Can a sealed battery leak due to overcharging?

I've just discovered that my sealed (YB14L-A2 Westco) battery is leaking. I bought a sealed battery because I needed it to lay flat under the seat of my Café Racer project. I checked with the supplier to confirm that this would be suitable for such use. Here are some photos of the leaking battery and the leaked corrosive fluid.







As it's still under warranty I've complained to the supplier but he has suggested that the leak is due to overcharging.

This is what he says, "Please bear in mind that 50% of batteries returned to us for testing are just flat and need recharging! It does sound as if this battery is being overcharged, is this on an older bike with Dyno setup rather than a alternator? Do you know the voltage of the alternator/dyno?"

Has anyone had any experience of this, if so I'd welcome any advise.

 

looks to me like they can leak, at least that one did.
all lead acid batteries have some kind of vent, they make gas when they charge. if they make too much gas they vent, whatever is in front of the vent, normally a gas, yours had acid there.
normally the liquid should stay absorbed in the glass mat, maybe they put too much in yours.
i've changed hundreds of those AGM batteries and never had one leak. we're replacing ones now that were installed in '06 to '09 all mounted sideways

 

Thanks for the reply Polock.
Do you know what the normal alternator charging voltage should be for an XJ650 4KO? If my alternator is delivering an excessive charge then I won't be able to claim a new battery under warranty. However, if the rate of charge is within acceptable parameters I would expect that an acid discharge would be due to a faulty battery. There is no visible vent and the leak appears to be coming from the groove just below the top section on the left (in the third picture above).

 

I had an AGM battery that was getting overcharged on my Turbo Seca due to the voltage signal to the Rectifier/Regulator being lower than the battery voltage. I was testing the alternator output and noted that is was high, and checked the battery and there was a little fluid bubbling around the "sealed" inlet on the top of the battery where you fill it. These holes were open when new, but get sealed off once you add the acid.

This was caused by resistance drops in the signal voltage to the RR, and visual evidence can be noted by seeing the red wire melt on the 8 prong connector from the RR. This hadn't been happening for long, so there wasn't any real damage.

The RR regulates the voltage at 14.5V +/- 0.3 volts. You should measure this same value at the battery terminals.

 

Just as a follow-up I thought I'd post a note to say that I measured the voltage at the battery terminals and it was within the parameters as posted by ManBot13 above. Thanks for that ManBot13. When I notified the supplier of the battery the guy then contacted the manufacturer and emailed me this morning to say they have agreed to send me a new battery. He said if it had been positioned upright there probably wouldn't have been a problem but they think the top seal must have been sub-standard and he assures me that the new one won't leak. He also said I can keep or dispose of the old one at my discretion. A very big thank you goes out to Daniel at

Tayna Ltd
Central Warehouse
High Street
Abergele
LL22 7AR
United Kingdom