My battery has exploded!!!

[KillerHERTZ]

Earlier today I filled up with petrol, started the car and heard a huge BOOM, I got out looked around the car and under thinking I may have been another car drving past or somthing little did I know what was going on in the boot... (I was in a hurry).

Finished work tonight, got to my car in the freezing weather (it was snowing) and tried to start my car. Only to get a trickle of power and no chance of starting it.

As it was 10.30pm on a cold Sunday in the middle of town, there was no chance I was going to jump start it so I called the AA.

After 30mins of waiting the 'happy' AA guy turned up, had a look and said 'woooaaah! take a look at this'! So down I peered to what I can only discribe as Chernobyl!

Chunks of plastic everywhere with Acid flowing all over and the rest of the boot coated in battery acid!!!

My cars currently outside my mechanics garage - I will report (with pics) tomorrow whats happening.


The AA guy reckons its 99% likely to be a faulty Aternator which has been over charging it causing the meltdown - If I was looking at it when it blew I wouldnt be here typing this, I would be driving the big CL in the sky

 

[Steve_Perry]

Battery acid all over the boot? Sounds painful. Hope it all gets sorted mate

S.

 

[KillerHERTZ]

<--- Artist impression of my boot

Anyone know how much Alternators cost?

 

[stwat]

That battery acid will make one hell of a mess of your boot mate . I think your going to need new carpet and plastics TBH.


Stu

 

[bmac]

This happened to my BMW 3 series which has the battery in the boot. I is caused by the plates bending over time in the battery causing a short. BMW didnt want to know

 

[prprandall51]

Interesting problem - sorry to hear about it.

I can't see how a battery can explode unless the gases generated in the charging process are somehow prevented from escaping though the built-in breather mechanism. Even sealed batteries have a discharge valve that prevents pressure build up.

My battery exploded once - because the shop that sold it to me kindly taped down the snap-in filler-holes cap and in so doing covered over the breather holes. It took about two months to build up enough pressure to blow the case open.

If the alternator is over-charging then the battery should merely "boil" dry causing conventional failure. A buckled plate in a single cell should only cause the battery to fail, shouldn't it?

 

[guydewdney]

i'd get everything i can out of the boot asap - EVERYTHING! and get a hose and wash it down - the battery acid will eat through the lot - carpet, floor, wiring, connectors , etc etc. there should be a drain hole under the battery / in the spare wheel (if that hasnt been eaten by the acid)....

wear a) gloves b) crappy old clothes you dont care about (a small splash will trash any item of clothing) c) GOGGLES... when doing the wash down

 

[GRAV888]

Sorry to hear this mate.
Get it cleaned up asap, before your car turns into a smart car

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Called up my Mechanic, he reckons its not the alternator as they have been testing it for most of the day, hes going to keep checking things to try and rule out other things.

Could this have somthing to do with the mosture in the boot? I often have pools of water in different parts?

As for the acid, he said it looks far worst than it is, virutally nothing has been damaged other than a small patch of carpet and some paint has been come off!

I guess this is due to the battery being in a small enclosed area?

Will report back tonight when (hopefully) I should get it back

 

[bmac]

BMW carried out these checks on my car and they confirmed it was buckled plates in the battery. There are positive and negative plates in the battery if they touch it will blow. Your alternator wont cause this problem. I fitted a new battery to my car and the problem never happen again

 

[glojo]

I'm concerned that the car is at your mechanic's garage all day. As has been suggested the boot MUST be cleaned out, but just not cleaned. It has to be scrubbed out and I personally would not be concerned about the amount of water you use just scrub out and then dry out. You might consider wearing gloves, goggles and perhaps an old boiler suit.

I would replace carpets etc. but that's me, others might have cheaper suggestions, but that acid will have soaked into just about everything and everywhere.

Good luck with the problem though,
John

 

[Shude]

You might also want to liberally throw bicarbonate of soda all over your boot area to neutralise any acid.

 

[guydewdney]

or milk

 

[marcos]

This happened to my BMW 3 series which has the battery in the boot. I is caused by the plates bending over time in the battery causing a short. BMW didnt want to know

Exactly the same thing happened to my mates BMW.

 

[sparkyspost]

I'd avoid the 'milk' suggestion, as it really stinks if not cleaned!


Sorry to hear about the battery / disaster area!

Good luck with getting it fixed up.

Cheers

Sparky

 

[LazyBob]

Make sure it is well washed out, and throw away your carpets and other assorted rags that may have accumulated in your boot. It is possible, although rare, for acid soaked materials to spontaneously combust, especially when given an external heat source, like the exhaust warming up the carpet in the boot when the car is stationary.

Having the possibility of a spontaneous fire just above the petrol tank doesn't sound like a good plan to me.

 

[TOPMERCS]

Sorry to hear about this - Hope your mechanic solves the problem, like the guys say make sure u clean the boot thoroughly really thoroughly, and get rid of anyhting that could have been affected.This is the 1st time i have heard of this,its got me thinking.
Let us know what the out come is- Best of luck

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Well, I called up my mechanic tonight and all is good.

He tried everything all day and found no trouble, He has put the trouble down to a faulty battery. I wont pick it up until tomorrow & the acid burns are tiny

 

[guydewdney]

they might be tiny now - but in three days....

 

[Satch]

Sulphuric acid is evil stuff. If it has soaked into anything like fabrics, fibre or insulation that is non synthetic it could rot away in days. I would drench the area with Sodium Bicarbonate solution and keep a watch out.