Battery Explosion!
Discussion
Hi Folks,
As the title suggests, I've had a catastrophic failure of my battery this morning.
I went to get the Chim out of the garage and give it a little run before heading to Chatsworth tomorrow, and as soon as I put the ignition lights on there was a MASSIVE bang from the bulkhead area.
Smoke started coming up from under the dash area so I quickly pushed the car out into the open so it didn't burn my garage down.
Expecting a fire, I was about to get the wife to ring the fire brigade but as an immediate precaution I decided to try and disconnect the battery first, but then the smoke started clearing and the panic was over.
I dug the battery out and as I was disconnecting the terminals I noticed the top of the battery casing had blown off.
Further investigation after I removed it from its GRP casing showed the sides of the battery had shattered too.
If it hadn't been for the fact the battery is contained in a fibreglass case then the damage could have gone further.
The supplier was extremely surprised to hear of the battery explosion and have replaced it under warranty - the battery was only 16 months old.
I've just fitted the new battery and although the engine would turn over it wouldn't fire - the fuel pump wasn't priming. It turns out, the fuel pump relays had blown too.
The relays have just been replaced for some good spare one's I had, and the car is now up and running, but I think I need to go and change my underwear now - when the battery exploded it went with such a bang.
Overall, a lucky escape I think, the damage could have been a lot worse. When it wouldn't fire up I was fearing a blown ECU.
As the title suggests, I've had a catastrophic failure of my battery this morning.
I went to get the Chim out of the garage and give it a little run before heading to Chatsworth tomorrow, and as soon as I put the ignition lights on there was a MASSIVE bang from the bulkhead area.
Smoke started coming up from under the dash area so I quickly pushed the car out into the open so it didn't burn my garage down.
Expecting a fire, I was about to get the wife to ring the fire brigade but as an immediate precaution I decided to try and disconnect the battery first, but then the smoke started clearing and the panic was over.
I dug the battery out and as I was disconnecting the terminals I noticed the top of the battery casing had blown off.
Further investigation after I removed it from its GRP casing showed the sides of the battery had shattered too.
If it hadn't been for the fact the battery is contained in a fibreglass case then the damage could have gone further.
The supplier was extremely surprised to hear of the battery explosion and have replaced it under warranty - the battery was only 16 months old.
I've just fitted the new battery and although the engine would turn over it wouldn't fire - the fuel pump wasn't priming. It turns out, the fuel pump relays had blown too.
The relays have just been replaced for some good spare one's I had, and the car is now up and running, but I think I need to go and change my underwear now - when the battery exploded it went with such a bang.
Overall, a lucky escape I think, the damage could have been a lot worse. When it wouldn't fire up I was fearing a blown ECU.
Yeah it had been on trickle charge, but I did notice before attempting to start the car that the charger was still lit on amber, which I thought was a little strange as I would've expected it to be showing green by now - the car was last used about a fortnight ago.
I suspect the battery was the victim and the charger may be the root cause?
I daren't use the trickle charger now, I'm going to try a different battery conditioner instead.
I suspect the battery was the victim and the charger may be the root cause?
I daren't use the trickle charger now, I'm going to try a different battery conditioner instead.
Probably a combination of trickle charger and dodgy battery. Charging the battery causes gas and there must have been a spark inside the battery when you tried to start the car. I'm guessing the charger was still yellow because of a battery fault/poor circuit inside and that caused the spark. I wouldn't use the charger again just in case but it goes to show that you should always investigate why a trickle charger isn't charging the battery 
I wonder if battery conditioners are really necessary unless you leave a car for months unattended. Just disconnecting it should then suffice, but don't shut the door behind you without the window down!
I've left mine for 3 weeks, with the battery connected, and it still starts fine.
Incidentally, my last battery was a Yuasa and it barely made it past the warranty before it wouldn't hold charge for more than a couple of days.
Edit: Perhaps it would have lasted longer using a conditioner?
I've left mine for 3 weeks, with the battery connected, and it still starts fine.
Incidentally, my last battery was a Yuasa and it barely made it past the warranty before it wouldn't hold charge for more than a couple of days.
Edit: Perhaps it would have lasted longer using a conditioner?
Edited by ianwayne on Saturday 1st October 13:52
Does your battery have a gas outlet? TVR supplied a short length of clear plastic tube that connects to the outlet to vent excess gas (hydrogen)to under the car.
It sounds very much like a hydrogen explosion, were your charging clips straight onto the battery terminals?
As said above, hydrogen + spark is usually exciting. Any slight movement could have caused the clips to slip and spark.
I am surprised that the passenger footwell is not drenched in battery acid, perhaps luckily the battery box saved it.
It sounds very much like a hydrogen explosion, were your charging clips straight onto the battery terminals?
As said above, hydrogen + spark is usually exciting. Any slight movement could have caused the clips to slip and spark.
I am surprised that the passenger footwell is not drenched in battery acid, perhaps luckily the battery box saved it.
Like you guys suggest, I would have expected a lot of liquid mess in the footwell and battery tray, but there was a notable lack of battery acid, it's all dry in the footwell - not a drop of acid.
There was a very tiny dribble in the bottom of the tray, and when I lifted the remains of the battery out of its tray a little acid spilt out, but generally speaking its all dry which points to the trickle charger fault perhaps?
I'm guessing it didn't shut off after reaching peak condition and continued to force feed the battery till it dried out and bent the plates inside.
I'm no electrician so happy to be corrected.
The trickle charger is (was) a good one, I bought it through the TVRCC in around 2007-ish, but I did have some electrical trouble around 16 months ago when the battery was last replaced.
I initially bought a Lucas battery but the charger always stayed on Amber suggesting a dud battery so that was replaced under warranty - twice, before I got my money back and switched to a Yuassa unit which after a day or so showed green on the trickle charger.
I thought that would be the last of the problem but clearly not.
There was a very tiny dribble in the bottom of the tray, and when I lifted the remains of the battery out of its tray a little acid spilt out, but generally speaking its all dry which points to the trickle charger fault perhaps?
I'm guessing it didn't shut off after reaching peak condition and continued to force feed the battery till it dried out and bent the plates inside.
I'm no electrician so happy to be corrected.
The trickle charger is (was) a good one, I bought it through the TVRCC in around 2007-ish, but I did have some electrical trouble around 16 months ago when the battery was last replaced.
I initially bought a Lucas battery but the charger always stayed on Amber suggesting a dud battery so that was replaced under warranty - twice, before I got my money back and switched to a Yuassa unit which after a day or so showed green on the trickle charger.
I thought that would be the last of the problem but clearly not.
Not being at all flippant and very pleased to see the outcome is so positive but is it certain that was a genuine Yuasa.... have many many years of experience of them in the bike world and have never seen a failure like that even with horrendous abuse... (trust me, bikers know how to stress batteries)
Pupp said:
Not being at all flippant and very pleased to see the outcome is so positive but is it certain that was a genuine Yuasa.... have many many years of experience of them in the bike world and have never seen a failure like that even with horrendous abuse... (trust me, bikers know how to stress batteries)
Me too. I've been using Yuasa's in my bikes for as long as I can remember and never had a problem. I've been using one in one of the cars lately, and that's been problem free too.The lack of acid is a bit peculiar. It does rather look as if the trickle charger has cooked the battery. I had an Optimate trickle charger go wrong once: it put 16V into the battery for a good while until I spotted something wasn't quite right. I've been using a CTEK smart charger since then on both the cars and the bikes and it seems to keep all of them in tip top shape.
Just had to change wife's 430 Yuasa battery as it would not hold a charge for more than 2 days and it was messing the trickle charger around constantly, suspect internal short between cells. Checked with another charger and exactly the same. Guess what the battery was just out of warranty!
If you have an old style charger set on full charge it will gas the battery dry if left connected, and this will fill the battery with hydrogen. A modern intelligent trickle charger should not do this as they cycle the battery voltage up and down, so it never remains in a gassing state for any time period, unless it has gone faulty.
It's an Accumate that I've been using, and it's been fine for years, but I daren't trust it anymore so I think I'll get one of the CTEK battery conditioners mentioned above.
I friend of mine stores his VX220 in my garage next to the Chim, and that's been connected to a CTEK for over a year now and it's perfectly fine.
If that doesn't solve the problem, and considering what others have mentioned above, then I'd have to question the suitability of the Yuasa.
I friend of mine stores his VX220 in my garage next to the Chim, and that's been connected to a CTEK for over a year now and it's perfectly fine.
If that doesn't solve the problem, and considering what others have mentioned above, then I'd have to question the suitability of the Yuasa.
My Accumate also failed after 6 years by getting really hot and never switching to green. It was actually flattening the battery rather then charging it, but even from new I believe the trickle setting was overcharging. Was replaced with a Ctek which switches to very low pulse charge program after 7 days.
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