Topaz: mystery pipe!

Whilst searching for the battery charger, in the locker under the bench seat, I found a clear plastic tube coming up through the floor; it has a white plastic 90 degree elbow on the end but was swinging loose! Can anyone tell me what it is for and where it should be "plugged in to"? I suspect that it might be a drain-tube for something.

Cheers,
Pete

Sounds like a breather pipe to fit on end of battery so that gassing fumes from the battery are expelled outside. You should find a short open ended lug on the end of the battery to push it onto.

Pete,

It may be meant to be fitted to a battery tray to drain any battery fluid that overflows from the battery when topping up the battery cells with distilled water. Sulphuric acid (battery acid) is extremely corrosive and a tray protects any underlying fabric or structure from damage.

As a general rule "Maintenance Free", "Sealed", "Gel" and "Leisure" batteries don't need to be topped up with distilled water and therefore a spill of battery fluid is unlikely. In view of this, maybe a previous owner has removed the tray to which the tube was attached.

Alternatively, it may have been fitted to an "overflow" on a particular design of battery for the same reason.

Hope this helps.

Best regards,

Ian

PS

I don't think the tube can be a vent because Hydrogen (a by-product of battery charging) is the lightest gas known and therefore any vents are normally at the top of a battery compartment.

Hi Pete,
It looks like a battery vent pipe. If there's an outlet on your battery, just push it in. Some batteries have them, some don't.
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Steve

it is a ventilation pipe as others have pointed out, it attaches to the leisure battery and goes through the floor to remove the gasses given off from the battery during charging. Our Nuevo has this setup and the pipe removes the dangerous Hydrogen gas given off by the battery while being charged, it fits into an outlet on the top of one of the battery sides.

CC

Thanks folks; I have run my fingers around all sides of the battery near the top- no holes to plug into. Of course I don't know if this battery is original, it looks quite clean.
Would a gel-type, maintenance-free battery have a vent? I can understand it on an old-fashioned wet battery; I seem to remember having to leave the cell-plugs loose when charging those up in yesteryear.

It does look like a battery vent tube but it is in the wrong place. Perhaps it's something to do with the water heater. My Topaz leisure battery is in the cupboard under the hob on the opposite side of the vehicle to your photo and does have a clear plastic vent tube which goes through the floor. I'll have a look at mine as soon as I can get to it.