Battery explosion

[Ernest C.]

I just read the article in the Restorer about a battery exploding that was on a Battery Tender. Has anyone else had this problem? I have all my cars on Tenders and wonder why this happened. Is there perhaps a life on the Tenders that should be replaced after so many years?

[John H.]

Re: Battery explosion

I just read the article in the Restorer about a battery exploding that was on a Battery Tender. Has anyone else had this problem? I have all my cars on Tenders and wonder why this happened. Is there perhaps a life on the Tenders that should be replaced after so many years?

Ernest -

I've used the same Battery Tender + on seven different cars over the years, and have never had any battery issues; the AC-Delco Professional Series #24-7YR battery in my '69 Z/28 finally died this year after 12 years, and the same type battery in my '67 Corvette is still going strong after 11 years.

[Dick W.]

Re: Battery explosion

It would be my guess that the plates in the battery were heavily sulfated and either a large flake fell and shorted or somehow the plate fell and shorted. And the hydrogen gas was present, the rest is history. Batteries are way more dangerous than most realize. I witnessed one explode when a mechanic picked it up with a strap.

[Michael J.]

Re: Battery explosion

I have four cars on Battery MINDer Plus, have had for 4 years and have had zero problems. They are all Restoration (Antique Auto manufactured) type batteries. These are very low amp maintainers.

[Rich G.]

Re: Battery explosion

What Dick said

[Tom B.]

Re: Battery explosion

It had to be an unusual circumstance something like Dick said. Being on the battery tender wasn't the problem.

[Duke W.]

Re: Battery explosion

Car battery explosions are very rare, but they do happen. The author of the article asks a lot of questions, but the article would have been a lot more useful if he had done a little research and discussed why car batteries explode, and then done a little investigating of his own case to determine a probable cause or at least come up with a short list.

Boeing is burning up a huge number of engineering hours in their quest to determine the problem with the lithium-ion batteries that have grounded 787s. The typical lead-acid car battery is much more familiar technology, and anyone who experiences a car battery explosion should determine the cause and correct it to prevent another occurance. The problem could lie be the car's electrical system, an external charging system, a defect within the battery, or the technique use to charge or jump a battery.

Duke

[Ray G.]

Re: Battery explosion

While reading the Restorer article one line explains the basic cause of this battery explosion.
"I pulled the cover back from the front of the car and slowly opened the hood, again standing aside"
The hydrogen gas was trapped under the hood and car cover.
Ventilation is one of the battery safety rules.
Just my .02

[Kurt K.]

Re: Battery explosion

I read him say it to say the battery was older and it had been very cold recently. My thoughts were the old battery may have froze. A frozen battery may explode if charged! He says the tender was red for several days, another sign. As a battery discharges, the point it can freeze goes up. Charging it may have caused it to go BOOM. I have seen this happen. I saw a guy at a dealer try to jump a discharged frozen battery and it exploded. He was hurt too. My thoughts..

[Duke W.]

Re: Battery explosion

That's true, but a Battery Tender only supplies about 2 amps max, and that should not be enough to generate enough hydrogen to form a combustible mixture even if ventilation is poor. Thousands of owners leave Battery Tenders on covered cars all winter, and they don't suffer battery explosions.

Lack of ventilation was likely a contributing cause, but I doubt if it was the primary cause.

Duke

[Duke W.]

Re: Battery explosion

I read him say it to say the battery was older and it had been very cold recently. My thoughts were the old battery may have froze. A frozen battery may explode if charged! He says the tender was red for several days, another sign. As a battery discharges, the point it can freeze goes up. Charging it may have caused it to go BOOM. I have seen this happen. I saw a guy at a dealer try to jump a discharged frozen battery and it exploded. He was hurt too. My thoughts..

Definite possibility. Also, low electrolyte level could have been an issue. Even most "maintenance free" batteries have removeable covers. The chemical composition of these batteries results in lower water use, but the electrolyte level will drop in service.

I have two inexpensive Johnson Controls batteries currently in service that are both over ten years old and still going strong. (I bought them at Autozone under their house brand name circa 2001.) Once a year I pry off the cell covers with a putty knife (each of the two covers tops three cells) and check the electrolyte level. Usually one or two cells need to be topped off, and I attribute this annual maintenance as contributory to their long life plus the facts that I live in a mild climate, neither has ever been severely discharged, and both have a full charge at every cold start that may be a few day to a few weeks apart.

Duke