Battery Explosion! What Happened?

Industrial Toys · Oct 3, 2017

Another guy I know had a battery on charge explode from grinder sparks.

I remember seeing a documentary once. Small single engine prop aircraft had a heavier engine installed. They moved the battery rearward to compensate for balance. Control cables came in contact with battery post, burned through and down she went.

Law of unintended consequences!

PILOON · Oct 3, 2017

In the past I did a lot of mods on aircraft. Fun and challenge.
You just can't rush and have to consider all sorts of 'ifs'.
I modded some 25 single engine AC for ferry flights across the Atlantic.
Meeting the regulations was the challenge.
My best was 5 crop dusters going to Africa for spraying.
They had huge hoppers for spraying up front so I decided that I'd put the fuel in the hoppers and plumb them back to the usual tank.
Also had to modify those VFR only planes to full IFR capability's to meet regulations.
I told the client I'd deliver but needed a literal blank check.
We did deliver and on time!
The trick was to do all them exactly the same as I obtained approval based on the first which was prototype and therefore one DOT approval was valid for all 5.
With lots of phone time and co operation from UPS and customs I was able to complete the job in a mere 3 weeks.
Them was good times.

Ask me if I love challenges!

And even today I love doing mods on tractors, much easier as I don't have to meet aviation standards and inspections. Just use my noggin and consider safety issues. Plus nobody comes to inspect and exercise their bureaucratic whims.

rd_macgregor · Oct 4, 2017

PILOON said:
And even today I love doing mods on tractors, much easier as I don't have to meet aviation standards and inspections. Just use my noggin and consider safety issues. Plus nobody comes to inspect and exercise their bureaucratic whims.

At least if a tractor mod doesn't work out, the let-down is usually less severe than with an aircraft.

PILOON · Oct 4, 2017

rd_macgregor said:
At least if a tractor mod doesn't work out, the let-down is usually less severe than with an aircraft.

For sure as U can always pull over to the road side while in an aircraft you had better be over a highway that has no traffic.

Hey, I have only crashed twice, LOL luck had it that there was long open field under me.
But being very mechanically inclined I repaired my mistakes and actually earned my mechanics license in the process.
(one time was an engine failure (not my fault) and the other was a 'precautionary landing that went bad'.)

lakeside · Oct 23, 2017

I didn't have a battery explode on me but I did have the cell cover fly off. I was cleaning my truck battery when I heard a muffled bang and the cell cover flew over my shoulder and my face was peppered with small drops of battery acid.

I always wear safety glasses when around batteries and the only place that wasn't stinging was where the safety glasses covered my eyes. A quick rinse with a garden hose and I was good as new. If I hadn't been wearing my glasses I'd would have been off to the ER. It happened at my country place where EMT response time is, at best, 15 minutes.

ultrarunner · Oct 23, 2017

Are battery guy said to always keep the distilled water to the top of the ring at the fill... can't have hydrogen gas build up if there isn't any room for it to accumulate.

Had one battery explode while I was over it... about 12.

Acid everywhere and a couple of minutes my clothes were shreds.

GLyford · Oct 23, 2017

My brother spilled acid on a set of work clothes changing a battery. They were mostly ok, at the first wash there were a few pinholes and thin spots, but by the 2nd or 3rd wash they pretty much fell apart.

PILOON · Oct 24, 2017

GLyford said:
My brother spilled acid on a set of work clothes changing a battery. They were mostly ok, at the first wash there were a few pinholes and thin spots, but by the 2nd or 3rd wash they pretty much fell apart.

As teen I had been messing around making hydrogen filled balloons.
Couple hot days later I did an impromptu water ski run a friends and simply rolled up my pant legs being the hot shot skier that never fell.
LOL he cut the engine on me as a joke and when I unrolled my pants all that I had left were cuffs and a belt.

The acid fumes created during the hydrogen forming process entered the fabric and were only activated when in contact with water.

Had mother washed them she would have had quite a shock.

