Exploding batteries

Pond digger

Never Forgotten
Honorary Member
Location
East Yorkshire
Well done for posting your experience, I hope everyone reading this becomes a little more cautious. I had my first experience with sulphuric acid as a toddler, after smashing the glass bottle out of an old fire extinguisher. I carried the scar for many years, but fortunately it was just my leg. I certainly wouldn’t fancy a face full!!
 

diesel1

Member
Location
North Yorkshire
iI was almost certainly caused by a spark igniting the battery gas so what else in that area of the vehicle could have caused a spark ?

As for the gas overcharging is the most likely cause either the alternator regulator is faulty and putting in two many volts of you have had them on a boost charger prior to taking it out and the gas has lingered there and a spark on the second start up caused the explosion.
or you have wired them incorrectly as in 12 v not 24 v and the alternator output is to high for it .
Been wired up on 24v for the last 4 years so think it will have been right! very little in the area to cause a spark, its situated next to the 450 litre petrol tank
 

Hawkes

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
devon
my cousin had an accident prone chap who worked on his farm. He decided to check the electrolyte level in a battery on charge by using his cigarette lighter as it was a bit dark! Very big bang and lucky not to have been permanently scarred.
 

Pond digger

Never Forgotten
Honorary Member
Location
East Yorkshire
my cousin had an accident prone chap who worked on his farm. He decided to check the electrolyte level in a battery on charge by using his cigarette lighter as it was a bit dark! Very big bang and lucky not to have been permanently scarred.
I know someone who did just the same. Fortunately, no lasting harm done; he was lucky.
 

diesel1

Member
Location
North Yorkshire
As said above check the voltage on alternator. Its possible the reg pack has failed so not regulating the voltage output.
I have a ammeter gauge telling me how much power is been feed into the batteries, its a cvrt tank, very large alternator, 2 years ago it was over charging the batteries on startup, gas would fill the compartment until i hit the voltage regulator box which is in front of me with a hammer, got this sorted.
Everything is charging normally. No charge was been put in the batteries when it exploded, it was like the ignition button was the trigger.
When the engine does start, voltage regulator does not push any power out for about 3 seconds, until there is a loud click noise from the regulator then power is produced, this is normal for al CVRT s
 

diesel1

Member
Location
North Yorkshire
IMG_3763.JPG
This is the machine im talking about
 

ACEngineering

Member
Location
Oxon
I have a ammeter gauge telling me how much power is been feed into the batteries, its a cvrt tank, very large alternator, 2 years ago it was over charging the batteries on startup, gas would fill the compartment until i hit the voltage regulator box which is in front of me with a hammer, got this sorted.
Everything is charging normally. No charge was been put in the batteries when it exploded, it was like the ignition button was the trigger.
When the engine does start, voltage regulator does not push any power out for about 3 seconds, until there is a loud click noise from the regulator then power is produced, this is normal for al CVRT s

its not an amp metre you want. you need to check the voltage. its possible an alternator can kick out unregulated voltage if a part fails. i had it on a case tractor once. 12volt system but alternator was kicking out over 20volts!
 

Landrover

Member
Had one blow up in my face once, a matbro that was draining the battery and couldn't find the reason, so battery charger on and when I came to use it reconnected the battery and the guy who worked for us at the time in the cab told him to start it, the last thing I saw was a spark then must have shut my eyes as a reaction, then a loud bang then felt like I'd been punched in the face, co worker grabbed me and stuck my head in a water trough, no lasting effects apart from a 2 inch scar on my chin that needed a few stiches, turned out my dad was bored on the Sunday afternoon and had been trying to "fix" the problem on it and may not have reconnected the wires the right way ! I'm nervous around battery's now !
 

Enfoff

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
East
Had one blow up in my face once, a matbro that was draining the battery and couldn't find the reason, so battery charger on and when I came to use it reconnected the battery and the guy who worked for us at the time in the cab told him to start it, the last thing I saw was a spark then must have shut my eyes as a reaction, then a loud bang then felt like I'd been punched in the face, co worker grabbed me and stuck my head in a water trough, no lasting effects apart from a 2 inch scar on my chin that needed a few stiches, turned out my dad was bored on the Sunday afternoon and had been trying to "fix" the problem on it and may not have reconnected the wires the right way ! I'm nervous around battery's now !

I had a similar experience changing an electric fence battery. I did everything wrong - bounced the battery across the field on the quad, put it in a metal box, took a phone call ( whilst the gas built up) and then connected the fencer leads. The bang was incredible - I couldn't hear for hours afterwards and still have a little scar on my chin. I've changed batteries hundreds of times since and I think about this everytime.
 

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