<VV> Battery Explosion

[Bill Hubbell]

Frank, et al.

I just meant to say it was not hydrogen loose in the engine compartment
sparked by some other electrical appliance.  It is reasonable to assume it
was hydrogen inside the battery.

-----Original Message-----
From: virtualvairs-bounces at corvair.org
[mailto:virtualvairs-bounces at corvair.org] On Behalf Of Frank DuVal
Sent: Saturday, September 26, 2009 5:57 PM
To: Virtual Vairs
Subject: Re: <VV> Battery Explosion

Bill,

First, if not Hydrogen to fuel the explosion then what else could it be? 
Put on your thinking cap. The lead plates exploded? The liquid water 
exploded? The plastic case ignited? Somewhere in your doctor learning 
they had chemistry. Hydrogen and oxygen are the byproducts of charging 
the battery. They are always present in some quantity inside the 
battery. The right mix with a spark and, well, you see the results. What 
is not usually found in the battery is the spark. Some internal failure 
caused a spark. And no, it is not unheard of. I myself have seen three 
explosions All when the driver turned the key to start the engine. Makes 
me wonder when I am leaning over the engine compartment while someone 
else trys starting an engine. But it is a rare enough occurrence that 
most people don't think about it. I also have seen the battery explode 
from outside forces, like in Tony's case. A fellow I worded with was 
twisting the battery terminal while another employee turned the key. I 
took him to the hospital to get his eyes washed out. But, that was 
people doing stupid things. Yours was a case of battery failure through 
NO fault on your part. You did everything right, things just happen.

You battery tender is probably fine. What do you think it is doing when 
it is tending the battery? That's right, charging it when needed. So 
even a battery tender makes a battery produce hydrogen gas and oxygen. 
New or old, doesn't matter. Chemistry is the same all over. There is no 
way a battery tender can prevent the formation of hydrogen and oxygen IF 
it is doing its job of charging the battery! See chemistry 101. If a 
battery tender never charged the battery, the battery would go dead. 
Them electrons have to flow to get work done.

I am glad Alice survived, and you weren't looking at the engine when it 
happened.

Frank DuVal


Bill Hubbell wrote:

>Which is why I use a Battery TENDER -NOT a battery CHARGER.  The battery
tender is SUPPOSED to prevent this sort of thing, but it looks like that may
have failed as well.  
>-----Original Message-----
>From: FrankCB <frankcb at aol.com>
>
>Date: Sat, 26 Sep 2009 16:21:07 
>To: <whubbell at umich.edu>; 'Tony Underwood'<tony.underwood at cox.net>;
<virtualvairs at corvair.org>
>Subject: Re: <VV> Battery Explosion
>
>
>Bill,
>      It sounds like it was an INTERNAL explosion inside the battery cell.
When the electric charge from the battery charger finishes with the chemical
reactions involved in recharging the battery, the excess electric current
goes into decomposing the water part of the electrolyte.  This produces not
only hydrogen, but also OXYGEN (H2O, remember).  The mix of hydrogen and
oxygen together in the cell is extremely explosive and merely requires an
internal spark above the liquid level to ignite.  The large drain of current
to the starter probably caused an internal short and the resulting spark was
the ignition for your explosion.
>     This is why it's important NOT to overcharge a lead acid battery,
especially an old one..
>     Glad you suffered no personal injury.  Cars are much easier to repair
than PEOPLE!!!
>     Frank Burkhard
>
>In a message dated 09/26/09 16:07:46 Eastern Daylight Time,
whubbell at cox.net writes:
>I don't think it was Hydrogen gas.  My car is Factory Stock Restored (well,

>it was before this incident anyway) so the battery had the special vented 
>caps with hoses that vent the hydrogen gas outside the engine compartment. 
>
>It looks like the explosion occurred in the center cell on the positive 
>side.  I suppose it could have been hydrogen in the battery which blew it 
>apart, but the ignition source was inside the battery, and therefore was 
>probably some sort of internal short.  It only happened when I hit the 
>starter switch, which would of course cause a large current draw from the 
>battery.  There is no evidence of other electrical damage, so I do believe 
>the ignition came from within the battery itself. 
>
>  
>
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