Exploding tractor battery!

[RickB]

The so called “acid gas” that was mentioned is actually Hydrogen. Surprised no one has pointed this out. Hydrogen is always produced when charging (or discharging) a lead acid battery and is a very real and potentially dangerous situation - especially in confined and/or poorly ventilated areas.

More than a dozen replies specifically mention hydrogen.
Surprised you didn't notice.

 

[Gord Baker]

Vented Batteries produce Hydrogen when being charged/overcharged. Internal spark is highly unlikely. Be very careful when connecting/disconnecting charger. Always unplug it from AC first.
Charge in a ventilated area. You were lucky.

 

[ultrarunner]

For battery to explode it would seem electrolyte would have to be low to allow for hydrogen to accumulate in confined space...

 

[rv7charlie]

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??!? )

Sorry to be so late in replying; I don't get email updates on my 'active' threads here and just saw this.
RG batteries go by many names; RG, SLA, AGM, VRLA, etc etc. Big thing to remember is the dividing line between 'flooded cell' and the Absorbent Glass Mat technologies. Most automotive/tractor batteries are still 'flooded cell' designs, even though they're all 'maintenance free' and *appear* to be sealed (they're not). They still have lots of liquid acid, and will vent hydrogen & oxygen if overcharged.

The AGM designs don't have any free acid; it's all absorbed in the fiberglass 'sponge'-like material between the plates. The 'VR' in VRLA is 'Valve Regulated'. they all have a port (valve) to the outside world, but the valve is a 'pop-off' valve. It only opens if the battery is abused by drastic overcharging. If AGMs are overcharged, the excess gasses will eventually force the valve open to relieve the pressure. So you can have a dry cell with either technology.

The nice thing about AGMs is that as long as you don't have some sort of 'vampire load' (something that's always drawing power even when the vehicle's switch is off), they can go for literally months (in some cases, over a year) without needing to be recharged. Their 'self discharge' rate is *much* lower than typical flooded cell batteries. If you never hook up a charger, there's never a risk of overcharging and cooking out the liquid. ;-)

Hope that's helpful,

Charlie

 

[patti24]

Thanks Charlie! Yes, that information is helpful.
I had no idea there were so many types of batteries.
I will be sharing this info with my friend who has the ‘battery-that-constantly-needs-to-be-recharged-if-you-use-the-lights’
Patti

 

[CADplans]

I was washing my car at the farm one day, my two 12 year old nephews were going "groundhog" hunting with a '49 Chevy pickup.
(I am sure the two were going after the deer in the bean field,, as the sun was going down)
The battery was located under the floor on the passenger side,,
Well, the truck was stopped 100 yards from where I was washing the car,,
I hear a noise, and I think it is one of the boys shooting the .243 Winchester that I knew they had with them,,
My first thought was they were kinda close to me to be shooting that .243,,,

Nope, one nephew decided to connect the spotlight to the battery,,
the light switch was in the "ON" position,, the cable clamp created a spark in the battery box,, BOOM!

I next see the two boys walking towards me, one with battery acid in his eyes, and all over his face,
he was leaning right over that battery when the hydrogen blew the battery, from the clamp spark.

I ran over, picked him up, and ran back to the garden hose that I had been using to wash the car.
I turned the hose on, and sprayed him right in his face, and kept doing it for close to a half hour.

We were over a half hour away from a hospital,, back then, I doubt there was even a rescue squad,,

After the half hour of flooding his face and eyes,, him complaining the whole time,, we all 3 jumped in my car,
off to the hospital,,

we only make it about half way, the acid REALLY starts burning the boy,, he is screaming,,
the other nephew is in the back seat, he starts crying, because his cousin is screaming,,

we get to the hospital, they start irrigating his eyes, again, and they do it for over 4 hours,,
After I called their families, probably over 20 family members show up at the hospital to see how the boy is doing,,

WOW, what an ordeal,, almost 50 years later those two still talk about the day the battery blew,,

 

[patti24]

OMG!!!
Did the acid do any damage to his sight or his face???
If not, he is one lucky little bugger. What a blessing you were there- and WITH a running hose at that. BIG lesson learned that day huh? Hope he was okay. Scary stuff… I ALWAYS move away from them. My mom was a nurse and coming off midnights she lent her cables to a guy who needed a boost. He connected them backwards (I think) - and same thing- BOOM! Acid sprayed all over her nursing uniform but thankfully didn’t touch her body anywhere.
There’s a lot more horror stories out there than I ever would have imagined.

 

[CADplans]

OMG!!!
Did the acid do any damage to his sight or his face???
If not, he is one lucky little bugger. What a blessing you were there- and WITH a running hose at that. BIG lesson learned that day huh? Hope he was okay.

No lasting problems,,
The boy was "blessed",, it seemed like once a year something like this would happen,,
a year later he rolled one of the farm cars (an old Nova, IIRC) on its roof, the same cousin was with him.
There was not a spot on that farm over 12 feet above sea level, he found an embankment ,, accidentally.
the only one on the 1,000 acre farm, IIRC,,,

A couple years earlier, he walked in the house and asked his mother for some band-aids,,
He had stuck a hatchet in his leg!!
Before that, he fell off of a swing set, broken arm.

At about 15 years old, him and another cousin was hunting deer, he was skinny, and had never worn a belt in his life.
That day, he put on a leather belt, so he could carry a sheath knife,,
Him and another cousin was standing on the ground, under the tree stand they were supposed to be in,,
My brother fired his 3 1/2 inch Magnum single "0" buckshot lever action ten gauge right at them both, accidentally.
The buckshot pellet hit my nephew right in the belt, He had a big purple mark.
If he had not been wearing the belt?,,

Then there is the story about shooting off his big toe, with a muzzle loader, at about 30 years old,,
I am sure I told that story before,,

And his story still continues,,

 

[rv7charlie]

Would be hard to decide whether to keep that guy near me, or as far away as possible...

 

[grsthegreat]

I would not get anywheres near this guy…..especially in a lightning storm.

that cat is running out of lives.