In this article we will explain you the major reasons of battery explosion. Moreover I will also share my experience of battery explosion and I will tell you what you should do when your battery suddenly explodes.
What makes Battery unsafe?
A car battery contains sulphuric acid and anybody standing close to it will put his life into danger because if a battery explodes he will be showered by the sulphuric acid and the flying bits of the splintered battery body. Serious types of acid burns and blindness is expected.
Reasons of Battery Explosion
The major reason for battery explosion is wrong jump starting of cars while having dead batteries. Other major cause can be flames or sparks close to the battery vents.
My Experience of Battery Explosion
However, in my case, both the battery and the car were functioning normally and were in better form. One morning I got into my car, closed its door and as I switched on its ignition it made a big explosion. The explosion was somewhere inside the car.
I was moved by this ear shattering sound. I came out of my car and looked up all the windows because I thought somebody had fired a shot on them and the explosion was at any window. They were all ok and I then felt the bitter odor of an acid and then I came to know that the battery had been burst. In my car, the battery is fitted just under the back seat and that’s why I felt explosion somewhere inside. Thanks God the back seat and the battery compartment stopped the burnt flying parts and the acid.
It was a dirty task to clean out all the destroyed parts and taking up the acid and then neutralizing it but on the other hand I was fortunate that there was no serious damage to my car. Just have a think if a battery being jump started same like that with a man standing closed to it.
As the battery was not being jump started and all of the cable connections were tightly in place, it is really unexpected for this to happen.
After analyzing, I realized that the internal -ve connection to the plates was bad. It was a manufacturing fault. When the little high starter motor current ran through cables, this connection couldn’t bear it and produced a sparking inside the car battery that triggered the explosion.
How to Connect Jumper Cables
Always remember that whenever you will be attaching the jumper cables, it will create sparks when you make the last connection. These are the sparks, which fire up the hydrogen gas in the battery and make the explosion. That’s why it becomes necessary to connect the cables in the right manner.
Therefore, it is always advised to wear safety goggles and rubber hand gloves. Now I will tell you how to connect the jumper cables in right order:
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Connect one terminal of the red cable to the +ve point of the dead battery.
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Connect second end of that red cable to the +ve point of the battery of the starting vehicle.
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Connect one terminal of the black cable to the –ve point of the battery in the starting vehicle.
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Now make it sure that the clumps are connected well by wiggling them and checking them.
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Now connect second terminal of the black cable with the engine block of the vehicle having the dead battery. See if there any unpainted metal area; make sure the cable will remove anything moving when you start vehicle.
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Don’t connect the -ve cable to the dead battery because it can spark!
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Now start the booster car and run it for few minutes at slenderly greater RPM than leave the dead battery to charge just a little bit before starting the vehicle.
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Finally remove the cables. Do it in the reverse order as they were connected: start from disconnecting the cable from the engine block and continue in the same way.