64 Battery Blow up!

[TallJohn]

Greetings . I took my 64' to a local car show about three miles away yesterday. Everything worked fine. I came out today and the battery was almost dead even though I had it on a battery tender. I put it on the big charger for a couple of hours today. Un hooked the charger , closed the hood and turned the ignition...Boom! Battery blew up. Scared the heck out of me to say the least. Battery is correct and only 2 yrs old. From everything I have read on battery explosions it sounds like my sealed battery may have been dry, plates touching etc. Cables were clean. I guess my question is is there anything in the charging system of the car ( overcharging) that could have caused the problem? Battery was acting dead so I don't think it was overcharged when I charged it. Maybe I keep it on the battery Tender too long ( a week at a time) thus drying out the battery? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thank God my head wasn't under the hood and had a buddy turning the key. Battery acid and plastic schrapnel everywhere. Crazy.

[Ronnie]

15 minutes ago, TallJohn said:

I put it on the big charger for a couple of hours today. Un hooked the charger , closed the hood and turned the ignition...Boom! Battery blew up.

 

Perhaps the big charger caused the battery to boil enough to generate a lot hydrogen gas under the hood. When you turned the key a spark ignited the hydrogen gas.

[TallJohn]

Based on a couple of articles I read a few hours ago, thats probably correct. When I get a new battery tomorrow I will check my charging system on the car to make sure the system isn't over charging and keep it off the battery tender. I'm feeling a little hinky after the explosion!. Thanks for the reply.

[JFranklin]

1 hour ago, Ronnie said:

 

Perhaps the big charger caused the battery to boil enough to generate a lot hydrogen gas under the hood. When you turned the key a spark ignited the hydrogen gas.

 

A loose battery cable did just this to my battery after a charge. What a mess? This is why there are lots of precautions written on the battery case. Jumper cable sparks can do the same so be careful.

[Seafoam65]

              Bad batteries love to explode when you charge them trying to bring a bad battery back to life. The fact that you had

a battery tender on the battery and it was dead was your message that the battery was no good, and your sign to remove it and install another battery.

When you put a high powered battery charger on a battery that isn't  holding a charge, the result is the manufacture of a lot of hydrogen gas, thus the

explosion.

[60FlatTop]

Since it is a first generation Riviera be sure your positive battery post is on the radiator side, not next to the fender. I blew one up when the post grounded against the hood.

 

A few years ago I blew up a battery in my '60 Electra because I refused to believe the starter went bad. My Wife and I had stopped at a garden store 60 miles from home on a hill overlooking Wayland, New York. We got back into the car, I stepped on the pedal to start, and nothing. No previous indication of a starter problem so I started prying and twisting the terminals on the posts. My Wife was inside stepping on the starter with the hood blocking her vision of me. I overdid my allowed number of "OK, try it"'s.She heard the big explosion and saw the battery caps fly out from under the hood. But couldn't see me. She comes from an extreme fatalist family and, naturally expected the worst. Scared the hell out of her.

 

I was OK except for the ringing in my ears that lasted at least two days. I had called Guy Bennett Jr. from Bennett Buick shortly before the explosion. He showed up with his pickup and jumper cables right after the big event. I thanked him and we both figured it was flatbed time. The next morning I swapped in a battery from another car and it started right up. I had the starter rebuilt and it is still going. It had been a very hot day and the heat must have been too much for the starter.

 

Now for my Wife's take. I had just bought one of my first Jaguars. I told her I needed to upgrade my AAA for extended towing if I had a Jaguar. It was necessary with that kind of car. I have heard her comment that the only car we ever used the AAA towing on was the Buick. She thinks it is funny. There is an old saying that certain events can come together to create an ironic situation, but only humans create sarcasm. Well, that's proof enough for me.

Bernie

Edited November 19, 2018 by 60FlatTop (see edit history)

[dr914]

I agree, those dead batteries boosted with a charger love to blow up.  One on a mercedes blew up in my face in 1980 Before that people considered me a handsome guy (lol)

 

Better spray everything down with baking soda and water solution, or a couple of months from now you will see a lot of corrosion and rust in different areas of your engine compartment and on the underside of the hood

 

[TallJohn]

Thanks for the replies and stories. Thankful I had put the hood down when I tried to start it. I tend to believe my ca'rs system was not at fault, a bad battery I over charged. I will see what Costco pro rates the battery at. Can't wait to tell'em it no longer holds a charge when I hand it to them in pieces!haha

[60FlatTop]

3 hours ago, TallJohn said:

Can't wait to tell'em it no longer holds a charge when I hand it to them in pieces!haha

 

 

[68RIVGS]

4 hours ago, TallJohn said:

Thanks for the replies and stories. Thankful I had put the hood down when I tried to start it. I tend to believe my ca'rs system was not at fault, a bad battery I over charged. I will see what Costco pro rates the battery at. Can't wait to tell'em it no longer holds a charge when I hand it to them in pieces!haha

If it's anything like Costco here in Canada, a new battery is covered by a 3 year, free replacement warranty as long as you have your original invoice.

After that it's pro-rated for 84 months. I swear by COSTCO batteries, and use them in my fleet !