Exploding tractor battery!

[k0ua]

Had one blow in my face once. Was using an old garage size charger that had a volt and amp meter. I'm supposing the small load from the volt meter caused a spark when I disconnected the cable. Charger was turned off.

Fortunately I pulled my head to the side fast enough I didn't have any eye damage. There was an outdoor faucet nearby and I washed myself off good then sprayed down the car.

I disconnected the volt meter in the charger. I've never seen a charger before or since that had a volt meter.

The volt meter did not cause the spark. The fact that there was current flow because the battery was a lower voltage than the charger voltage causes current to flow. With current flow, there will be a spark at initial contact.

 

[k0ua]

I would have thought that this was elementary, but batteries under charge create hydrogen off of the negative plates and oxygen off of the positive plates. You could not ask for a better explosive combination of gases than Hydrogen and Oxygen. Just add a spark, or better yet a nice flame from a propane torch nearby and kabloowie. Big explosion.

 

[BenjiMac]

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

Not likely any damage to the alternator; it was not running yet when you were just cranking the engine. The battery acid is acid, so neutralize it with a weak solution of something alkiline followed by plain water or it will eat the vehicle metal. It is good that the explosion did not happen while you were installing the battery, these are a leading cause of blindness. The explosion is hydrogen gas in the battery case, produced by electrolysis usually during charging. Since the alternator was not running - did you have it connected to a battery charger? The gas will not explode unless there is an igniting spark near the battery, which can be caused when connecting or disconnecting battery jumper cables, which is why the ground jumper should be connected to the vehicle frame instead of the negative battery terminal and this connection made last, disconnected first so there is no current flow when connecting/disconnecting the other connections. I do not know what would cause the igniting spark when starting your engine, unless one of the terminal connections was loose or the battery was somehow defective.

 

[mickeyw]

One blew up two weeks ago right below my head! I was helping friend with Ford F250 7.3L diesel (has two batteries), he had charger on and genius me was using a propane torch to solder starter cable at the battery, friend off to the side holding cable with pliers. It was like dynamite going off and blew us backwards.
He had outdoor spigot not far and I had him get baking soda, washing up ourselves.
Lucky but still barely can hear out of my ear closest to it.

Where I did my engineering apprenticeship we had a big Ford 6 cylinder diesel industrial genny. We used to run it up once a month to make sure it would work when we needed it.
I was helping the guy whose job this was once day, and we were just refitting the batteries that had been on charge. I was hooking up the leads, so like you I was standing right over it just as there was an almighty boom, and bits of battery and acid went everywhere.
Luckily there was a hose close by and the guys completely drowned me in clean water for several minutes. Then I was taken to the hospital to have eyes and ears rinsed out and checked. Amazingly I got off pretty unscathed, just my clothes that disintegrated soon after.

 

[oldpilot]

How long did it take Sears to run a check on that Diehard?

I miss Sears. I suppose their lifetime guarantees helped speed their demise along. (I claimed refunds on a computer that my daughter messed up entirely and also on a tire that was my fault. I felt guilty when they closed.)

 

[mtretick]

Had a golf cart battery explode. Blew the entire top off the battery and by the way with a golf cart you are sitting on the battery!

 

[Dmacleo]

I believe lots of baking soda mentioned before so I'll add another item to the list.
POUNDS of baking soda LOL

 

[patti24]

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

 

[rv7charlie]

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.

 

[ultrarunner]

I've found dumb chargers can bring a battery back that had been written off.

Got my outboard battery that way from a neighbor that was not able to charge it.

I put it on the old commercial charger outside and no discernable meter movement.

Left it on all day and a few hours on the charger the needle moved a little...

Went to mow and when I came back it was cooking and I could smell it...

That was 3 years ago and still load tests good.