Battery explosion?

Has anyone heard or experienced this?

On changing the battery in our plane the other day, the A&P said, "You had a
battery explosion." On looking closely, I could see that the box was bowed
out and rounded as if someone had tried to inflate it with air. I'd
noticed that it wasn't exactly square and the cover didn't fit very well but
thought it was just poor workmanship.

He said it probably happened during starting from hydrogen build up that the
propwash hadn't had a chance to blow away yet and the pilot thought it was a
backfire. No harm done except we'll need a new box because of corrosion.
It could have happened years ago.

--
Roger Long

"Roger Long" om wrote in
message ...
Has anyone heard or experienced this?

Nope, but I guess it seems plausible. On my airplane, both batteries have
vents overboard to allow any gases out. I would hope that, even if gas
accumulated in the battery box, an ignition source wouldn't be forthcoming,
but I guess I can't rule that out.

Maybe as part of the repairs, you should add vents to the battery box or
batteries (my batteries each have a vent built in, to which a hose leading
outside is connected).

Pete

"Peter Duniho" wrote in message ...
"Roger Long" om wrote in
message ...
Has anyone heard or experienced this?

Nope, but I guess it seems plausible. On my airplane, both batteries have
vents overboard to allow any gases out. I would hope that, even if gas
accumulated in the battery box, an ignition source wouldn't be forthcoming,
but I guess I can't rule that out.

I had it happen in my truck. Battery exploded but evidently kept working but
was leaking acid slowly all over the battery holder and into the cables. Had to
get them all replaced.

It actually wasn't the battery which exploded in this case (unless it was
long ago and didn't make it into the logs). It was the gas around the
battery. The battery was fine.

--
Roger Long

Ron Natalie wrote in message
m...

"Peter Duniho" wrote in message
...
"Roger Long" om wrote
in
message ...
Has anyone heard or experienced this?

Nope, but I guess it seems plausible. On my airplane, both batteries
have
vents overboard to allow any gases out. I would hope that, even if gas
accumulated in the battery box, an ignition source wouldn't be
forthcoming,
but I guess I can't rule that out.

I had it happen in my truck. Battery exploded but evidently kept working
but
was leaking acid slowly all over the battery holder and into the cables.
Had to
get them all replaced.

"something" = master relay contacts (generally bolted to the back or side of the
battery box), alternator slip rings, starter commutator/brushes, generator
commutator/brushes...

Jim



"G.R. Patterson III"
shared these priceless pearls of wisdom:

-gasses were produced as the alternator charged the battery and something set
it
-off.



Jim Weir (A&P/IA, CFI, & other good alphabet soup)
VP Eng RST Pres. Cyberchapter EAA Tech. Counselor
http://www.rst-engr.com

Experienced; In a U6-A, had a battery explosion.
Heard of; In an O1-A, A classmate had a battery explosion.

"Roger Long" om wrote in
message ...
Has anyone heard or experienced this?

On changing the battery in our plane the other day, the A&P said, "You had
a
battery explosion." On looking closely, I could see that the box was
bowed
out and rounded as if someone had tried to inflate it with air. I'd
noticed that it wasn't exactly square and the cover didn't fit very well
but
thought it was just poor workmanship.

He said it probably happened during starting from hydrogen build up that
the
propwash hadn't had a chance to blow away yet and the pilot thought it was
a
backfire. No harm done except we'll need a new box because of corrosion.
It could have happened years ago.

--
Roger Long

Roger Long wrote:

Has anyone heard or experienced this?

It's not uncommon for batteries to explode during charging if they've been deeply
discharged. It's a good idea to remove the caps on batteries that have them when
charging one.

Your mechanic is correct. What probably happened is that the battery was deeply
discharged starting the plane on an occasion on which it was hard to start. The
gasses were produced as the alternator charged the battery and something set it
off.

George Patterson
Great discoveries are not announced with "Eureka!". What's usually said is
"Hummmmm... That's interesting...."

Morgans wrote:


Funny that this should come up. I had my first experience with battery
explosions, this past Friday.

An associate was charging a tractor battery with a large automotive charger
at a high rate, and asked me to come over to see if I thought it was
charging well. I went to see, and it was bubbling away to beat the band.
He then reached down to check the tightness of the charger on the terminal.
All this happened so fast, and I was not able to prevent what you all know
happen next. It sparked, and let out a very surprisingly loud, BAM!!!. A
little acid splashed about, but fortunately, I wear glasses, so no great
harm was done, other than seriously ringing eardrums.

If that large of an explosion went off in a battery box, it is lucky that it
didn't completely split it open.

Sh*t. More hearing shot to hell, that I don't have to give!


Reminds me of my high-school days when two friends were doing some welding with
a oxy-acetylene torch. During a break, they decided to capture a small amount
of near-stoichiometric gas mixture in a sandwich-sized plastic bag, tie off the
end, and put a match to it ('just to see what would happen'.) I entered the
garage just as my friend was bringing the match next to the bag.

The bag instantly exploded with absolutely no smoke or residue, but with the
loudest BANG I had ever heard. All three of us walked out of the garage with
our ears ringing, temporarily unable to hear normal conversation. Nobody hurt,
and hearing came back after a few minutes, but ears still ringing even after a
half hour or so.

"Roger Long" om wrote in
message ...
Has anyone heard or experienced this?

On changing the battery in our plane the other day, the A&P said, "You had
a
battery explosion." On looking closely, I could see that the box was
bowed
out and rounded as if someone had tried to inflate it with air. I'd
noticed that it wasn't exactly square and the cover didn't fit very well
but
thought it was just poor workmanship.

He said it probably happened during starting from hydrogen build up that
the
propwash hadn't had a chance to blow away yet and the pilot thought it was
a
backfire. No harm done except we'll need a new box because of corrosion.
It could have happened years ago.

--
Roger Long


Funny that this should come up. I had my first experience with battery
explosions, this past Friday.

An associate was charging a tractor battery with a large automotive charger
at a high rate, and asked me to come over to see if I thought it was
charging well. I went to see, and it was bubbling away to beat the band.
He then reached down to check the tightness of the charger on the terminal.
All this happened so fast, and I was not able to prevent what you all know
happen next. It sparked, and let out a very surprisingly loud, BAM!!!. A
little acid splashed about, but fortunately, I wear glasses, so no great
harm was done, other than seriously ringing eardrums.

If that large of an explosion went off in a battery box, it is lucky that it
didn't completely split it open.

Sh*t. More hearing shot to hell, that I don't have to give!
--
Jim in NC

Mark Mallory wrote in
:

Reminds me of my high-school days when two friends were doing some
welding with a oxy-acetylene torch. During a break, they decided to
capture a small amount of near-stoichiometric gas mixture in a
sandwich-sized plastic bag, tie off the end, and put a match to it

Wimps... we used to use those plastic clothes bags (which tend to leak
badly, by the way). [Of course, we also melted a small aluminum TV antenna
this way one day... ]

Thinking back on it all, it's very surprising that we survived to what now
passes for adulthood.

-----------------------------------------------
James M. Knox
TriSoft ph 512-385-0316
1109-A Shady Lane fax 512-366-4331
Austin, Tx 78721
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