In article ,
RB wrote:

RJ wrote:
"Joseph Gwinn" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"RJ" wrote:

"Joseph Gwinn" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Gunner Asch wrote:

On Mon, 22 Sep 2008 08:38:22 -0600, "RJ" wrote:

"Joseph Gwinn" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Gunner Asch wrote:

[snip]
I was driving on the 57 Freeway (So. California) about 5 yrs ago
when
there was a WHOOMP under the hood, a reverse dent came up on the
far
front and all the dust under the hood spurted out, at 55mph.

Pulling over, I lifted the hood to find the top of my battery
missing.
Not a shred anywhere to be found.

Amp gauge showed normal, and it restarted just fine. I ran as
gently
as I could to the Autozone, and bought a new battery and installed
it
in the parking lot.

Never could figure out why it went Kaboom!, as everything was
normal
and nominal and I put another 200,000 miles on the new battery
(which
is still in the truck and starts it every two weeks.
I would bet on a bad voltage regulator overcharging the battery and
thus
generating too much hydrogen and oxygen, coupled with a blocked
relief
vent, so the overpressure popped the top off the battery. Note
that
the
hydrogen and oxygen probably did not ignite, for lack of a spark.

Joe Gwinn
Internal short/spark.

Thats my thinking. There wasnt a bit of dust left anywhere in the
engine compartment......I thought the radiator had exploded for the
cloud of smoog coming out everywhere
Could be. But if there was a real Hydrogen-Oxygen explosion, I am
skeptical that there would be any battery left. That's why I opted for
a blocked vent.

Joe Gwinn
You may notice that in battery explosions, ...
I've never had the pleasure.


the battery above the liquid
level is gone, from the liquid level down the case is still there. When
it
happened to me, the two battery poles were still there. Started the
truck
and used it to drive to a water source to wash off the acid. As a side
note, it was nearly as loud as a shotgun going off.
You have the same experience as Gunner. If it was static overpressure,
I would expect the top to pop off (busting at the seams). Are you
saying that the sidewalls down to the liquid level also vanished?

Joe Gwinn

Yes. The acid (liquid) was up to the top of the existing case. In my
case,
my battery exploded because of my stupidity, there was no internal spark
but
an external one.

Same here. Battery on floor, bent over and connected charger.
BOOM!
Battery top missed my face by about 2 RCHs, hit the 12-ft ceiling above.
Not even any acid on me. I was very lucky.
I'm smarter now.

I think I'm convinced - these are true hydrogen-oxygen explosions.

Joe Gwinn