battery blew up - attention PEH
 

battery in the wife's jetta blew up today - literally exploded the top of it clean off :eek: acid all over...
took everything apart/washed down thoroughly with baking soda and water

intall new die hard int'l.

she is happy again (hero taking bow, hehe:p )

for PEH, this time we really didn't replace it until it was broken!!
;)


bob

battery exploding
 

Hey man,

Why, oh why, did the battery explode?:confused:

If the reason is due to the fact that the alternator was (is) overcharging, then the problem will reoccur.:mad:

If someone was attempting to jump start the jetta with the jumper cables improperly attatched, then this scenario could also occur.

So, WHAT HAPPENED?

Glad to se that noone was hurt or even BLINDED from this.

See 'ya in fishtown next time.

Spo out.

84300DT,

Happened to me once, on a Diehard. Blew the top right off while trying to start the car, a 190D, with hood up. Sounded like a shotgun firing. Wife came out and asked what I was shooting at.

It didn't spill a drop of acid, just lifted the top off the battery. Battery still worked. Would have been OK for a stationary battery.

I couldn't find the warranty card so no adjustment.

Why didn't you buy your new battery at AutoZone and save $30 dollars?

Battery explosions are caused by the hydrogen and oxygen generated in the battery by hydrolysis of the water. But there must be a source of ignition, usually a spark someplace. Kind of hard to get compression ignition in a battery.

P E H

spo and peh
 

yes it exploded when she tried to start the car so i suppose that was the source of the spark. when i installed the new battery i put a voltmeter on it with the car running and it showed around 14.5 so should be ok. the acid was somewhat contained by a battery blanket that was installed at the factory.
it was the original battery that failed, so almost 7 years old.

could it have been an internal short that blew the thing?

re new battery, why did i know you would say that peh!!
i have had very good perfomance from die hard int'ls in the past
(have had 2 in the diesel) so that is why i shelled out a few more bucks. it is a group 49 battery that fits a jetta. i believe that is the same as for our diesels?

bob

A battery, usually an old one, sometimes gets into a deteriating condition that my Dad refers to as "sulphating." He was in the electric fork truck business for many years, thus has a lot of experience with batteries.

In this condition the battery is giving off explosive gas. The more common scenario that causes an explosion is the spark from jumper cables.

The warning; whenever using jumper cables, wave your hand over the battery to disperse any concentration of gas before connecting the last cable. Better yet, hook the positive jumper cable to the battery being jumped and make the negative connection last and somewhere on the vehicle away from the battery.

A battery that requires jumping is a very possible candidate for being in the "sulphating" condition, thus could be proned to explosion.

Have a great day,

84300DT,

At first I thought you were physic about my expoding battery them I thought I may have mentioned it in a post. Then I found out you mentioned me for another reason.

Sears batteries aren't any different or better than any other lead/acid batteries no matter what their advertisements say. They are just more expensive.

Did you get a 7 year warranty like I did with my AutoZone battery? DId you get a warranty that you don't even need to keep the paperwork?

P E H

peh, i think the thing came with a 6 year warranty. i also am of the opinion that batteries are mostly the same, although i did prefer to put in a group 49.

i guess i will try an autozone next time .. the die hard in the diesel is getting on in years but still alive (sorta like me, hehe:p

thanks for the tip.
have a nice day

"If the reason is due to the fact that the alternator was (is) overcharging, then the problem will reoccur. "


spo, i went out again this morning and put the voltmeter directly onto the cable coming out of the alternator and it read 14.5 with the engine on. same reading at the battery so hopefully this is not and overcharging situation right?

14.5 volts is on the upper end of where it should be. The voltage will depend on the level of charge of the battery. After the battery is fully charged, the voltage should come down into the 13.8 volt area.

Good luck,

thanks larry, i will check it again after a week or so and/or a highway run.
bob

i was getting 14.5 at idle and 2500rpm.

I thought sulphating itself is refering to the sulfuric acid turning into solid (white) sulfur which builds up on the battery's plates and chokes it to death, comes from lack of useage. Maybe it lets out an explosive gas at the same time that it solidifies?

I just gave in and bought a 49-D Duralast battery from autozone for $59 or so to put into the 83. I believe it is 850CCA with a 125CCA reserve, works like a charm so far.

Sulphating occurs mostly when a battery is very much discharged for an extended period of time. In that case, trickle charging the battery (1-2 A) will help reverse the sulphating process to some good extent.

Eric

good point eric but in my case the defective battery was not discharged at all , it rather blew up without warning..

Geez, every battery I have ever heard of blowing up has been a die hard.... I guess they "die hard". I even had one blow.... but it was overcharged and probably bad anyway (6-7 years old).