Car battery just exploded!

NightShadow

NightShadow

NightShadow

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Well, this is a first for me!

The battery had got a bit low and was struggling to start the car to the extent that yesterday I had to get it jump started to leave a garage. I got home and put it on charge (Halfords fully automatic charger thing, just chose car & sealed battery on the switches). Left it to charge over night and just put it back into the car. Ignition came on OK and fuel pump primed but as soon as I tried to start the car the battery just exploded into hundreds of bits spraying battery acid every where!

Could this have been my fault for charging it or is it likely the battery is actually faulty? It's around 2 years old.
 
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:eek: ouchy! I'd make sure you get your engine bay steam cleaned ASAP! Battery acid will not do anything any favours in there... First I've heard of that happening tbh. You sure you connect the +ve and -ve the right way around ;)

[Edit] Google suggests that although it's rare, its not unheard of. Leaking gasses caused by overcharge possibly? Or were you heavy handed in your removal and install of the battery?
 
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definitely had the terminals correct, just glad it didn't do it in the house while it was on charge! Gah, its dark and I can't see a thing so no chance of cleaning tonight, wiped it off of the exterior panels where I could see it. Bits of battery literally 10 feet from the car, glad nobody was nearby.
 
I've been stood right next to a car battery that exploded due to an idiot pulling the charger connection off after it had been boiling away for several hours. Fortunately I was wearing overalls which saved me from most of the acid; they disintegrated within a couple of days. It was an old bakelite cased one as well, they are like a fragmentation grenade.

This was likely caused by a poor connection between the battery terminal and the clamp causing arcing when you attempted to start the car, which ignited the residual hydrogen within the battery cells.
 
I've been near a mate when a battery exploded on fast charge, fortunetly i wasn't inside the lock up at the time but it scared the crap out of me.
We stripped acid mate & hosed him & the workshop down with a mix of truckwash & freezing cold water. :p
Not something i'd like to experience close up.
 
Lead acid batteries release a flammable gas while charging. If you have a small poorly ventilated garage then the gas probably built up.

I guess a spark or something may have ignited that gas and boom.

You can also make a car battery explode by putting 50V+ thru it so if your charger was bad then this could be another reason why it blew up.

The acid is pretty horrible by the way, it melts thru paint and you'll have a pretty rusty battery tray unless you clean it off pretty soon...

Even though lead acid batteries have a low energy density compared to other more modern battery chemistries, the amount of energy they can store should not be overlooked...
 
Well, I have just been out and cleaned up, not too much acid everywhere, few large fragments lying in the road now recovered :eek: The battery clamps were put on and then I secured them with my trusty ratchet so they could not have moved without significant force.

It seems the battery is under warranty so will call the company tomorrow and see about getting it replaced
 
Your car battery is probably not sealed.

When you charge it, it releases H2 and O2 in just the right proportions to go boom big stylee. Likely a spark from the starter motor or starter solenoid or one of any relays involved ignited this. Or maybe an ignition source inside the battery, since you'd have been drawing between 50 and 150 amps from it.

You should charge batteries outside the car. Trickle charging with the bonnet open is OK.
 
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Charger also sounds less than ideal, mine has settings for Lead acid and for calcium. Overcharging does lead to a lot more H2 and O2.
 
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its still a good idea to unscrew(or pull the strip top seal)from the cell tops when charging to vent it
there may have been a pressure build up that the small pressure release valve didn't release
 
maintenance free does not mean sealed, it simply means that it will not require topping up with either hcl or water during its operational life, it will still release gas when charging the only 'sealed' ones are agm ones which you can use upside down :p
 
Sounds wild, good job you didn't get acid burns!
I've charged countless batteries and never really taken any care or precautions, maybe i'll start to now!
 
Years ago I was the 1st Aider who had to take one of the Forklift drivers to hospital after he'd tried changing out the huge battery with a lit cigarette behind his ear with impressive pyrotechnic results, he kept mumbling about this nuclear mushroom cloud of colours on the drive to A&E! He was a bit shocked and splashed with acid but otherwise fine, when the Fire Brigade came they were amazed that it hadn't managed to blow up the other two or three batteries that were there charging when it went bang :D
 
NightShadow said:
Well, this is a first for me!

The battery had got a bit low and was struggling to start the car to the extent that yesterday I had to get it jump started to leave a garage. I got home and put it on charge (Halfords fully automatic charger thing, just chose car & sealed battery on the switches). Left it to charge over night and just put it back into the car. Ignition came on OK and fuel pump primed but as soon as I tried to start the car the battery just exploded into hundreds of bits spraying battery acid every where!

Could this have been my fault for charging it or is it likely the battery is actually faulty? It's around 2 years old.
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It could be that you put a warm batt back into your car` coursing warm condensing gasses out of the breather to freeze up` and in doing so not allowing it to breath then turn on the ignition more gas build up then the inevitable,anyhow you didn't get hurt so that's got to account for something:):)
 
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