vent hoses and maint.free batteries

[omodos]

hello all, Ok soon time for a new battery and been looking online at the ac delcos, now what concerns me is if the sealed one (smf) is 100% sealed is there no need for venting as such?....seen many posts on this and having to attach the vent tube, suffice to say wifes e46 exide was installed and the mehannc insisted it didnt need to vent, i went home checked and found a small cap/plug on one side that i prised off with a small blunt knife and attached the vent hose fine....


ACDelco Sealed Maintenance Free Battery (SMF)
ACDelco Low Maintenance Accessible Battery (LMA)

[DunKeL GraU]

I bought the Bosch battery from pep boys and have been very satisfied. It does have the vent tube nipple but I don't vent it and have had no problems at all. I think I paid 112 dollars for it.

[TerminatorX5]

correct battery in correct size for the car will have a vent - the car has a provisioning for venting such a battery... omodos, are you looking at the correct size batteries?

dunkel, a battery is "vented" for a purpose - being a chemical box, it houses chemicals that interact with each other to produce electricity and the by-products of such interraction can be poisonous, corrosive or otherwise not-friendly. If the battery were to be installed in the engine bay, this would not much of an issue as the by-products would vent directly in to the atmosphere. but our batteries are housed inside the cabin, in very tight spaces, without any ventilation, next to some electronic modules that produce heat which fascilitates the chemical reactions...

venting such a battery would be a good idea - you have no problems now, but what kind of problems are you expecting and watching out for?

[upallnight]

One of the by product from charging a battery is Hydrogen. And if you remember your high school chemistry or the Hindenburg you will know that hydrogen is very flammable. There a reason why they vent the battery in the back of our truck. Don't become a statistic.

[Qsilver7]

You're conflating two different things...maintenance free & venting the battery are TWO DIFFERENT THINGS.

As TX5 stated in his post above, the natural processes of a lead-acid battery will produce off-gases that must be vented to the exterior of the vehicle (especially since the battery is enclosed). Don't be fooled/confused into thinking that a maintenance free/sealed battery doesn't still require to be vented...because it is still producing off gases. There should be a vent hole either on the side or the top center (location of vent hole depends on battery class size & battery mfg).

Look for either a 49/H8 or 95/H9 battery class size. The cost can range from approx $100 - $200+...and many of the batteries are manufactured by the same company and only come with a different colored battery case and label and have the same specs.

(Omodos...this list doesn't apply to you since you're in Cypress...these are USA battery mfg's & brands)

Not venting a lead acid battery when it is enclosed can lead to it exploding if a build up of gas is combined with a spark...and a spark can occur while driving around and the alternator sends an overcharge back to the battery. If you've unlocked your OBC...you can drive around with TEST 9 running and note at times the voltage can spike upwards under certain driving conditions...thus a spark and a build up of gas can cause an explosion like you see in the pic below of a battery that exploded in an e38 7 series from not venting the battery:



Not venting the battery can also cause corrosion as well. Many BMW owners with batteries in the trunk will find that the rear tail light if in the same compartment with a non vented battery can fail due to a build of corrosion on the bulb holder contacts. So again, if you purchase a lead-acid battery (maintenance free or not)...it still produces gases that need to be vented to the exterior of the vehicle. When you replace your battery or have someone else replace your battery...MAKE SURE THEY HOOK UP THE VENT TUBE!!!

[omodos]

Thanks Qsilver7 so moral of story is if it has vent a vent hole use it, if not then doesn't need venting I guess?, anyhow too many niggly things ongoing got this peeling steering wheel issue now really annoying me, so have to muster the courage to take airbag off and either replace part or re-spray with a good acrylic paint......cannot believe a car that costs so much has inferior parts on it...anyway thanks to all again

[motordavid]

imo, "the moral of the story" is to buy a proper sized/proper group type replacement batt, that has the vent tube, and use the correctly vented passage routing...

I am big fan of/long time user of AGM type/'ventless' batts, for my motorcycles, and one of my cars, but I would highly rec'd the vented batt style for the X, because of where the batt is located.

Even a good VRLA type batt, (AGM & Gel), can produce some hydrogen gas when charging or over charged, and most of those 'sealed' batts have some kind of outlet safety valve. OK on a motorcycle; not so good in the back of the X trunk, imo. Thus, my opin to get a vented type batt.

I would put off the steering wheel redo, (cosmetic and a PIA to 'fix'), and get a fresh batt, esp if yours is several years old. I realize you may have some difficulty sourcing a proper battery in your location, but worth it, imo.
GL, mD

[alecu]

Since we're talking about batteries, does the X5 need registration after battery replacement?

[motordavid]

My '01 never has, and from fading memory, I don't think any E53s do. E70s seem to...
GL, mD

[Qsilver7]

Originally Posted by alecu

Since we're talking about batteries, does the X5 need registration after battery replacement?

Ditto motordavid...the e53 does NOT use an IBS (intelligent battery sensor) on its negative battery cable like the e70 X5 does.

BMW uses IBS in the new generation of BMWs that have iDrive which also uses the MOST communication bus...not the CAN, Diagnostic, I, K, M, & P communication bus system like the generation of e53/e38/e39/e46 BMWs and the generations of BMWs prior to ours.

You can see the IBS (the extra thing (sensor) attached to the negative battery cable) clamp that attaches to the battery's negative post: