exploding battery

[RogerRust]

I've always known it was possible, but .......................

Last weekend my son's girlfriends car battery went flat, I jump started it and diagnosed a loose battery connection. The battery was flat and so I lent her my jump leads. She had to jump start it a couple of times then all was well the battery picked up enough charge to start the car OK.

Every thing worked fine for a few days then ..................

She went to start the car on the key and BANG BOOM the battery exploded fortunately in her Peugeot the battery sits in a plastic bin so most of the acid drained away.

Batteries explode due to a build up of Hydrogen gas. My guess is that Peugeot's plastic bin filled up with gas and as she was parked in a car port the gas didn't blow away.

I'm left relieved that it didn't go bang when she put the jump leads on!

Now I'm considering changing my method for jump starting and putting the positive on first then look for an earth well away from the battery to connect the negative so that any sparks are well away from the battery.

I know batteries can explode - It's the first time it's happened near me in close on a million miles of driving. Has it happened to anyone else?

[kennatt]

happened to my father after charging a battery from an alvis as he picked it up to put it back on the car, static spark
(He insisted that he did'nt have a cigarette in his mouth which I strongly suspected) and bang got acid into his face fortunately he was wearing glasses so his eyes were spared damage but could have been very nasty,

[dalebrignall]

scary stuff roger ill remember positive first now

[PSL184]

I still remember as an apprentice all those years ago my instructor telling me to remember the Negative lead is disconnected first and reconnected last......

[bmcecosse]

It doesn't matter a hoot which lead is connected first - or last. But indeed the recommended way is to connect the earth lead on the 'donor' car last - and remove it first.

[andrew.searston]

batterys can also over charge by a faulty alternator or dynamo
i changed a alternator on a peugeot 306 because the battery had exploded due to overcharging

[nigelr2000]

Had a battery explode years ago on my BSA A10 when the regulator went faulty, pulled into a garage in the city and the guy in the kiosk thought I was mad spraying water from the radiator fill up hose all over my legs (the battery was mounted between them, eek), my skin survived but my jeans where in tatters by the time I reached home.

Also whilst starting a truck one day the idiot I was working with wobbled the jump leads on the battery to see if i was getting a good contact as I was trying to start the dead truck, there was a flippin great boom and the huge truck battery split ! all I could hear was ringing in my ears for ages.

[M25VAN]

It doesn't matter a hoot which lead is connected first - or last. But indeed the recommended way is to connect the earth lead on the 'donor' car last - and remove it first.

I read somewhere that, assuming -ve earth, you are supposed to connect the +ve first and then the -ve to an earthing point some distance from the battery. Theory is that if you then get a spark it will be away from the battery and should lessen the chance of an explosion.

[RogerRust]

It doesn't matter a hoot which lead is connected first - or last. But indeed the recommended way is to connect the earth lead on the 'donor' car last - and remove it first.

I read somewhere that, assuming -ve earth, you are supposed to connect the +ve first and then the -ve to an earthing point some distance from the battery. Theory is that if you then get a spark it will be away from the battery and should lessen the chance of an explosion.

That was what I was suggested above, I'm afraid it got hijacked into a discussion about +ve or -ve first! the idea is to move the sparks away from the battery.

[M25VAN]

So you did Roger. Sorry about that, I should have read your post more carefully.
I think it was the thought of all that battery acid exploding everywhere.