Battery exploded, every one is ok so far

enginegeek21 · Oct 26, 2018

Yesterday, two of my friends at tech school plugged in a battery to charge it. It exploded. We dont know how but the terminals are on correct and we followed all safety procedures. Luckily, everyone who was close to the battery had safety glasses on and got to the eyewash station immediately. One kid got a deep cut on his ear. Sounded like a 30 06 went off in a echoing shop

mddorange · Oct 26, 2018

:welcome:
To the TBN forum.

WOW, I haven't heard about that happening in a very, very long time.

Glad that there no major injuries.

Gary Fowler · Oct 26, 2018

Almost everyone,(me included)plugs in the charger then connects the clamps to the battery. This is really wrong. You should connect the clamps from the charger to the battery first, then with the power cord fully extended so you are maximum distance from the battery, plug in the charger. OR even better, plug the charger into an extension cord then go plug in the cord, that way you will be far enough away to be completely safe should the batteries hydrogen gas explode.

I have never seen a battery explode while using a charger, but I have seen them explode when using jumper cables.

Shaneard · Oct 26, 2018

A friend and I were working on his electric golf cart one day at a tractor show. He was squatted down on one side, me on the other side. I just told him "don't short one of those batteries out" he said "I'm not". He's a mechanic for a living. Next thing I know I heard a very loud pop and we both have battery acid all over us. I had it in my mouth as well. Ran to my camper and my wife said what are you doing? I told her then went and washed off, luckily neither of us got hurt or burned. He shorted a wrench out across two of the terminals. I would have never thought it would be him to do it but you never know!

mcfarmall · Oct 26, 2018

Same thing happened to my BIL Shaneard minus the wrench across the terminals. I can think of 2 possible causes...a buildup of hydrogen gas ABOVE the battery ignited by a spark at the jumper cables or battery charger clamps when applied. #2 a buildup of hydrogen gas INSIDE a cell of the battery ignited by a flake of crud between the plates that may be exposed by a low electrolyte level in the cell.

oosik · Oct 26, 2018

Welcome to TBN and the forum. From looking at your picture - its very lucky that somebody didn't get acid burns.

newbury · Oct 26, 2018

OP - might post this in the safety forum - good picture.
Pictures like that and this

stick in my memory.

Jstpssng · Oct 26, 2018

Yikes! Everybody's guardian angels were working overtime for that one. Last year I hooked up the charger to my battery just as I have a thousand times or more before; for some reason it had reversed polarity and before I even plugged it in the sparks started flying. I tossed it and bought a new one.

cqaigy2 · Oct 26, 2018

You can also do that by welding on equipment with the battery connected. I'd guess there was good mixture of oxygen and hydrogen in the battery, the charger was plugged in and energize so when clamping it on, caused a spark and bang.

ultrarunner · Oct 27, 2018

An old time battery rebuilder told me if the electrolyte is full to the top... a battery has no room for hydrogen to accumulate and it can only explode of the gas is inside.

This was after having a battery explode in my face... I had just hooked up the fast charger at the car lot and kicked a cable which was enough to spark at one of the lugs...

Broken battery all over... sounded like a shot and no hearing on one side plus all my clothes turned to rags in a matter of minutes...

Something I will never forget...

dragoneggs · Oct 27, 2018

Welcome geek. Thanks for posting. I have always wondered if this wouldn't happen with old design 'unsealed' batteries.

Tractor Seabee · Oct 27, 2018

dragoneggs said:
Welcome geek. Thanks for posting. I have always wondered if this wouldn't happen with old design 'unsealed' batteries.

The posted picture looks like a sealed battery. I always wondered what happened to the "H" generated in a sealed lead/acid-battery. You never have to add water and both the water and acid have H as part of their composition. Anybody have the answer to that?

Ron

BrokeFarmerJohn · Oct 27, 2018

Guy at work had a family member into r/c hobby, they plugged in R/C car batteries in their house, one exploded and started a fire when nobody was home, that was about 3 weeks ago and they still cannot return to the house, cleanup crews are working on the fire/smoke cleanup. The house was saved but it’s a mess.

TractorGuy · Oct 27, 2018

The only time it happened to me was disconnecting a fast charger that WAS unplugged. That old charger had a amp AND volt meter. The volt meter was drawing current and caused a spark. BUT the only reason it blew was because it was just after fast charging so the fumes were fresh and present. The volt meter got disconnected in that charger after that.

I was lucky not to get any injury from the explosion and was near a water hose so I ran to it and washed the acid off fast.

A cold battery should never explode.

ultrarunner · Oct 27, 2018

Supposedly the sealed batteries are built to be low gassing...

Some sealed batteries have the coin tops that can be opened and others are near impossible to open without damaging the case.

Industrial Toys · Oct 27, 2018

I posted my experience on this a while back. Happened at a buddies while he was quick charging a battery used to power a hydraulic lift, had it on "start" and forgot about it.

It certainly made an impression on me, and now I hate to back out my electric gator if it has just been charging, worried there is hydrogen gas around the contacts.

2LaneCruzer · Oct 28, 2018

JD855guy said:
The only time it happened to me was disconnecting a fast charger that WAS unplugged. That old charger had a amp AND volt meter. The volt meter was drawing current and caused a spark. BUT the only reason it blew was because it was just after fast charging so the fumes were fresh and present. The volt meter got disconnected in that charger after that.

I was lucky not to get any injury from the explosion and was near a water hose so I ran to it and washed the acid off fast.

A cold battery should never explode.

We used Sulfuric acid in the lab all of the time...it is nasty stuff...really nasty. You really don't want to get it on you, especially in your eyes. It burns immediately.

ovrszd · Oct 28, 2018

Hmmmm. Smells like rotten eggs.

Coyote machine · Oct 28, 2018

Some possibly useful safety precautions for the OP. I would for future battery charging, if possible, take the battery outside into an open space, and wash it off with baking soda and water while wearing rubber gloves and full face mask with safety goggles under the mask. Dry the battery with a paper shop towel that can be disposed of safely. Once dry, read the voltage present in the battery. Then hook up hot clamp first, ground clamp last and stand with back to battery when turning the charger on, and or connecting it to power. Set the charger at lowest charging rate to start and then higher if needed. You can't be too safe around batteries.
I also wouldn't put a battery on a metal table without something underneath it, like cardboard, at a minimum. Better to charge it on the floor away from eye level in case of explosion too.
Glad to hear no one was seriously hurt.

radios1 · Oct 28, 2018

Hydrogen is about 2X lighter than Helium, so there's no way Hydrogen gas is going to stick around a battery.. it will be up to the ceiling looking to go much higher through any cracks.. if it can't then it will slowly accumulate to a lower level. if a battery is quick charged(Gassing) or a heavy discharge or short, it will gas and make Hydrogen. you could charge a battery, and an internal short inside the battery can make a large amount of Hydrogen gas, though!.. but always plug the charger in FIRST, and unplug it LAST to reduce the chance of a spark..