Battery blowup

[al ross]

Just a note of my recent experience so may prevent some one from making
same mistake. My house battery had run down while coach in the shop.
Don't know why but immaterial. Not enough juice to start the generator.

I used the Battery Boost switch to connect power from the coach battery
with the engine running to recharge house battery. I waited a few
minutes and hit the gen start switch.
BANG! What a loud noise. Turns out the battery was giving off hydrogen
(I know I should have remembered) and starting the generator added the
appropriate spark to the hydrogen-oxygen. The result was a topless
battery and acid everywhere. Fortunately it was contained within the
battery area next to the generator. I installed a new battery after the
clean-up.

Hope this story helps prevent someone else from doing the same.

Alan
78 Royale

 

[donald w. miller]

>Date: Sat, 17 Oct 1998 03:13:03 EDT
>From: RickStapls
>Subject: Re: GMC: Battery blowup
>

>
>> The result was a topless
>> battery and acid everywhere.
>
>Alan,
> PMFJI, but I wanted to add my .02. In over 35 years in the auto repair
>business, (including jump-starting hundreds of cars) only ONCE did I
actually
>see/hear of a battery exploding. In that case, it was being fast charged,
and
>the mechanic (foolishly IMHO) removed the cell caps. This gave the initial
>spark/flame easy access to the hydrogen-filled cell(s), and boom.
> Don't know if this was your case, but were all the cell caps intact and
>tight? I cannot stress too strongly the need to keep the caps on tight
except
>when actually adding water. To those who claim one should remove the caps
to
>allow the cells to vent while charging, I remind them that your vehicle
>alternator is often capable of charging at 50 - 100 amps, and you don't
remove
>the caps while driving down the road.
> One other possibility is that your battery was internally shorted or had
a
>bad cell connector. This would account for its going dead, and might
provide
>an internal ignition source. That is to say: If it blew up, and the cell
caps
>were tight, it was probably junk anyways.
>
>Good luck,
>Rick Staples
>
>

My daughter had this happen. Everything was normal unit she went out one
morning. The instant she hit the starter the battery blew the entire top
off and blew out one end. Acid all over the engine compartment.

Inspection showed the internal lead to that end cell had deteriorated.
Consensus was the starter load had made enough heat or spark at this poor
internal connection to set off some hydrogen remaining inside the battery
from the previous days driving.

Cheers,

Don Miller

 

[john szalay]

>
>
>>> The result was a topless
>>> battery and acid everywhere.
>>
>>

I, too have had this happen, walked out to the wife's Chevie SW
turned the key to start it, and the battery exploded,
figured it was because of a flaw in the internal battery links igniting
the Hydrogen gas.. cause we could not find any defects in any thing else.
and it has,nt happened again in all these years...
This was in the summer time, so that rules out frozen cells.

 

[al ross]

Thanks for the analysis. I do not know for certain that the caps were tight on
the cells.

Alan

>
> > The result was a topless
> > battery and acid everywhere.
>
> Alan,
> PMFJI, but I wanted to add my .02. In over 35 years in the auto repair
> business, (including jump-starting hundreds of cars) only ONCE did I actually
> see/hear of a battery exploding. In that case, it was being fast charged, and
> the mechanic (foolishly IMHO) removed the cell caps. This gave the initial
> spark/flame easy access to the hydrogen-filled cell(s), and boom.
> Don't know if this was your case, but were all the cell caps intact and
> tight? I cannot stress too strongly the need to keep the caps on tight except
> when actually adding water. To those who claim one should remove the caps to
> allow the cells to vent while charging, I remind them that your vehicle
> alternator is often capable of charging at 50 - 100 amps, and you don't remove
> the caps while driving down the road.
> One other possibility is that your battery was internally shorted or had a
> bad cell connector. This would account for its going dead, and might provide
> an internal ignition source. That is to say: If it blew up, and the cell caps
> were tight, it was probably junk anyways.
>
> Good luck,
> Rick Staples