Anyone been around a battery when it exploded?

rd_macgregor · Apr 24, 2015

OP (crazyal), I hope you washed everything down really, really well before doing the replacement...

AaronS · Apr 24, 2015

Me...no. My brother, yes. At the time he was a mechanic working under the hood of a semi tractor. Thankfully he was wearing safety glasses.

furnone · Apr 24, 2015

I once got into my '88. Saab, turned on the ignition switch, and Boom! To my good fortune, I just happened to be parked next to an Interstate Battery truck. The drive sold me a battery and installed it for me right on the spot.

Another funny battery story... I was driving a tractor tailer delivering furniture in New Hampshire. It was around 20 below,and I couldn't leave it running all night in the motel parking lot. So, I paid the motel owner $10 to plug the engine heater into an outside receptacle. Well, it seems the receptacle was on the time switch for the neon sign that turned off at midnight. It was noon the next day before I could get a tow truck with a booster.

TomSeller · Apr 24, 2015

Did you get your $10 back?

Billrog · Apr 24, 2015

I was charging a very large battery out of a friends motor home in my shop a few yrs. ago. The next day I when into the shop and started with an angle grinder 24' away when I watched a large spark head across the shop right towards the battery and a very large explosion. There's still brown marks all over the white ceiling to remind me not to do this again and that battery was in small pieces.

crazyal · Apr 25, 2015

rd_macgregor said:
OP (crazyal), I hope you washed everything down really, really well before doing the replacement...

I washed myself down with the garden hose even though it was about 45F out including my eyes. Not going to take the risk even though I don't think anything got on me. Surprisingly there didn't seam to be anything wet. After hosing myself down, changing clothes, and getting some rubber gloves I removed the battery. I thought for sure the metal was going to be wet from acid leaking out but it wasn't. With the sealed caps now gone it's easy to see down into the battery and I couldn't see any acid. Of course both sides of the battery are split so they wouldn't hold any acid.

The battery is located in the right step. It's made out of very thick steel because it's designed to be a step and hold two batteries (glad I only was using one). Not long after it happened it started to rain I had removed the battery and left the cover off so it got a good soaking. Without a battery there was no way to start the backhoe to move it so I would of had to get a bucket of water and carry it to soak it down. So the rain was welcomed.

furnone · Apr 25, 2015

Not that I recall.

Looking4new · Apr 25, 2015

One company I worked for back in the '80s was subcontracted to the city for snow plowing, had a Mack that was notorious for not starting when we needed it. The company had the attitude that there was batteries in it so just boost it. The mechanic and I were getting sick and tired of boosting this truck every time it had to go out and he asked me what we could do to get them to replace the batteries. I told him, just blow them up. We hooked a 48V battery charger to them 2 batteries, I had already set the charge rate, turned the switch on and both of us stood back when I connected the extension cord to the live plug. 30 seconds later they exploded. We got the new batteries.
Nobody was injured or even got any acid on us.

Complete Turf Care · Apr 25, 2015

In the 70's we had a International 856 tractor that needed to be boosted to start one day. I hooked the jumper cables and got it started and as I removed the cables, the battery on the tractor blew.

There must have been an angel on my shoulder that day, because the battery was about 18" from my face when it blew. Luckily, it blew out in the opposite direction of my face, and I got no acid or any injury from it.

Since then, I always turn my face when connecting or disconnecting booster cables.

JimRB · Apr 25, 2015

About 40 years ago I was watching someone working on his 69 Camero. He had a new paint job and a new battery along with a new ball joint. The ball joint was important as the wheel alignment was weird before that replacement. Anyhow someone removed the ground from the block. One of his buddies wondered what would happen if you took the battery negative cable and touched the positive. Lesson learned by that kid that your hand smacks the hood of the car when the battery explodes, loud noises, paint gets messed up, and clothes are acid burned with new holes. I was not the one who blew up the battery, but I was maybe 5 feet away. I am a bit nervous around batteries sometimes.

By the way, I loaded this free Grammarly 301 Moved Permanently add-in that checks spelling and grammar. It brings back memories of grammar that I did not learn in English class 40 years ago.