Moving cars around last night to make room to install a new HVAC system , I put a freshly charged battery in my 356 roadster and hit the key BAM!!!!!!!!!!!!! loud as hell, the battery exploded. Thankfully I had a bunch of baking soda handy and water to dilute and neutralize the acid or I could have had a disaster on my hands.

With all of the batteries I have installed and charged over the years this is only the second one that has exploded on me. It was late and I was in a hurry, did not ventilate the area properly, and did not have the terminals firmly connected as I was going to take the battery out right away after moving. SO a spark ignited the fumes from the freshly charged battery when I hit the key. STUPIDClick to view attachment

Thanks for the warning. Not everyone posts their mistakes.

Glad you were not injured, and you were able to minimize the damage.

Never can be too safe. Glad the blast was contained and no injury.

A friend of mine was permanently blinded from a similar explosion while he was being a good Samaritan when providing a jump start. You can imagine what would have happened if the Dr. had his face above that battery when it exploded. This thread is a great reminder to always use caution around batteries, thanks for posting.

Unplugging or turning the charger off works wonders. 30 seconds well spent.

battery tender turned off put away, battery carried out to the car and installed with the hood up, would assume plenty of ventilation and would assume that carrying the battery at least 50 feet outside would have vented it properly! Never know

Was the battery being "quick charged" or trickle charged?

I would guess it was low on electrolyte leaving an excessive room for hydrogen to build up. That battery really blew up!

Operating a vehicle with loose battery connections can also lead to damage to electrical components including the diodes in the alternator when a phenomenon called Load Dump happens.

Load dump is defined in ISO7637.2 as Pulse 5a. Toyota calls it "Giant Pulse" in their standards. When the engine is running and battery is disconnected or cables are loose, the inductive windings of the alternator stator react and can generate a pulse of up to 100V lasting for up to about 1/2 second. The first items to be damaged are the diodes in the alternator.

That is pretty significant!
My son worked at an oil change place that routinely would change a battery with the engine running! We both knew that was really stupid but the boss says.....
I am glad he never had one blow on him. He has since moved on

I used to work on the golf cart fleet for a private country club in my late teens. A co-worker had the seat lid up and was spraying some terminal cleaner across the bank of the six 6V Trojan batteries when all of a sudden I see an arc across some of the terminals and the battery blew up right in his face! I thought the worse.....
Turns out His reaction time was incredible as he closed his eyes when it blew and only suffered some minor skin irritation on his forehead and his hair was singed.

Be careful around batteries I learned a lesson that day.

I know a guy who did the same thing working at a lawn tractor place with my brother (back in the day)

Small battery - just lost his eyebrows and had everyone in the place pissing themselves laughing at him (that's the way it was back then)

George - glad you escaped intact! Wonder if it's still under warranty? Might be amusing to take the battery carcass and any shards of debris back to your FLAPS in a cardboard box and innocently claim it may have malfunctioned, and can I please get a replacement?

- Tony

Acid vapors are heavier then air so those vapors are going to set in the low spots of your engine compartment. Unless your directing a fan into that area there’s always a chance for ignition of flammable or combustible vapors.

very good info, thank you

Thanks for sharing that Doc. You conniver be careful enough when messing with electricity, gas, batteries, etc. You have always been candid about sharing accidents and mistakes, we all learn from that.

Wow. That is something I never heard of before yet apparently a real risk. Are AGM batteries any safer in this regard?

I believe so.

Man, George, glad it wasn't any worse. You've probably played the scene over a few times on how it could've gone way more wrong. Good reaction, and thanks for sharing.

We ALL can get careless on the little stuff sometimes, operating in 'routine' mode. Good warning.

I'm personally partial to AGM for the no leakage aspect. (Perhaps) dumb question: Is this *EVER* an issue with an AGM battery, or another argument in their favor? TIA.

- MR

A lot of people don't realize this can happen when trying to jump another car battery. I always step back when I see someone connecting both jumper cables directly to a battery. Using a chassis ground as last connection is way safer. Glad you are unhurt George.