Off Topic... Battery Explosion

[Uncle Grinch]

My great nephew was using my fishing boat this weekend and sometime after fishing he tried to crank the motor (which has been craking fine earlier); the motor (9.9HP Evinrude), simply clicked a couple of times. So he tried it again after waiting 15-20 seconds and this is what happened.

Thank goodness my boat is a stick steer and you sit up front.
He did get some acid on his jeans, but nothing serious.

[45nut]

I had one explode in my pickup under similar circumstances, the battery gasses built up and one terminal must have been a tad loose and when it was cranked it set off a spark and ignited/exploded. Very stimulating.

[fatnhappy]

Can you imagine trying to row home ifin it got on your face?

[MtGun44]

I had one blow all the caps off and lots of acid into my face when I was
a teen working on a farm in the summer. One of the other summer kids had left
a tractor battery charging with the caps on, I had been taught to take them
off to vent the hydrogen that accumulates . . .

When I foolishly bent over to disconnect the lead before unscrewing the
caps --- BOOM and a face and eyes full of sulfuric acid !!!

I ran about 20 ft to a standpipe and opened the faucet full - "Staring" at the
flowing water in my cupped hands. No damage, but a good lesson and heck
of a fright.

Good news that nobody was hurt. Ya gotta take the caps off when charging.

Bill

[Uncle Grinch]

Does anyone have any idea why this would happen?

This particular battery was several (2-3) years old and had been trickled charged (2 amps) for 48 hours be fore being used. It was a sealed battery, ie... no caps, so I could not check the acid level and had been used previous to the explosion.

[fecmech]

Does anyone have any idea why this would happen?

This particular battery was several (2-3) years old and had been trickled charged (2 amps) for 48 hours be fore being used. It was a sealed battery, ie... no caps, so I could not check the acid level and had been used previous to the explosion.

Most batteries are not sealed even though there are no removable caps any more. They still vent hydrogen gas when charging or discharging and any spark will cause an explosion. The fact that the solonoid clicked ( but did not crank with a charged battery)when he tried to start it makes me guess he had a bad connection at one of the terminals and when he tried it again there was a spark at the terminal that touched off the gas.

[oneokie]

More than likely, one of the internal cell connectors corroded enough to open up the connection enough that the load caused an internal spark.

[Uncle Grinch]

Oneokie and Fecmec...

Thanks for the info. I'll do my part and make sure all the connections are tight next time.

[xtimberman]

Look at where Hydrogen is on the Periodic Chart. Hydrogen Gas is the smallest/lightest molecule we know of and therefore is the likeliest gas to find a way to escape. It's the most difficult gas to contain and the most likely to escape its container. Add to that the fact that it is highly flammable and you have a dangerous combination. Some much older vehicles, and now some newer ones put the batteries in safer locations than under the hood around all of those electrical sparks. General consensus is that static electricity lit up the hydrogen in the German dirigible, Hindenburg. A spark is all it takes around a leak of H2. Loose battery connections and hooking up jumper cables are the main culprits.

The main reason IMO, that we don't have more of a push to get hydrogen-powered cars available to the general public is the safety factor. The average person won't be safety-conscious enough to keep from blowing himself up.

xtm

[MT Gianni]

Look at where Hydrogen is on the Periodic Chart. Hydrogen Gas is the smallest/lightest molecule we know of and therefore is the likeliest gas to find a way to escape. It's the most difficult gas to contain and the most likely to escape its container. Add to that the fact that it is highly flammable and you have a dangerous combination. Some much older vehicles, and now some newer ones put the batteries in safer locations than under the hood around all of those electrical sparks. General consensus is that static electricity lit up the hydrogen in the German dirigible, Hindenburg. A spark is all it takes around a leak of H2. Loose battery connections and hooking up jumper cables are the main culprits.

The main reason IMO, that we don't have more of a push to get hydrogen-powered cars available to the general public is the safety factor. The average person won't be safety-conscious enough to keep from blowing himself up.

xtm

True and to the point X timberman. One of the problems with hydrogen generation, aka water power is that both steel and plastic pipe and tanks are too pouros to contain it. that is laso why NASA burns liquid hydrogen. Nat gas liquifies at -425 farenhigt, I believe hydrogen is even colder. Gianni

[Morgan Astorbilt]

My current car, a Volvo V75 XC, station wagon, has the battery compartment in the rear right at the back door. It uses a vented battery, much like one on a motorcycle, with the tube exiting a hole in the floorboards. This keeps the gas out of the car, but also keeps the terminals, after five years, looking like new. I've never owned one, but I think VW batteries were under the back seat, and were also vented.
When I change any of my other batteries, car, truck or tractor, I'm getting vented ones, just to keep the terminals from self destructing.
Some companies(Interstate) offer kits to vent theirs.
Morgan

[MtGun44]

As a long time VW aircooled owner, I can verify that the old beetles,
Karmann Ghias and Type 3s (Sqback, Hatchbacks) had the battery under
the back seat but NOT vented. The corroded the heck out of the floor pan
and eventually many fell thru or nearly so due to acid corrosion. Vented
like a motorcycle would have been MUCH better.

