Dangerous battery explosions!

[ericnguyen]

Dear friends:

The Interstate battery in my friend's Honda Accord 1995 exploded when he tried to start the car. Fortunately, the hood was closed and so it prevented all H2SO4 from dangerously spilling around.

I just wonder how many people here have encountered these dangerous situations. I'm trying to figure out some of the reasons that may lead to this problem. Do you think it's a good idea to replace an old battery every 5 years (even if it's still working well) in an attempt to alleviate the probability of an exploding battery?


1) Bad voltage regulator (internal or external) causes overcharging.

2) Internal shorting of battery cell plates

3) Hydrogen and oxygen build-up in a confined area (under the hood)

4) Incorrect (-) and (+) cable jumping

5) Just an act of God

... please add any other reasons...

Eric

[84300DT]

i had the one in the wif's jetta blow up this year..

it was the original battery 7 years old.- so age may have had something to do with it (duh )

i would say the main causes were age and your reasons no 2+3
as the battery blew when the ignition/starter was turned on.

anycase it was in a battery blanket so that lessened the damage of spilled acid. it did take a few hours and a lot of water and baking soda to clean up.

[Jassper]

I think the most common reason for an accumulator to explode is a spark. Accumulators emit H2 gas, that is a normal reaction. Especially when being recharged - e.g. after a long drive. This is no reason for concern as the accumulators are vented in to the atmosphere. Danger would arise when vented in a confined closed space with no ventilation. You would still need a spark though.

There is no danger of sparks and explosion when:

1. The contacts of cables are tight (and covered with protective vaseline)

2. The water/acid level is well above the plates

When the level is over the plates the plates have no reason to dry out and become sulphated and internally shorted, causing a spark.

These 2 simple steps will make it. The most common reason for an accumulator to explode is that it had not been taken care of - namely it had not been recharged before winter. Old accumulators lose charge rather quickly compared with new ones. In a discharged accumulator the density of acid lowers and the accumulator freezes - this of course doesn't mean the accumulator will have become a block of ice - a frozen accumulator will be with a low enough temperature and low enough acid density, although also such things happen - I have seen discharged accumulators torn apart by ice.

It may give you enough power to start once or twice but then it accepts huge ammount of charge and explodes.

The remedy is simple - keep your accumulator charged. However there is a problem with an old accumulator (typically 4 years and older) - no matter how you charge it the accumulator will not hold the charge. You will know this when you start normally but subsequent starts will become harder and harder and say 5th start will not turn the engine. Sometimes this goes unnoticed as you hardly ever need to start 5 times in a row and with just one start and a drive the accumulator becomes charged enough to start anew. Such an accumulator can freeze and explode in low temperatures, after being recharged by the car's dynamo.

[lietuviai]

I must be the lucky one in regards to batteries. Over the 20+ years of working on cars and yes, jumping, overcharging, arcing, shorting and, accidental and purposely reverse connecting batteries, I've never had one explode on me...yet. I've even done quite some foolish things with them in the past with no consequences. The last few years though, I have been covering them with a thick rag regardless what I do with them now.
I guess I am just lucky but not lucky enough to win any lotteries.

All it takes is a build up of Hydrogen gas, which develops when the battery charges rapidly, and a spark. Batteries can generate a spark internally with a short between the cells.
Put the two together and BLAMO!
Have had two batteries pop on me. Those caps come off like rocks. Hurt when they hit your forehead. Lesson told is to remove the batttery caps whenever a charger is put on the battery. Still will not stop a blowout with a bad battery though. They can go off at any time.

[84300DT]

that's what happened to the wif - there must have been a buildup of leaking gas under the hood and when she hit the ignition- kaboom!!