Battery Explosion

[lbnaz]

Anyone ever have a battery explode when turning the key to crank the motor. Went to start my 55 Chevy (L88,M22,411 12 bolt)as soon as power to the switch a tremendous explosion under the hood. It dented the hood with impression of the battery caps in the hood of the 55 above the battery compartment and that's not thin metal. Cleaned up the mess, put in new battery, fired right up, started to drive and like someone turned the switch off it quit. Cranks, fuel, but no spark. Is it possible the boom or the wash down took out the MSD 6AL box there's no power to the coil. Had a battery tender on it could that have caused it. Thanks, Larry

[kwhizz]

Darn !!!!!!

[PxTx]

Usually an arc from a cell that was low on fluid sparks some of the gasses in or around the battery. It sucks to clean up but sucks even more to hear about the body damage.

[novadude]

Yikes! Never heard of that happening. How old was the battery?

[m22mike]

I did, it was in a 84 Pontiac Bonneville. I had no clue there was a potential problem. Stopped at a Drug store and was there 10 minutes. When I hit the key explosion city, not allot of the case left, lots of it on the ground, and it was very dry too. Did not damage anything.
That could be ugly if your were there and the hood was up.

Mike

[Woj]

Back in 82 or 83 the Sears Diehard battery in my 1973 Ventura exploded as soon as I hit the crank position on my ignition switch. There was a loud bang followed by a puff of smoke coming from the hood seams. I carefully opened the hood and the top of the battery was blown off. Acid was everywhere. I rinsed it down for about 15 minutes. Sears replaced the battery for free.

Since then I have never stood near a battery when someone else was cranking the engine. Still a little gun shy 30 + years later.

Phil Woj.

[markinnaples]

I bought a 1984 Porsche 944 in 1989 that had 11k original miles on it, and it was a beautiful car in Sapphire Blau over charcoal grey leather. Before I purchased it from the Porsche dealer in Monroeville, they were servicing it for the ex-owner and the battery exploded. The acid from the battery explosion ate away at the paint under the hood and there were a bunch of those small spots under the hood missing paint. They repainted under the hood before I bought it.

[lbnaz]

Hello yea it was quite the mess. Hosed it off twice. So much I think it took the MSD box out not getting any voltage to the coil now. Always had heard of batteries exploding when being charged but never realized the energy that's stored in one.

[BJCHEV396]

Back in the '70's a customer driving a Rambler came in for gas at the Shell that I worked at.While I started to pump gas into his car he took a battery cap off to check the level...the battery exploded splashing his eyes with acid.I layed him down and flushed his eyes with water while we waited for an ambulance.It was scary!

[Verne_Frantz]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: BJCHEV396</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Back in the '70's a customer driving a Rambler came in for gas at the Shell that I worked at.While I started to pump gas into his car he took a battery cap off to check the level...the battery exploded splashing his eyes with acid.I layed him down and flushed his eyes with water while we waited for an ambulance.It was scary! </div></div>

That episode sounds very strange. It should take a spark to ignite the gases, I'd think. I think sparks mostly come from corroded terminal connections and the spark usually comes between the cable end and the post.

When I use a charger, I always unplug the charger before disconnecting the leads, then wave my hand over the top of the battery to defuse the fumes before hitting the key.

Verne <<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/scholar.gif

[ZAPPER68]

Yup...the same thing happened to me a couple of months ago with my 70 SS sbc Nova.

As soon as I tried to start it 'Kaboom' and a big cloud of smoke poured out from under the hood. The battery didn't look 'any worse for wear' but was dead as a Dodo bird.

It was a 4 year old battery that had the Battery Tender on for months when I was away. I suspected the connections (spring ring) weren't as tight and clean as they should have been and therefore was the probable source for the ignition spark?

A new battery and cable end maintenance seems to have solved the problem.

[olredalert]

----Would an Optima or other jell battery be able to explode in a similar way? Just askin.....Bill S

[resto4u]

The new reproduction batteries are now available in jell mat construction, no more acid fill. They can be mounted on the side or even upside down if you choose.