jonstringer

I have a 18 month old Interstate Battery that blew it's top to bits when I tried to start my car. It sounded like a rifle firing under my hood. I keep my receipts for such and incident, but it turns out that the battery warranty doesn't cover exploding batteries. They told me that the battery was more than likely low on water. I did know that batteries had water in them, but I did not know it was the consumer's responsibility to check water levels. Then they tell me that if I were to check the water levels, that i would have taken out of warranty that way as well. So... It turns out the water levels in your battery can only be checked and filled by their brand named battery licensed seller. Maybe this is common knowledge to most of you, but I have learned a great deal. I have always been the type to buy a battery and get about 5-7 years of use out of it, then replace it. I've learned my lesson.

ztim

That is a new one on me too, Jon. Did you buy the battery at a major retailer? I've had batteries go bad before and never had a problem...even at wally-world. I'll have to keep that in mind and read the fine print. Catch 22.

68conv455

Interesting situation. Batteries do emit explosive gas during charging. That is why when jumping you should always place the negative jumper last on a ground away from the dead battery. When I was a kid I whitnessed a neighbor attempt to re-connect a battery charger when the top of the battery blew completely off. Always be careful with this situation. Never though, heard of a battery blow during starting. For an explosion, you need an ignition source (spark), combustable material (gas from battery charging), and oxygen (air). In this case, you would have to assume the battery was recently charging, and, a spark occurred at the battery. Oxygen just happens automatically.

Lady72nRob71

Wow - sorry to hear about that - I hope you rinsed out the acid that splattered everywhere...

IF the top caps came off easily, then my common knowledge says that I am responsible for keeping the levels up. I have understood it like that for years. The last motorcycle battery I bought even stated it was the consumers job to maintain water levels...

All my batteries for the last 10+ years have been maintanence free, so I have not kept up with the fine print.

NOW, do you think people at discount stores are going to be maintaining people's batteries? Does your warranty info really tell you someone else must check it? That just sounds weird...

Given this, I am gonna look at the paperwork for the battery my 72 has. It was from wally-world and it DOES need water. In fact I had to add some a while back and I need to chech it again...

68conv455

Funny story on this battery explosion. The guy who did it got struck above the eye with a piece of battery plastic and started bleeding. He was running around the driveway swearing my f*****g eye my F*****g eye over and over. My buddy and I were looking on with our schwinns parked near by and couldn't believe it. I must have been about 10 years old and never heard that kind of talk. He was Ok and shortly after rode his bike to Ty-quan-do (sp.?) lessons. Days later, after my clothes came back from washing and they were littered with little holes from the acid. The teenager that did it was a maniac but I later respected him when he joined and served in the Marines.
Never the less. I respect batteries and always have caution when jumping/charging.

musicars

The battery on our '72 did the same thing this spring when we took it out of storage. I quickly checked the voltage of the alternator and found it to be 17.99 volts. The alternator was over-charging and I'm guessing the battery could not vent the gases fast enough. They had to go somewhere. Check your voltage just in case. I'm still trying to solve the over-charging (It's in another post on this site). Good luck.

Oldsguy

It sure is restrictive to require their "qualified" service persons to be the ones to service the battery. As far as I know, battery maintenance is one of the most basic automotive chores, the kind of thing I learned when I was a kid in high school and worked at the local Texaco station as a pump-monkey. We were taught how to check under the hood for fluids, worn belts, battery fluid levels, and then wash the windows and check the wiper blades all while the tank was getting filled (by us, full service). Upon request we would check tire levels and do additional quick service at the pump. I know that station sold thousands of dollars worth of wiper blades, washer fluid, oil, transmission fluid, etc. because of this program. That place had hundreds of dedicated customers that we knew by name. But, a little off track there, sorry. About the battery exploding during the start up process. Check you cables and starter motor, you must have been pulling some excessive current someplace to cause the battery to self ignite, even with the presence of the fumes due to the low fluid level. Having the voltage regulator/alternator checked would not be a bad idea too, something had to dry the battery out and excessive charging and discharging is about the only thing that can do it, short of a cracked/leaky case. By the way, that might be something to investigate, the possibility of a cracked case (manufacturing defect) may have caused it to leak and dry out.

Olds64

WHOA! Glad to hear that you are ok.

Lady72nRob71

So I finally remembered to look at the paperwork that came with my battery from Wally...
It was just a store receipt with a "date validation" for warranty. No instructions or anything else came with it. Nothing like that on the battery. SO, I will assume it is my job to maintain it.

When I got the car home after my 1700 mile trip from SC, three cells needed quite a bit of water (plates well exposed), and some low, so I topped it all off with distilled water.
Now, about 1000 miles later, no water was needed.
Makes me wonder if it even came filled properly from the store!

Texascarnut

I suspect they have that provision in their warranty because of people putting tap water into a battery instead of distilled water. Tap water has a lot of impurities in it which will kill a battery in short order, just like it will eventually kill a radiator with aluminum tubes.