I changed the OEM battery at home a couple weeks ago and last Saturday I finally got around to taking the old battery to Batteries Plus to have it recycled. As I was raising the battery out of the frunk, it exploded with a bang resembling a shotgun. The battery looked like a grenade had gone off inside it. There was no fire...it just seemed like a pressure explosion. Obviously, gas built up beyond the tolerance of the casing.

I was covered in acid and dropped the battery and ran into the store where they guided me to the eyewash station and bathroom to get the acid off. Thankfully, I was wearing sunglasses so I didn't get too much in my eyes. All in all, I'm OK. I was holding the two pop up handles on the battery rather than cradling the battery in my hands/arms...THANK GOD.

My car however...did not escape harm. Even though I tried my best to wipe down the affected areas with water and baking soda, there is visible paint damage on the underside of the frunk lid and the drivers side quarter panel. Not good. So the car is at the dealer where the body shop will be providing an estimate to take the pieces apart, replace what needs to be replaced and find any areas that are out of view where acid is or has been.

The moral of the story...be very careful with car batteries. This battery was not over charged or abused. It had been sitting in my garage for a couple weeks. It did not appear to have any physical damage at all...it actually looked brand new.

I will never handle a used car battery again.

Anyone ever hear of a battery explode for no apparent reason? I have heard of this happening with over-charging, improper jumping, abuse, etc. I'm stumped as to what could have caused this explosion.


-CJK

 

good thing u were not injured.

i have heard of batteries exploding due to improper jumping or loose cable.. but never heard of a stored battery exploding.

there has to be some sort of chemical reaction causing the battery to explode.. no?

where did u store the battery for those couple of weeks ? was it transported in a hot trunk ? was there any spark causing the explosion ? i.e. cigarette or metal spark from tools ?

 

Wow, glad you are (relatively) OK. I am also glad I recently disposed of the two giant BMW batteries that I was storing in my garage.

If you figure out the cause, please post. Are you repairing the paint damage via insurance?

 

You'd think it was the result of a hydrogen explosion due to static. Just sitting it's hard to imagine the battery generating that much hydrogen.

 

Holy S$*T! I'm really glad you're okay. I've never heard of a battery exploding, at least not that dramatically.

Thanks for the tip.

 

glad you are okay. that is one of the worst scenarios with car repair.

batteries often explode due to pressure built up. that's why i would never buy a battery that requires venting such as the Moll from Porsche.

 

That's crazy! Thank God you were wearing sunglasses and you did not get acid burn. What do they use for acid washing at the store? We (pretty much) all mess with our batteries during storage.

 

I grew up in a Junk Yard now called an auto recycling facility! I have handled many used batteries good and bad. I have never seen this happen bur it certainly can. I suspect that the battery had an internal short that caused it. Or it's possible it was out gasing hydrogen and a static spark set it off. I'll remember this however and only use my 4-Runner to transport batteries to and from the store.

 

Batteries generate hydrogen gas during charging & discharging. During a rapid charge they generate even more hydrogen gas & this is one of the reasons almost everyone uses a trickle charger these day.
Before they started putting batteries in an enclosed trunk the hydrogen gas could vent out of the top of the six fill plugs. However the Porsche battery vents via the tube that comes out of side near the top.
My guess is that your battery had a cell or two that went bad & while it was sitting there discharging it started to gas off. If the vent tube got plugged or kinked the H gas had no where to vent.
While lifting the battery out you had static electricity generate as the battery casing was touched/rubbed against the trunk carpet while the hose became un-kinked, the H gas & spark met & then Hindenburg.

 

Two things come to mind:
1) The fluid in the battery was very low, so there was lots of room for the hydrogen to build up -so a static or other spark cause the hydrogen inside the battery to ignite. Had the battery been full of fluid, there would be no room for the gas to build up.
2) A short, something in you picking it up and carrying it shorted out the battery (watch, bracelet, etc)

Either of those valid?

 

Minok,
To add to your #1 thought, the Porsche battery is not maintenance free & the water level has to be checked & water added when appropriate. The low water level adds to the short life span of a battery.

 

Wikipedia agrees with you:

Any lead-acid battery system when overcharged (>14.34 V) will produce hydrogen gas (gassing voltage) by electrolysis of water. If the rate of overcharge is small, the vents of each cell allow the dissipation of the gas. However, on severe overcharge or if ventilation is inadequate, or the battery is faulty, a flammable concentration of hydrogen may remain in the cell or in the battery enclosure. An internal spark can cause a hydrogen and oxygen explosion, which will damage the battery and its surroundings and which will disperse acid into the surroundings. Anyone close to the battery may be injured.

I worked in auto parts stores when I was in high school and college and handled many batteries. I had one blow up once while it was inside the engine compartment and we were trying to remove it.