Battery charger--the silent killer

Not trying to hijack the thread, but Hagerty had an article in their monthly newsletter a while ago ,about a policyholder who had a battery tender malfunction and cause the battery to explode(under the floor) and did $7000.00 damage to the vehicle.

 

Nothing is fool proof, things do happen, I am a firefighter and all our trucks have on board trickle type chargers and the trucks are plugged in whenever they are in the bay. If they do malfunction and fire happens, that is what insurance is for. There is nothing in this world that is 100% preventable, somebody will always find an exception. I think the takeaway message is, try to prevent as much as you can. I too have charged batteries while they were in the car. I do not sit there and watch it, but I do other tasks near the charging battery and I check it frequently. If it was 100 percent preventable, fire departments would be unnecessary as would fire insurance.

 

That is a terrible thing that happened to your friend.Glad he's alright,though. Thank you for the reminder.

 

I've never heard of alternators blowing up batteries or burning down garages.

 

It'll burn down your garage.

 

I put a load tester on a battery once, turned the knob and happened to look away right when it exploded. I was dazed, it was like a bomb going off, and my right side was covered in acid. When I realized what happened I ran to the bathroom and started washing my self with water. My shirt was rags by that time and just kind of fell off. I had mild burns on my arm and side of my face, but I was fortunate to not have been looking directly at the battery when it blew.
Be careful with carbon pile load testers.

 

Years ago I had a charging problem with a O/T car. I would charge then it would drain down etc. Replaced alt, and put charger on battery one day, I turned around and that sum ***** blew up. Found bits of the battery up the street in my neighbors yard. One hellava mess to clean up.

 

Before charging a battery I always take the cell caps off and place a damp rag over the openings and leave the rag in place and keep it damp during charging. The hydrogen from the battery combines with the water (H2O2) and greatly reduces the possibility of an explosion.

 

Have you ever heard of alternators failing because people tried to use them instead of a battery charger? Probably more likely than blowing up a battery with the charger.