The trickle charging for 48 hours put out lots of hydrogen, some leaked out
and somewhere (internal spark seems unlikely, but maybe a plate connector
was broken) the hydrogen met a spark. Many "sealed" batteries have two
large flat caps with three plugs below each that can be pried off with some
difficulty and are camoflaged to appear 'sealed' but are vented at each end
with a little flattened tube connector. They look like you might be able to slide
a flex hose over the end to vent away hydrogen and acid fumes.

Bill

[Throckmorton]

I wonder if maybe he wiggled the terminals to see if they were tight,and it kaboomed on him at that time? You had said tht it clicked a couple of times,which would make me check the terminals for tightness.

I had a friend helping me under the hood of his truck one day,and he accidently layed a wrench across the terminals.LUCKILY it blew down,but we both had hearing loss for a day or so.WOW they are loud !

poeple who havn't seen a battery KABOOM look at ya funny when you tell them that such a thing is possible.

[Ricochet]

Rechargeable batteries in laptops, cell phones, etc. sometimes explode or catch on fire. Not common, but not rare either.

[MtGun44]

These are lithium batteries. The first application I know of was Emergency
Locator Transmitters which were first required in light planes in the 60s some
time, before I became a pilot, but I hung around them then and heard the
stories. The early ELTs used these lithium cells, and occasionally a pilot would
come to the airport and find a pile of melted metal or ashes where the plane
had been. They finally figured out that the lithium cells occasionally just popped
open and started an intense lithium fire. Li cells were banned in light AC.
Li cells have normal output capability in very cold weather, seemed good for
ELTS, alkaline cells lose most power by about 10F or so.

Now Li cells are used in cell phones, laptops and similar high tech gadgets and
apparently are made with better quality control (which is somehow the basis
of the problem) and it is rarer. Can't put a li laptop battery in checked luggage
on airliners. Apparently Chinese crappy quality batteries are much more likely
to explode and burn than name brand Jap batteries.

Bill

[Uncle Grinch]

My current car, a Volvo V75 XC, station wagon, has the battery compartment in the rear right at the back door. It uses a vented battery, much like one on a motorcycle, with the tube exiting a hole in the floorboards. This keeps the gas out of the car, but also keeps the terminals, after five years, looking like new. I've never owned one, but I think VW batteries were under the back seat, and were also vented.
When I change any of my other batteries, car, truck or tractor, I'm getting vented ones, just to keep the terminals from self destructing.
Some companies(Interstate) offer kits to vent theirs.
Morgan

Morgan, I believe you are on to something there, the battery terminals staying clean, that is. My wife has a '99 Mercedes that we recently replaced the battery in for the first time. That's almost 8 years and it was very clean. It's in the trunk, under a panel and it is a vented battery with a cover and hose. Was kinda' expensive though... $150, but at the rate of replacement, I shouldn't complain.

[fecmech]

To keep the teminals clean after you've cleaned them and the cabel ends up coat both liberally with lubriplate grease before assembly. Then assemble the cabel end and tighten on the battery. The grease will keep the acid and fumes from causing corrosion between the 2 parts.

[MN91311]

More than likely, one of the internal cell connectors corroded enough to open up the connection enough that the load caused an internal spark.


In an outboard motor rig, the battery is high enough to be above any gas accumulation. Air movement also keeps the gas moving away. Sparking at the terminals is not likely to ignite anything.

This is why there is no requirement for a fire extinguisher in an outboard by law, but required in an inboard rig, at least here in Pa.

In an older battery, the most likely cause of kaboom is an almost-corroded -away internal cell connection strap. Here exists the possibility for an intermittent spark. If the strap goes over the top to the next cell, it is very near to the space above the water level. That is where the explosive gas is likely to accumulate.

One of my job duties is load testing battery installations in power company substations and power plants. We get industry event bulletins regularly about explosions, and in an open-air condition, it almost always happens inside the battery.

Also, I had a 1967 VW beetle for 13 years. The battery was under the rear seat, on the passenger side. It was in a plastic box with a cover. I do not remember if it was vented. Never had a problem with it.