seat. Both vehicle and battery will undergo additional examination by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration."

If you wish to not install a vent tube or a non-externally vented battery, fine, it's your life.

probably of little or no consequence.

I suppose that statement is all relative....is it worth saving a few bucks? You think that lady and her kid would like a "do-over"? They were innocent bystanders in that deal. I wonder if they would feel "little or no consequence" applied to them?

 

We can't engineer everything in the world for the exceptions.

Having a battery under the drivers seat is just stupid.......vent tube or not.
What if the vent tube falls off.......or is left loose during some service ??

If you really want to make a valid point, find a verifiable instance where a "sealed" battery under the BACK seat or in the trunk caused someone serious injury........when the entire car was not mashed like a tin can.

 

That’s crazy. At least with the Prius if you don’t have the battery vent you have the traction battery fan ducting air past the battery and out of the car. Car had the wrong battery I wonder if the vent tube was even hooked up?

 

The proper battery and proper removal/installation info:

A proper replacement battery with vent tube opening in the side of battery but no vent tube installed and not even mentioned by the person in the video.

 

So if the battery is dead in that Porsche how do you move the electric seat back and forth?

 

Just like the prius, it has jumper terminals in the engine compartment.

This is also shown in the first video when the old guy connects a memory saver.

 

I purchased the new Toyota battery from the dealer in Dec and I noticed it had the receptacle housing for the vent tube but there was no hole so I couldn't install the vent hose. According to dealer the new batteries for Prius don't have the vent.

 

Interesting, I wonder what changed

 

I think the newer prius batteries aren't in the cabin anymore, no?

 

Anyway... I installed an AGM battery without obvious hole for the prius' vent tube in my Gen 2.

Looking carefully at the OEM battery, the vent hole is right where the plastic cover hides the 6 cells' vents. Has anyone got experience or details on if/how to add a vent hole to a battery that isn't vented?

I'm considering that it might be simple to drill a small hole in a similar place on the new AGM like the old OEM AGM battery has it -- and then connect the tube properly.

 

I've seen some ventless batteries with a spot where the plastic is weaker and you can attach a tube there in case of failure... But more to the point do you think a vent tube is necessary if VW mass produced bugs and vans for 60 years with the 12v most often inside the vehicle cabin without a vent tube and without any issues ever?

 

coincidentally, i had to replace mine in the summer of 2019. the vent tube hole is still there on the oem.
the battery for gen4 that goes under the hood is not vented, but is hard to find and will not fit earlier generations.
that being said, i would NOT try to drill a hole in your battery. what make did you buy?

 

An AGM battery is SEALED; the cells are NOT vented.
The "vent" is a pop-off valve that only opens with a high internal pressure........like might be present if the battery is on fire.
Serioiusly, you are better off to not worry about it.
The vent tube is there because of lawyers, not engineers.

 

It was much worse than that, they didn't even install seatbelts back then. Nevermind any sort of collapsible steering columns or crash protection standards.

Any battery vent issues then could easy have been mistaken for the much more common CO poisonings, which they also didn't much care about. Not until later.

Standards have changed.

 

So it is possible?

 

Beware that the previous paragraph of that post seems to interchange or conflate 12V and hybrid batteries. I.e. while my Gen3 doesn't have vent tubing for the hybrid battery, it absolutely positively does have a vent tube for the 12V battery. It is even clearly displayed and called out in NutzAboutBolts's Youtube battery change video.

Read also some of the other threads on this topic that break out into fire and fury. Including where he claims H2S outgassing from the hybrid battery that doesn't contain S as an active ingredient, then later equates documented fact checking to trolling. Have your flame suit ready.

 

My experience is I installed a ventless 55amp-hour 12v AGM battery for $100 in Jan2013 and it's still going strong. Last winter I had a jammed rear hatch latch that wouldn't close and had to keep charging the 12v back up from that. But once the latch was repaired I postponed replacing my 12v and it's still going strong. At this point I'm thinking I might make it 10 years on same ventless 12v.

 

I know.

But where/how would I drill the plastic casing near the pop-off valve, as the Toyota OEM battery has done at the factory? Are there any DIY instructions for this? It would be nice to have, especially if someone is looking to buy the car and doesn't like the vent tube disconnected.

 

I got the cheapest possible, which happened to be from an Ebay seller that appears to be semi-reputable - a place in NJ that warranties through the manufacturer, Mighty Max. It was $58 delivered and seemed new and adequately charged. I would have bought the $74 Harbor Freight battery or even a Walmart for $50 with a $12 core charge. All were the same size/35AH "U1" battery. My least happy part of it is the conversion from the U1 tabs to the SAE, which requires you to change the car-side JIS terminal out to take an SAE post battery.

Ask me in a year how it's going - or 5... I plan to have to turn off SKS if I leave the car for extended periods, but now I know what SKS is, I probably would have turned it off in such cases, anyway.

 

Even if you could put a hole in the upper housing without doing any damage, there is no guarantee of that part of the top being sealed otherwise. You might be venting a space that is already vented but not open to the electrolyte chambers.

I think that is a BAD idea.
If it REALLY worries you that much, get a different battery that is designed for a vent tube.