Had a scare and needed backup

[charlie9090]

Hey guys (waves) New to site just needed some help

I've had a small solar set up for awhile but relied heavily on my solar charger to keep me safe - today freaked me out tho.
Brought a better solar pannel and not long after my battery started bubbling. Looking online some say it was normal and others say it was dangerous.
At this point I'm gonna say it's not worth the risk and replace the batterys (3 years old) plus look for some thinker wires to connect the charge unit with the battery.

I don't know about wires and calculating specs (still learning) but the reason for the upgrade was to use it as a power source for my projects in the garden . I don't want it exploding as it's a shared garden and they have kids.

All I'm thinking was get

new battery 12v 7ah or just getting two 12v and making a 24v ?
new charge controller
Thinker wire 12 Gauge....?

current set-up

Anself Solar charge controller 12v/24v 10A (cheap £15)

Solar pannel - 30w - Vmp18v / Voc 22.5v - 1.7A - model number JS3W-12MP (sorry probebly butcherd that)

as for wires - pannel came with think wires but looking at using 12 Gauge for the battery ?

So my question is have I messed up or is it just a bad battery and how can I give myself some head room ?

Thanks guys and sorry if this is messy I don't talk alot online

[Mike90250]

Walking into my battery shed at noon on a bright day, sounds like a den of snakes hissing away, as all the batteries are bubbling (but they do not get hot)

Gassing (bubbling) is a required part of the recharge cycle and to accomplish that, requires a minimum rate of charge, of about 10% of the battery capacity. If a 200ah battery, it should get about a 20a charge rate) This charge rate may warm the batteries slightly, but they should not get hot.

The gassing / bubbles are required to stir up the electrolyte to prevent it from stratifying over time. Stationary batteries will stratify in a week, with the heavier acid settling to the bottom of the battery case and the lighter water on top. Trickle charge is not enough to stir up the electrolyte.

AGM/Gel/sealed batteries have different charge requirements and generally, only make noise as they are dying or being overcharged.

[charlie9090]

Hey Mike thanks for replying.

Sorry should have said what type of battery SLA 12v 12ah.

I work mostly with computers and code so alot of this is new too me , would just use the set up as an extra charger for phones or camping.

So it's either dying or over charging ?
To be fair that charge controller was always bad at measuring the battery - so... might have knackered it up . That or I'm only just hearing them bubble after getting a better solar pannel .

Sorry for the panic was just imagining this thing exploding when I heard it and needed people in the know . Still nervous to leave it on charge .

Thanks

[Mike90250]

If sealed batteries are making noise, you have a problem. reading more than 15V at the battery terminal means you have a serious problem overcharging the batteries. The noise you hear is gas (hydrogen and oxygen) venting out the overpressure vents. once that gas is outside, the internal recombiner catalyst cannot recycle it back into distilled water for the battery and every time you vent gas (loose water) you are slowly walking your battery down in capacity, till it dies

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VRLA_battery