Has anybody have their battery explode?

[seemore]

A couple of weeks ago, driving home I heard a chime warning and the check engine lite came on. Voltage meter went to about 10-11 volts. Made it home (about 5 miles). Discovered the passanger side battery had blew both fill caps off. Of course battery acid everywhere! Cleaned every thing up & installed 2 new batteries. Every thing seems normal now, battery charging now between 13-14 volts.

I've seen batteries explode when you jump them hooked backwards. But not just driving down the road. Any Ideas? Truck is 2006 with 30k.

 

[JMarketos]

two scenarios that could cause that (there may be others... )
[1] Alternator's Voltage regulator fails in the shorted position, raising the charging Voltage way above the typical 14V, can result in damage to various electrics on truck, also will over-charge batteries to the point of overheat and bursting.

[2] Alternator & regulator fine, a battery can develop an internal short (piece of a plate brakes off & migrates around inside battery where it shouldn't be). Causes that one battery to draw heavy current and dissipate lots of power (heat), eventually bursting.

Sounds strongly like you encountered [2]. The low system Voltage you saw could have been the shorted battery drawing heavy current from the alternator (and other battery).

imho it was probably a smart move to replace BOTH batteries together, though some others may feel no need to replace the one that hadn't failed. Also imho, I'd keep a suspicious eye on the alternator Voltage regulator going forward. Not suggesting at all that the regulator caused the failure you just encountered. No, I believe that was probably a simple battery defect. But when that battery failed, evidence is that it may have put a huge load on the alternator for some period of time, so the regulator (maybe the brushes also) might have been over-taxed and lifetime shortened. Others might tell you it's fine and I'm just a pessimist.

 

[AH64ID]

It's common to have issues if the cross-over cable is loose or corroded with poor connectivity. The battery temp sensor is below the drivers batt and the ECM gets power from the drivers side, and the alternator hooks up to the pass side. . So if you have a bad connection between drivers and pass the drivers the ECM will see a cool/undercharged battery and crank up the voltage which fails the pass side.

 

[TCDiesel]

Happens all the time. . when the oil monkeys change Batteries.

 

[seemore]

JMarketos, I'm thinking #2 scenerio, because when I unhooked only the passenger side battery, it went to charging normally. I would NEVER replace only one battery! And the funny thing was I had 2 brand new batteries in the garage waiting for a nice day to replace them. Bummer 1 day too late!!#@$%!





AH64ID, That sounds good, but I have cleaned both batteries yearly. When I installed the new ones the inside of the terminals were clean as a whistle!!:-laf

But I could sure see how that could happen!



TCDiesel, I have definately seen that happen, but I was just driving, mind my own business.



Thanks for your replies.



Seemore

 

[pitahui]

I had a battery explode one night when starting my truck.
I went to a Taco Bell, stopped the truck, went in and ordered. Went back to my truck (take out order) and when I turned the key to start it BANG lights out. Had to get a tow.
Talk about dropping your Chalupa... .....
I figured it was a defective battery and a buildup of hydrogen.

 

[JMarketos]

AH64ID- thanks for the explanation. That makes lots of sense and seems to reveal the underlying cause.

pitahui- x2. I've had lots of things explode after going to Taco Bell... .

 

[KKohagen]

Low water/electrolyte level inside one of the cells, overcharge, extra hydrogen production/build-up, vent possibbly clogged, spark or excessive electrical load..... bam and kapow! I had a similar thing happen to a Durango on a nice hot afternoon.
IMHO good idea to change both batteries out.