The battery just exploded

Boiled out the go go juice and it was full of hydrogen. Bad connection, little spark, and kerblooie!

I ONLY use tenders for long term storage. Anything else is watched carefully. I have a AC/Delco wheeled plug in one that will push 300+ amps.

 

Would this have happened if OP used jumper cables?

 

it happens.

had a customer call in that their generator wasn't running. went to check battery voltage, and found this



that is with generac's built-in charger/maintainer circuit, with cold weather heating pad.

swapped in a new battery, verified charging voltage was still good, and never heard from him again...

 

Charging batteries produce hydrogen gas that's life but some thing needs to set it off. It's not the battery in 90 percent of the time

 

I have an electric gate and the battery is charged by a solar panel. It tended to boil the battery dry after a time. Once the gate wouldn’t open and I had to get somewhere on schedule. I hooked up one of those mini jump boxes to the battery, got back in my truck and hit the remote. BANG!

Did you check the water level in the battery before charging?

I put a charge controller between the solar panel and battery which solved the boiling off problem.

 

Flex Tape will fix that right up, just make sure to fill it with distilled water.

 

I'm no battery pro by any means but when I was working with lift gates at work I had a battery that was giving off rotten egg smell and ca-boom. So the battery was old and as it's life died out itas you were cranking it it swelled and blew. Glad you were'nt hurt.
As for the battery tender been using 1 for 30 years no way it caused that as it has a fuse in the line. There is only mode like you stated I have a 4 bank in the shop running now with all the zero degree weather we had.
Batteries get old don't sweat it toss in another battery and call it a day and move on.

 

Very lucky man you are!

 

I'm glad you explained the issue. After reading your post my 1st thought was the tender wasn't tendering.

Certainly glad you are ok!

I'd pick up a can or two of CRC battery cleaner/acid neutralizer and redo underhood very carefully. Water and baking soda was a start. But if the acid got into any crevices, wiring harness joints/taped areas that you didn't reach, future problems will be tough to trace.

Personal experience with an engine bay soaking with acid from a burst battery (vehicle accident) says trust me on this. Little expense, some effort, worth it.