my car is not a daily driver but it see's the road quite a bit.i went out to start it and let the battery charge ,circulate everything.i turned the key and it barely did turn over,no lights,nothing.i put the charger on it and it didnt peg out like a dead battery,the needle moved to about 2 .i put the battery back in the car after about 6 hours of charging and as soon as i hit the key,boom,the battery blew up.i've never had any issue's with the electrical system,everything works.the battery is 4 or 5 years old.could the battery had a dead short in it

 

yeah a battery can blow up. i had a 6 volt battery blow up charging on my 1930 buick. my recommendation would be to get an optima battery. though more expensive you dont have to worry about things of this nature. the gel cell is the way to go over acid core batteries. especially cause the car is not driven all the time. the optima wont die out after sitting. and 4-5 years is about the average life span of a battery.

 

One thing that's often overlooked is the water level in the battery. Although most batteries are considered "maintenance free", it's still a good idea to check it as long as you can pop the covers off. As the level goes down inside, that open space is now filled with explosive gases (it's more explosive while the battery is being charged). The battery acid isn't the explosive part, it's the hydrogen gas that's created while it's being charged. So, if a battery is filled to the ring like it should be, it shouldn't be able to blow since there aren't any pockets of gas inside.

 

I agree, most likely the battery was dry, or almost dry. The charger only being able to put out a low chage is an indication of internal high resistance usually due to low electrolyte level or a sulphated battery.An open cell would not pass any current at all. By charging a sick battery you caused the electrolyte to overheat and creat excessive hydrogen gas, and the explosion proved the point. lol

 

How do you know this stuff?![sm=insomnia.gif]

 

Experience and a lot of listening and reading. There is always something new to learn. And you also have to know when someone is spouting BS. lol

 

Well....some of the things that you learn in life, you learn the hard way. I have a tractor for cutting the lawn, and it also has a front-loader that's removable. A number of years ago, I was hauling dirt from a pile over there and spreading it out over here. The tractor has it's battery (a regular car battery) mounted below the seat, but it sits out in the open. Since the battery was a "maintenance free" one, I never maintained it (add water). While slamming the tractor into the pile of dirt, the battery exploded. My left leg was literally inches away from the battery, and since it was hot out, I was wearing shorts. Not only did my left calf receive some awful cuts from the sharp plastic shrapnel of the exploding battery, but my leg also got doused with battery acid just for good measure. [:@]
So then I did some calling around and spoke to a couple of higher-up reps from two diff. battery companies to find out what could make a battery explode. The explanation I received was that the water (electrolyte) level in the battery would have needed to be low to create enough gas inside for it to blow. And the jarring action could have caused the internal plates to short against each other, causing a spark, and a boom! Moral of the story is, a full battery can't spark inside because the plates are submerged, it can't build up a cavity of explosive gas, and therefore it shouldn't blow.
Now I keep an eye on the battery (and all my batteries), and I have it in a battery box, and I packed foam padding between the battery and the box. I also tell people that my nasty scar is from a shark bite. The ironic part of it was, even though the battery blew apart and spilled out most of the acid, I was still able to restart the engine on the tractor!
Be careful with batteries, they can hurt! That's also why you're supposed to ground the jumper cables to the engine of the receiving car and not the battery. The big spark you get could make it blow if you connect the cable directly to the battery.

 

I dident ACTUALLY mean HOW do you know this stuff, It was just one of my ways on complementing on how knowledgable you are. Thanks for the story though, very intresting and good stuff to know for the future[8D].

Thanks, c4maro

 

OK, let's try it again then...

"Because"!

 

Haha nice lol.