Industrial Toys · Oct 24, 2017

Had they been purchased at SEARS, you could have brought them back.

coldsteelva · Oct 24, 2017

Industrial Toys said:
Had they been purchased at SEARS, you could have brought them back.

Slight aside: Just read that Sears no longer will carry/sell Whirlpool appliances after 100 years, to include Maytag, KitchenAid and JennAir subsidiary products. The end is near for Sears.

Industrial Toys · Oct 24, 2017

We are (finally) loosing SEARS altogether. Times change! I am almost at the point of wanting to use profanity when a retailer mentions their on-line offerings. How about some friggin service? Like I have all day to figure out yet another web site, and then the item I want will inevitably not be available anyway!

TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark · Oct 24, 2017

This thread is about battery explosions, not Sears.

tonyq60 · Oct 24, 2017

The battery in the photo looks like a sealed type.

VRLA have pressure chambers and better maintenance free have similar design.

Gas is produced when charging and high rate creates more gas.

Internal structures that may come loose between cells can cause an intermittent connection that usually allows low current load from controls to work but high current loads like pump or starter motors can cause the connection to spark resulting in boom

timswi · Oct 24, 2017

Had a battery explode on me in a K5 Blazer years ago--Shook the whole truck. Put a new one in and all was good (after cleaning up the mess)..Battery issue only I assume. No warning, just hit the key in front of the bank..Thankfully the hood was down.

buickanddeere · Oct 25, 2017

This is why trying to limp an old battery along instead of replacing it is not a good idea.

FatTire · Oct 25, 2017

A guy in our area had a battery blow up and lived to tell about it but with burns to his face and neck. He was adding distilled water to a bank of batteries in his off-grid home while -- get this -- smoking a cigarette.

lennyzx11 · Oct 25, 2017

2 stories. I was in the motor pool as a young private in the Army. The batteries (4 12 volts) were located under the passenger seat.
Truck wouldn't start. As I leaned over the batteries standing on the running board, the driver hit the starter button while I was wiggling the cable terminals. The resulting explosion blew me off the running board and against an APC parked next to it knocking me out.
The people around has enough presence of mind to throw water over my face.
I spent six weeks in an army hospital with my eyes bandaged and face burned.
It wasn't fun where somebody fed you either. I got the " your meat is at three o'clock on the plate and mashed potatoes at six o'clock." **** near killed myself with that spoon!
2. In Germany, me and two "Big" buddies went backroading through the German forests. Beer was involved. A lot of it I must confess. In a 1965 Volkswagen bug. In which said vehicle, the battery is located under the rear seat upon which the two Big friends are riding. However, when Ferninand Porsche invented the bug, He used metal springs as cushion in the seat with a somewhat flammable stuffing for padding. With the bouncing and big butts on said seat going through the countryside at a late hour somewhat intoxicated a smell of smoke came from the back seat area.
Then "abandon Ship" was announced as fire licked through the seat bottom.
Have you ever seen two drunk big ol boys trying to evacuate a Volkswagen bug from the rear seat at a high rate of speed?
It is a sight to behold I must say.
All was well. Burnt seat bottom, spilt beer and both wanted to ride in front after that on the way home.

ultrarunner · Oct 25, 2017

These stories make me realize how lucky I was to only have lost my clothes... I was also deaf for awhile.

I was hooking up a battery charger and stumbled to the garden hose and hosed myself down... I did not get any in my eyes.

The VW story actually happened a lot... my bet is the battery was not OEM... the original Bug batteries came with a plastic shield covering the positive terminal... many times with old bugs you will see "Welded" seat springs from positive battery post.

Industrial Toys · Nov 10, 2017

My Dad often took the passenger seat out of our bug. I hated driving in that thing and as a teenager hated it even more with the seat out.

I spoke with my mechanic just this week about the battery explosion. He has had only a couple, which I find amazing. He says a battery has to be pretty compromised to explode.

In a vehicle that is used often, for the number of starts a battery provides, there is no point messing around with questionable batteries. Lesser used stuff is another story.