Holy exploding batteries..........

[rpoz-29]

I took my '69 Chevy truck out for a short drive yesterday. I tried to start in 2 days ago, but the battery was too low, even though I've had a trickle charger on it. I put my charger on it for a couple of hours, and it started. Started fine again yesterday, and drove it to a gas station. When I attempted to start it the battery exploded. Blew the positive terminal out of the case, blew the case all to pieces, and acid went everywhere. The battery was probably 5-6 years old, wasn't swollen, the cables were tight, no known electrical arcing going on under the hood. I've seen batteries explode from over charging, or being improperly jumped, but not like this. Any ideas?

[HI WINDING MONZA]

Hydrogen gas explosion: ( 3 pages)

http://www.propertycasualty360.com/2013 ... ons?page=1

Doug in P.R.

[rpoz-29]

Thanks for posting. Mine looked a lot like figure 2. It blew most of the top off, and the rear as well. After reading the article, I'm assuming a manufacturing defect.

[HI WINDING MONZA]

What Brand? ( so I know to say away from)

Currently my Silverado as a 2 year old Duralast Gold (1000 Cranking amps) and my Sunbird has a brand new Bosch 8 year battery.

Doug in P.R.

[rpoz-29]

Duralast.

[spencerforhire]

It's not a common occurrence, but I have heard of it happening. Any lead-acid battery can be considered a "bomb". Hydrogen gas and electrical sparks are a deadly combination. I would suspect the cause could have anything from an internal broken connection between two cells to even a simple bad connection on one of the cables.

[HI WINDING MONZA]

Duralast.

The last one just died on me a couple years short of the warranty . ( made by industry leading Johnson Controls)

Got $ off a replacement in 2013 but the original was dual terminal which they dont carry here.

Doug in P.R.

[rpoz-29]

I wouldn't worry, about the make. I've used Duralast in a lot of vehicles. I know the connections were tight, but the battery was 5 years old and in the vehicle that is not driven much. That's why I guess it was a defect. The Autozone I bought my new battery from acted it like they couldn't give me core credit for it at first, but since it was one of their batteries, they did.

[spencerforhire]

I agree that the brand name doesn't really matter; it could happen to any normal battery. I use AGM(absorbed glass mat) spiral cell batteries(like Optima) that don't off-gas any hydrogen when charging and are spill-proof. Most important in a race car where vibration and high impact shock loading are much worse than in a street car. I see other racers changing batteries almost every season, but mine's been in the car for 4 years.

[marco_1978_spyder]

The one time I had a battery blow up, (blew the positive terminal off), the positive cable had gotten too close to the power steering pump. The insulation wore away and I had a direct short.

Maybe a good idea to test the cars Positive and Negative for continuity before hooking up another battery.