Exploding tractor battery!

[bennatti]

Some type spark(internal in battery or external cable connection) set off the acid gas created while charging battery. Apply baking soda to neutralize the acid then wash affected area. Yrs back I had battery explode on IHC 300 while I set on tractor with my knees straddling battery. Now that will get a fellows attention!

Some type spark(internal in battery or external cable connection) set off the acid gas created while charging battery. Apply baking soda to neutralize the acid then wash affected area. Yrs back I had battery explode on IHC 300 while I set on tractor with my knees straddling battery. Now that will get a fellows attention!

I had a 56 IH Utility 330 and never gave a thought to the position of the battery until my friend had a battery explode on his JD M. My present tractor (2007 JD 3320) has a FEL and I would find that in the rare occasions when my tractor needed a boost on a VERY cold morning(didn't give the block heater enough time..or battery was nearing the end of its useful life) getting to the battery was quite the pain..I installed a set of external terminals on the front guard..has made my life alot easier

 

[mahovy]

Well that was bloody scary.

I charged the (not entirely flat) battery on my Fordson Super Major overnight and came to start it this morning. Big spark, huge bang, smell of battery acid and battery fluid dripping all over the barn floor.
Everything had been done properly. Correct polarity. It just seemed to happen out of the blue.

Any idea how best to clean the battery acid off the tractor and floor? Hose pipe?

What is is likely to have been destroyed? Alternator? Anything else?

Thanks for any advice

Walmart.com sells 5 and 10 pound bags of baking soda. Free shipping too!!

 

[TreeToad]

Well that was bloody scary.

I charged the (not entirely flat) battery on my Fordson Super Major overnight and came to start it this morning. Big spark, huge bang, smell of battery acid and battery fluid dripping all over the barn floor.
Everything had been done properly. Correct polarity. It just seemed to happen out of the blue.

Any idea how best to clean the battery acid off the tractor and floor? Hose pipe?

What is is likely to have been destroyed? Alternator? Anything else?

Thanks for any advice

Baking soda liberally on everything then soap and water wear lots of protective gear

 

[Fuddy1952]

Sounds like you were trying for one of them "Darwin Awards" lol

What?????
You'll have to write louder.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I have a couple very deformed cell phone batteries.

 

[patti24]

Glad you and the tractor lived through the experience. Sensible advice on cleaning up the mess; now how to keep it from happening again...

It's possible that the battery failure was one of those rare 'random acts of violence', and if so, there's not a lot you can do except depend on the odds.

As others have said, all lead-acid batteries produce hydrogen while being charged. If they aren't *overcharged*, it will typically be a minimal quantity, which heads upward instantly (lighter than air) and is not dangerous. The newer tech 'SLA', 'RG' etc types don't emit any at all in normal charge/discharge cycling. The RG means 'recombinant gas'; the hydrogen & oxygen recombine (back into water) inside the battery.

I didn't see any mention of the type of charger being used, or age/condition of the battery. Was it an old 'dumb' charger? All those old dumb chargers can and will overcharge a battery if left connected for too long. Big ones can also push too much energy into the battery too quickly. They should *never* be left unattended. If it's a newer 'smart' charger, you might want to check it to be sure it isn't 'brain dead' and now working as a 'dumb' charger.

Thanks for that bit of information about the RG! Very interesting! So, in non-sealed batteries I am ‘assuming’ that there is a tiny amount of air leakage, which allows some of the hydrogen to escape, thus reducing the amount of water that is able to be reconstituted, which will eventually lead to dry cells.
Is that right?
Someone on here said that even in sealed batteries, you can have dry cells??? How can that be if there’s nowhere for the hydrogen to escape to?? (Or have I misunderstood something along the way??!? )

 

[patti24]

What was the temperature of the battery at the time? If below freezing I would have warmed the battery up before trying to start tractor. Too much time spent in northern Maine, It was common then to take the vehicle batteries inside to not allow them to freeze. They tend to freeze from the top down. Frozen batteries blow up.

frozen batteries blow up??? I didn’t even know that batteries COULD freeze! I guess I just assumed that the acid in them was similar to the traits of alcohol and had a lower freezing point which prevented that from happening.

 

[k0ua]

frozen batteries blow up??? I didn’t even know that batteries COULD freeze! I guess I just assumed that the acid in them was similar to the traits of alcohol and had a lower freezing point which prevented that from happening.

It does, just as you outlined, BUT when the charge in the battery goes down the acid concentrations also goes down as the sulphuric acid converts to lead sulphate on the plates. You should go read about the very complicated process that goes on in a lead acid battery. Anyway the battery fluid becomes more like just plain old water and it will freeze.

Here, this should keep you busy for a while:

BatteryStuff Articles | The Lead Acid Battery Explained

BatteryStuff Knowledge Base Article explaining how a standard lead acid battery works. What is electrolyte? How do you charge a battery? Answers to these and more in the following article.

www.batterystuff.com

 

[marhar]

Well that was bloody scary.

