I was welding on the alternator bracket. Suddenly, explosion in the garage ! The battery was connected to the charger and exploded . Hot and acid smell. I had to vent 15 minutes before returning in the garage. I first thought the - was connected to the ground, it s not the case. I don t really understand what happened .... Conclusion : don t be as stupid as I ve been, disconnect when welding .. Enjoy ..
VERY VERY simple! the battery being charged was producing hydrogen gas and a welding spark lit it off.
Maybe hydrogen ... But I was welding 2 feet away from the battery, and the caps was on it. I find surprising the arc from the welder could ignite from so far. Fact : lesson learned . It was a quite new battery At least there s been no other damage or injury. In fact, my mind was on the bracket I make and I totally forgot about the battery .
Yeah. If your charging a battery, it will "gas" and it will explode on you. My buddy warned his boss, his bosses reply was "shut up monkey, I'm in charge".....cuz he was a dick, two seconds later, blam! The motor cycle battery he was standing over while doing something electric blew up in his face, covered him in acid, ruined the customers paint, he went to the ER, messed him up bad. 2nd degree burns, lucky he didn't go blind! Careful fellas...
It was connected to the charger since yesterday, so I suppose charged. In this case, there s not much gas and bubbles forming. It seems it was enough . But I don t think it s the reason. The battery was really hot. If the explosion was caused by hydrogen, the heat would not warm the whole battery. No time enough for this. Put a pint of fuel on a half gallon of water in a bucket and ignite it. It will take time before the whole water goes to 110 Farenheit. I didn t measure the temp, but it was between warm and hot. For some reason, I think it received the voltage from the welder.
I've been witness to 2 exploding batteries. Both times they were being charged and unexpectedly went off. Both disintigrated the cases and the sound was similar to a 12 gauge at close range. I respect the power of a car battery.
You asked what the heck happen and now your doubting what everyone is telling you .. next time you might not be so lucky, good luck with that.
MIG. The ground was connected 4 " away from the tip. I know this is a stupid incident. We always think it will never happen to us . Only the stupid "others " . I just forgot about the battery ...... No damage, no injury. I may even save it by sealing with epoxy Always good to take mention of the risk . It really make a huge sound. I supposed my neighbor think I suicide tonight with a gun 1 1/2 hour later, I still have bees in the ears Nice side effect : we have a lot of mosquitoes here since 3 days. The acid vapor made them leave the garage
So this battery was out of a car on the bench, charging, right? Sparks form welding made it ignite? I've heard of battery's blowing up if hooked up in the car and welding on the car. Just trying to get this straight in my head, for future reference to be safe in the shop. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
In fact I posted this a a reference for safety. I always take care about this. I ve working as a carpenter, machine shop and others funny things. I still have 10 fingers, 10 toes and 2 eyes I have to be in shape for my kids . Gabriel is 7 y/o today the 30 May .. We all think accidents happen to stupid guys we see on the Fail compilation on Youtube. We all think stupid things won t happen to "US" Me. You. . We are so careful, so clever that just idiots redneck hurt themselves working on their car ... Darwin Award is also a nice source of inspiration. I just forgot about the charger and BOOM . For info, it s a 1966 car. so OT here. A Rambler Ambassador in which I swap a 258 from a 1978 Concorde, a TBI through modified Rochester B as throttle ( 3 in fact , 2 for the injectors and one for the IAC ), and a M62 Eaton supercharger.
I saw this once in a log truck getting a welding repair - while the battery was in the truck, connected. It blew the lid off the battery box, and destroyed half the battery. Also, I had a battery detonate under the hood of an O.T. Jeep while I was driving it - and I thought (at the time) it was from overcharging from a faulty regulator. Was the charger set on a high or trickle setting?
I measured the charger output. i give a nice 14.5 volts. I ve had once a bad regulator, and the battery dropped to 17 volts. I won t say it liked it ... But it didn t explode. Nor overheat.
I m a former "electro mecanicien" ( don t know the english word, I m french ) and been working for years in electronic. I know how to use a meter. I didn t find any reason yet ..
2 things i see wrong; 1 charging with the caps on ..big no no, nowhere for it to vent and pressure will build up while charging, 2 welding near a charging battery another big no no, as stated sparks make them go BOOM!! Always pull the caps off and charge with them off so you don't build up pressure and explode it, also never weld near a battery, aerosol can; ie wd40, starting fluid ,paint etc, them little spit balls will melt through things you would never expect them to.
I totally agree. It was not a nice idea. But who doesn t make any mistake ? Read above. I usually take care .. All the inflamable liquid or gas are stored outside my garage. To avoid the BOOM effect. There s even not a single piece of paper or fabric here ... Shit happens .
Had nothing to do with the battery being hooked up. Never have any open flame or spark near any battery. Yes, they will explode. your lucky you had your welding helmet on. Acid + eye = BAD!
I use to do Commercial Traffic Enforcement. All exposed batteries required a cover just for those circumstances. When I had a bracket welded on my '32, the first thing the welder did was disconnect the battery. And that was with a battery in the trunk that was covered too. The bracket that was welded was on the front end.
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