Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Battery explosions

[atozed@juno.com]

I have had a car battery explode when I connected jumper cables. It was
low on water, getting lots of charge, so it had room for and produced
lots of hydrogen/oxygen mixture. Worse than just acid and bits of plastic
case all over, some of both were injected into my hand. Keep sparks away
and keep the fluid level correct. Remove vent caps to allow hydrogen to
escape.

IDEA: Fill the space above the acid with oil, put the battery in a box
filled with oil, leave it outside the sub in ambient pressure. A cheap
version of Deep Flight's gel cell container.
-Peter Korwin


On Sun, 23 Nov 2003 17:49:32 -0600 David Buchner <buchner@wcta.net>
writes:
> 
> On Sunday, November 23, 2003, at 10:49 AM, Michael B Holt wrote:
> 
> > Why does this happen?
> >
> > I can understand hydrogen buildup in sealed compartments.
> > A dead short on a 12v car battery, it seems, can rupture the
> > battery case (I saw the result at Sears Automotive).
> >
> > Other than that, what happens?
> 
> I, too, would like to know this. I've had mechanic-types tell me 
> their  stories of hooking up jumper cables, making a spark, and having 
> sulfuric acid and bits of plastic case all over them the next 
> instant. 
> I've never understood just what would cause that: it seems like any 
 hydrogen bubbled off would be pretty quickly diffused out into the 
> air, and it seems like a discharged battery, needing a jump, wouldn't 
> have  been bubbling hydrogen before the spark, anyway.
> 
> Hmmm. I await a wisdom-transfer.