When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
So I have a 74 convertible project that I am working on. It has a 1 year old battery in it that I bought from Walmart. The battery has a trickle charger on it to keep it charged as I do not start the car but every once in a while to move it or keep the carb from getting stale. Well today I was out doing some sanding on the body and wanted to get the car out into the sunlight, so I disconnected the charger and proceeded to turn on the ignition. I have open headers on the car and at first thought the car backfired, but noticed smoke coming from behind the seat. The noise actually deafened my right ear as it was a loud boom. I immediately lifted the vert cover and disconnected the ground cable and got out of the garage to let the poisonous gas clear. I went back in with a respirator to baking soda the battery compartment and my garage floor. I tell you what, I am 47 and have been working on cars since I could drive and never once had this happen and as a kid had a battery fall into my radiator and short out. This is some scary crap. This is especially scary with the battery sitting right inside the drivers compartment.
So anyone else have one of these interesting stories? And what can be done to avoid this again? It might only be once in a lifetime, but not one I would like to recreate .
Walmart battery. I have 6 cars in the garage and all are on battery tenders. I own 8 cars total and when the batteries go, I buy them at Walmart. It just seems easier because of the warranty. Now the tender I have on this one was a Harbor Freight tender. I do have a more expensive one on 2 of the other cars, but I have 3 on these Harbor Freight tenders. I may look into a couple of those more expensive batteries for the C3s because of battery location.
The battery was boiling, producing hydrogen gas that ignited.
So the possibilities I see are either the battery had a bad cell causing the tender to try to charge it and boiling the remaining cells, or the tender is bad.
I have a CTEK tender and it does detect a bad battery and stops charging.
I buy lots of "stuff" at harbor freight but I have to say using one of their trickle chargers was a serious lapse in judgement. I use an actual Battery Tender brand unit and have confidence in the built in safety features. The factory is in Deltona if you ever have an issue they stand behind it. Mine was 10 years old and I asked them to check it out, they tossed it in the garbage and gave me a new one.
Exploding batteries are no joke and I suspect yours exploded because of some type of gas build up from boiling the acid, it wouldn't take much of an ignition source, even static electricity.
The battery was boiling, producing hydrogen gas that ignited.
So the possibilities I see are either the battery had a bad cell causing the tender to try to charge it and boiling the remaining cells, or the tender is bad.
The HF unit puts out vey little current, we call it a "drip" charge. If you measure the voltage it should be about 13.8v
But, because the battery is in a closed compartment guess enough hydrogen built up to ignite. Glad you are OK, I hate to clean up messes like that!
I was at BatteryMart a year or so ago and saw "battery boxes" there. I asked one of the clerks if one of them would fit in my C3. He didn't know, but he said to bring the car by one day, and he would check it out for me.
I haven't been back, but when I get it all back together in the spring, I plan on getting a battery box. I have the battery out of mine. I had bought the kit to rivet a new hold-down bracket in the well, but haven't mounted it yet.
Just had a automotive type battery on my Generac standby house generator explode. Not 100 percent if this is fact but this is what I was told "that since the battery is always on a trickle charge the battery is slowly boiling off water and producing explosive gasses". Plates inside the battery can short out and if they do... the gas only needs a spark. I learned a lesson to check the water level in the battery as it can boil off. I am not sure if sealed batteries have this same problem.
That's why I'm not a big fan of using battery tenders all the time. Sure, there is a very small chance of that happening but that's no consolation when it does.
Originally Posted by zwede
I have a CTEK tender and it does detect a bad battery and stops charging.
A Ctek will boil a battery too. Had one do it to one of my batteries. The battery wasn't in the car because I don't store my vehicles with the battery in them.
Even with my Battery Tender chargers, I still make sure of good ventilation. As stated by others, that hydrogen gas is not very tolerant. Seeing them explode is pretty scary, like an acid/plastic hand grenade going off. Glad your safe.
If you're worried about hydrogen buildup, you should do what the factory did: Buy a vented battery and run the hoses through the floor. Nowadays most batteries are sealed which usually works fine, but every now and then... it doesn't.
I put a Harbor Freight trickle charger on my 1 year old heavy duty motorcycle battery to make the battery last while I was rebuilding the motorcycle.......the H.F. charger fried the battery. I'll go with a quality trickle charger this time!
Actually I do feel really lucky being that my car interior is gutted right now and there was no cover over the battery compartment. I definitely have a great new respect for the car battery. I will think twice when I help someone jump start their car or hook up a battery when you get that little spark touching the terminal. I really don't think it had to do with the manufacturer do to research on the web under this subject , buuuuut , I could be wrong.
As stated above, keep those electrolyte levels to the full mark, leaves less room for hydrogen gas to collect. We all should be using tube vented batteries, my Buick suv has one so they are readily available. Also wouldn't be a bad idea to open the compartments for a while before starting if on a tender. My boat with three batteries in the rear has exhaust fans to clear the gas, I use them religiously .
I use a battery cut off switch.. They are inexpensive to hook up and you don't have to leave a trickle charger on your battery.. Your battery may run down but over a much longer period of time....
When charging the battery (yes, even with a trickle charger), the battery door needs to be left open and the driver's window should be rolled down a good bit. That's the only way to get the hydrogen gas out of the battery box/interior.
I doubt there was anything defective with the battery. If constantly on a trickle charger, the electrolyte level needs to be checked every month or so, as well.
Just had a automotive type battery on my Generac standby house generator explode. Not 100 percent if this is fact but this is what I was told "that since the battery is always on a trickle charge the battery is slowly boiling off water and producing explosive gasses". Plates inside the battery can short out and if they do... the gas only needs a spark. I learned a lesson to check the water level in the battery as it can boil off. I am not sure if sealed batteries have this same problem.
This is the reason I have my battery charger plugged into a household 6hrs/week timer. This battery is left unattended for up to 6 months at a time, so I wanted better control of the charger.
Having a battery on a trickle charge indefinitely is a recipe for disaster.
nothing wrong with the cheap trickle chargers at HF, but as the last post said, put them on a timer. let them run an hour a day or so, not non-stop. I have a few but found it's easier just to use a battery disconnect and re-charge if needed every few months...the top post disconnects with the screw off terminal work great, reach under the battery door and give it a spin. side posts in my C4 is a little more difficult, I use the blade switch there, but either way, you eliminate any parasitic drains, clocks, ecm's, etc...
I never figured out what caused it but I had one blow up on my Jeep. The odd thing was I had driven the jeep into town with no issue, parked at my parents house, and when I came out to leave it sounded like a bomb went off. It was a daily driver so no issues from a charger just freaky deafening noise. When I was a kid we had a 61 Lincoln with a cracked manifold and it backfired and blew up the battery but at least I could see the reason for that one. When I worked for Mercedes we would get battery shipment in and if you didn't pop the vent plugs they would swell up like footballs till they burst.
Battery Just Blew Up
