I think I boiled my batteries

[mrschwarz]

So, I went out to the motor home on Sunday to work on the satellite dish. I store it in the backyard on a slab. We had been out the weekend before and I was out of town all week. As I was walking past the right side, I noticed that the slab had an orange stain on it (a very large one) that looked like rust. It just happened to be underneath the battery compartment. I opened it up and did I get a surprise. The house batteries had lost most of their water. There was corrosion everywhere.

I have a Dimensions WIN12x20B3RT inverter/charger. I am guessing it decided to charge the heck out of the batteries beyond a full charge.

When I bought the coach in April, there was some rust in the battery compartment. I didn't think much of it, but had the dealer remove the batteries, clean it up and re-paint the compartment. Now, I am guessing the same thing has happened before. I have a few questions:

1. Is there something that can be tested on the charger to see why this occurred?

2. I know I can add water back to the batteries. Are they ruined?

3. Other than cleaning up the obvious rust, can someone recommend something that will insure there will be no future problems caused by corrosion today?

4. What can I do to prevent this from happening again?