Lesson #14.....Keep Looking

Well the lessons are getting further and further apart but they are still coming.

When we first arrived at Nashville we started noticing a strange odor in the camper (Sheila said it smelled like onions, I thought it smelled like sewer gas). We searched and searched but couldn't find any possible reason so decided that it must be some sort of a vent problem with our sewage tank. When we turned on the exhaust fan in the bedroom the odor quickly got worse so we abandoned that plan (only after trying it a whole lot of times). Eventually the odor would go away so we would forget about it but it kept coming back. Also during this time we noticed that the lights started flickering. We sure didn't connect flickering lights with a foul odor. Last night the odor got bad enough to wake me up but I couldn't think of any actions to take so I went back to sleep. Sure enough, early this morning we were awakened by the sound of our propane leak detector alarm going off. I opened the windows and isolated the propane tanks but of course the odor was still there. Sheila went outside to check things out when I heard “Hey, I think I found it. It's the slide hydraulics.” Since that pump wasn't running I was dubious but decided to check it out. Sure enough what looked like smoke was rolling out of the slide hydraulic compartment(that compartment is right under the bedroom). Turns out it was steam from boiling battery acid from one our camper batteries. While I looked for a switch, fuse or some sort of breaker to isolate the battery, Sheila called a RV repairman. He advised me to just disconnect the leads. I wasn't crazy about reaching over a boiling battery to disconnect it but didn't see any other choices so I went for it. It was really uneventful and was quickly resolved. I had also just read an article from an RV magazine that Ron & Nancy had given me that said you should always change both batteries not just one to ensure even charging rates. Fortunately camping world is right next door to the campground so it was easy to confirm the two battery replacement theory and get the new batteries. Everything is now back to normal and I now know that boiling battery acid smells like sewer gas (or onions).