I charged the (not entirely flat) battery on my Fordson Super Major overnight and came to start it this morning. Big spark, huge bang, smell of battery acid and battery fluid dripping all over the barn floor.
Everything had been done properly. Correct polarity. It just seemed to happen out of the blue.

Any idea how best to clean the battery acid off the tractor and floor? Hose pipe?

What is is likely to have been destroyed? Alternator? Anything else?

Thanks for any advice

This response is not an answer to your question: During charging a small amount of hydrogen gas is created. The gas is lighter than air and will float away if the battery is not in an enclosed space. I have read about others having the same problem when doing a "maintenance" charge on a boat docked for winter.

Only joking with you, As for the question anything else that could have been destroyed: If it had been me my shorts would have been destroyed. Thankfully you are safe.

 

[patti24]

Patti24 -
Where to start...

- Yes, you top off standard lead-acid batteries with distilled water. I'm lazy/cheap and use tap water, but my tap water doesn't have a lot of mineral content. While you're doing it, wipe down the battery top and sides (I use a baking soda paste and an old toothbrush) - the grime that accumulates conducts electricity and will slowly drain the battery and/or cause galvanic corrosion on any metal nearby.

- The hydrogen comes from breaking down water in the electrolyte solution (basically just water and sulfuric acid). Under normal discharge/recharge, little or no hydrogen is generated. Overcharging will electrolyze water causing hydrogen and oxygen to be generated. If it's in an enclosed space and there's a spark...

- Lead/acid (and most other) batteries will self-discharge over time. So if you don't use your tractor for long stretches of time, you either get to recharge it every time you go to start it or get a trickle charger that keeps it 'topped off'. These are so low-current that you're not likely to run down the electrolyte level much. I have one with a solar cell as my tractor isn't near an outlet when parked.

- 'Sealed' lead-acid batteries usually don't need electrolyte maintenance as long as they aren't overcharged. They're designed to deal with small amounts of hydrogen being generated from normal operations.

- Your friend's Steiner isn't working correctly if you have to recharge the battery every time you run it at night. Its alternator should power all the electrical equipment AND charge the battery while the engine is running. Really old equipment wasn't necessarily rigged to run at night so the alternator (or generator?) may be too small for the night lighting; the alternator is mainly there to recharge the battery so you can start it again, not power the light bar, your radio, cell phone, heated seat and whatever else has been added over the years. Easy test is to check the voltage at the battery with the engine at normal RPM - you should have about 13-14 volts and turning on the lights shouldn't cause much more than a momentary dip in voltage.

- Any lights that are on after you shut down are draining the battery. Not by much, but they are draining it. Your car has a bunch of these low-current things - clock, the key-fob receiver, etc. - that will, eventually, drain the battery, which is why you 'always' disconnect the battery if storing the car for months. In normal use - say, weekly driving - it's not an issue. Ditto for tractors.

where to start is right!
Thank you for all of that VERY helpful information!
•very interesting about the grime! (You are making me want to go out and start looking at all my batteries now!)
•ohhh my!!! How does one know if it’s been ‘overcharged’? (If the digital indicator goes above 12.6 (?)? So, you SHOULDN’T leave batteries charging overnight? What about trickle chargers? (I have a NOCO booster and my friend has a NOCO charger…but to be honest, I’ve never looked to see if there is a digital read out on the charger. Trickle chargers have lower volts/amps/whatever they are called, correct? It will say on the charger somewhere what the power is?
Is it possible to overcharge a battery using a trickle charger? (Like if you leave it on the charger for days at a time?
•your trickle charger is solar-powered? THAT would be a lot handier than running extension cords out of the barn!! But what happens if there’s lots of clouds & snow? How does it affect the functioning? That’s important - because I live in the snow belt, in a county that was apparently named so because of the weather- Grey County. That’s why I’ve been hesitant about getting a solar electric fence charger- I was concerned that in the winter there wouldn’t be enough sun to power it.) Where did you get the Solar charger? Any particular brand(s) you recommend? Are they more expensive than regular trickle chargers? I wonder if they make dual ones with solar and the option to plug in. Do you happen to know?
•okay! So it sounds like that is the problem- the alternator (or generator) is too small. So how does one fix that? Can you just put a bigger alternator on? (My dad the mechanic is likely rolling his eyes right now! )
If you can’t put a bigger alternator on, what do you do? Is there a way to have enough power… or is it easier just to take the lights off?
Okay! I’ll suggest he voltage test to him. I’d be surprised if he hasn’t already done one…(he’s a farm boy, and is pretty knowledgeable about engines) but…you never know, so it won’t hurt to ask!
Thanks again for explaining things!! I learn so much reading people’s posts on this page.