Charging Batteries

[kenmac]

Well, it was nice here this past weekend .So, I decided to crank up the o yanmar... Turned on the switch and tried to start... Nothing . Well, I go to the garage and pull out the battery charger. I set to 40 amps 12 volts set the timer to 45 min.Made sure the cables were connected correctly.. Hit the on switch to start the charging. Went up to the garage to do something while the battery was charging. All of a sudden , I hear a BIG BOOM !. I walk back down to the tractor shed and found the battery in many pieces .. That's right,, the battery exploded.. I guess It had an internal short to start with is why it was dead, but I don't know.. Anyway,, Be careful charging or jumping off batteries. I have charged / jumped off many batteries in my life time, but this was my 1 st battery explosion !...... $78.00 later and the yanmar is up and running ! :thumbsup:

 

[s219]

Very lucky you weren't next to the battery when it happened!

Could have been caused by several things -- low electrolyte level which allowed a spark between plates, corrosion somewhere leading to a spark, or a little slop in the clamps or charger jaws that caused a spark. It's always important to look over a dead battery very very closely before charging.

 

[California]

Wow! Glad to hear you're ok.

 

[Gunny]

We had a guy killed here by an exploding battery a few years ago while he was jump starting his mothers car. He'd connected the two vehicles for a short time, then bent over the dead battery and was fussing with the cables when it went off. I swear that I think about that every time I'm hooking up a set of jumpers or a charger.

 

[Scotty Dive]

Wow, that is very scary. Not being critical, but do you think the 40 amp charging rate had anything to do with it? I just bought a jeep that had an old battery in it and I tried to charge it but thought trying it a 2 amps and doing it slow would be less dangerous. The battery was junk, but am wondering what the safest way to charge is?

 

[clemsonfor]

Your only suppose to turn it on 40 or higher to crank right? I have never charged at anything over 10-12 and try to always charge at 2amps.

I thought those were just charging settings for getting one started taht was really dead or like my father in law who owned an auto shop used them for when cars came in that they needed to crank lots while working on them and they had an older battery, they used that setting when cranking it.


A logger i know went to unhook his big battery for his boat from the charger and it blew up on him. I am talking one of those massive bateries for like huge dozers or the old schoolbuses.

 

[oosik]

I kind of think a 40 amp charging rate is pretty high, also. On a totally dead battery - where you do not know why its dead - IMHO, I would start at around 2-5 amps and make sure the battery would accept this prior to going to higher amps.

In any case - thank the Lord that no one was injured. I met a person who became directly involved in a battery explosion - the facial and hand disfigurement was extensive. He was exceedingly lucky to not loose his eyesight.

 

[winston1]

I have an old Schauer roll around charger that goes up to 60amps on 12 volt. I have used it on high amps numerous times. Doesn't seem logical to me they would have the high amp settings unless it was ok to use them.

 

[MoKelly]

Yikes!!! One of my worst fears. I am also glad no one was around. I am also glad it didn't mess up anything on the tractor.

Good luck.

MoKelly

 

[kevin37b]

If using a charger put the ground clamp on something other than - post on battery . Turn it on , then walk as far as the cord will let you then plug it in . This keeps your face out of range . If using a vehicle to jump start hook up the live battery last . Again ground on something other than the battery on the dead one . Always hook ground up last on any connection . There is no circuit till you hook that ground . And make **** sure you have cables hooked up right .