Exploding tractor battery!

[Smt]

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

 

[Tx Jim]

Some type spark(internal in battery or external cable connection) set off the acid gas created while charging battery. Apply baking soda to neutralize the acid then wash affected area. Yrs back I had battery explode on IHC 300 while I set on tractor with my knees straddling battery. Now that will get a fellows attention!

 

[K5lwq]

I would start with the battery and go from there. Likely nothing else is damaged. Did it blow when you were disconnecting the charger or when you turned the key?

Looks like the battery is in a somewhat inclosed space. The gases off of the battery likely got trapped and the spark caused the explosion. I have a few pieces of plastic in my hand and lip from a battery that exploded. Mine was in a 53 Ford truck. The battery was located in the passenger floor board. I was jumping it off and let the cables spark.

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

Baking soda will neutralize the acid. I’d sprinkle baking soda on any spots you see acid, and then spray a mix of baking soda and water on it, and sop it up with kitty litter. Wear your oldest most sacrificial clothes, they might get ruined.

 

[Smt]

Thanks for the help

It exploded as I fired up the starter motor. I had charged it overnight with the bonnet open but very luckily had closed it when I fired up the tractor, otherwise I'd have battery acid and plastic embedded in my face.

I'll go get some baking soda. I'll need a lot. There's acid all over the place.

 

[RickB]

Some type spark(internal in battery or external cable connection) set off the acid gas created while charging battery. Apply baking soda to neutralize the acid then wash affected area. Yrs back I had battery explode on IHC 300 while I set on tractor with my knees straddling battery. Now that will get a fellows attention!

300U? I was always skeptical of the batter location on those tractors.

 

[RjCorazza]

As others have said, baking soda / water mix. Try 1/2 to 1 cup per gallon well mixed. Hose the whole area off once you note that the reaction has stopped.
As far as cause, that explosion began internal to the battery. Likely due to a low electrolyte level while charging, then an internal Arc while starting. The plates should ALWAYS be covered in electrolyte.
JMHO

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Had the same thing happen to me in a car, back in the late '70's. Scared the crap out of me. Turned the key to start it, and "BANG!". Just turned the key to start it when the battery blew up. Blew the whole top off the battery. One of the vented top style, an old Montgomery Wards battery (they used to have a "lifetime warranty"). They were still around then, so they did replace it.

Yeah, battery acid all over the inside of the engine compartment, and the under side of the hood. Put in new battery, and everything else worked as normal again.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

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

Hey, I have a Power Major, 1958 model. Vacuum governor. It sat for a long time and I think it is stuck in high range, I know it is. I will split it and check things out. Sounds like a good winter project. Might even put a newer diesel in it. Well built tractor.

 

[Gem99ultra]

Sorry for the mishap. That of course, can and usually be very damaging to both yourself and your tractor.

I also had a similar mishap with my 1969 Dodge some years ago. Turning over the motor by shorting out the starter solenoid under the hood, my 'Lifetime Guarantee" Die-Hard battery blew into a thousand pieces, spraying battery acid all over my self and my treasured car. A quick rinse with baking soda and water mix, I avoided 'most' damages to myself and car.

I collected the pieces of the battery and put them in a bucket. When I carried the ruminants to Sears for a replacement the idiot at the Service Center declared "We'll have to run a check on your battery to be sure it's no good before we can give you a replacement." Ordinarily that would have been funny, but after my near injury experience, I didn't find that funny at all.

 

[CausticUrbanCoast]

What most people do not know unless they owned a boat is that standard and AGM batteries vent an explosive gas when they are overheated. Most often it is because the electrolyte is low or the battery was discharged too low and the charging current is too high.

This is the reason for temperature/resistance sensors on smart chargers and inverters. Also the reason why your vehicle battery is under your hood (despite the high chance of heat damage with some engines).

It is also the same reason LiOn and LiPo batteries in cellphones explode or catch fire (those two battery types should never have been release to consumers, the failure rates are insane).


Edit: If you look in a camper or RV manual, they give the same warning.

 

[PILOON]

Want to talk of scary?

Way back a friend fired up his light aircraft and started rolling for take off.
Then suddenly BOOM!
His battery exploded!---followed by a secondary one in his shorts.

LOL, he gave up aviating.

Seems his battery might have frozen as it had needed a boost to start plus it was quite old as well.

 

[Fuddy1952]

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.

 

[amhicks21]

I had a car battery randomly explode in my daily driver about 2 years ago. It may be rare, but it certainly can happen for no other reason than the battery being defective or damaged.

 

[amhicks21]

something i forgot about and seems to be a common element with the other people that have had batteries explode is having had a charger on it beforehand. The one i had on mine was just 3 amps, but it wasnt one with all the electronic safeties that they make now. mine also blew up while cranking.

 

[CausticUrbanCoast]

I had a car battery randomly explode in my daily driver about 2 years ago. It may be rare, but it certainly can happen for no other reason than the battery being defective or damaged.

It is not rare, somewhere between 1-5% for lead-acid, almost 29% of LiOn/LiPo.

 

[Smt]

Hey, I have a Power Major, 1958 model. Vacuum governor. It sat for a long time and I think it is stuck in high range, I know it is. I will split it and check things out. Sounds like a good winter project. Might even put a newer diesel in it. Well built tractor.

Mine is 1959 and 20 days younger than I am.
I'm not quite sure what a vacuum governor is or whether mine has one. I use the tractor two or three times a year and each time it has started first go and done what was needed.... except this year. :-(

I am still failing to understand what exactly happened. It was a sealed battery that had been charged up overnight with the bonnet up so build up of gasses seems unlikely. So maybe it was corroded plates or just a defective battery (although it had served me well for ten years or so).

 

[PILOON]

Back in my aviation days exploding Lithium batteries that they used in ELT's (emergency locators) blew on an all too frequent basis. Real scary if that occurred while in the air.

The story goes that Lithium was used to power listening devices during the Vietnam war and a transmitted signal would cause a dead short and the device then became a small bomb killing the stealthy enemy.

 

[TractorGuy]

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.

 

[ultrarunner]

Same here… had it on the charger at the car lot.

Ever since I check the water level and always make the last connection to ground not the negative battery post.
My shirt quickly turned to rags from the acid.