Battery Explodes

[Brett Dikeman]

At 8:37 AM -0800 10/31/02, <audi90sq at yahoo.com> wrote:
>Mine just blew up last week.  I live in the desert and
>apparently it is quite common out here.  When the
>liquid level in the batter drops due to evaporation,
>pockets of hydrogen gas build up in the battery.  At a
>certain point the slightest little spark ( when you
>turn the key) will blow the thing sky high.

As the level drops in the battery, the battery's voltage and capacity
drops as well.

This causes normal charging to overcharge the battery, which causes
the battery to offgas(consuming electrolyte in the process.)

It is important to keep an eye on the cell levels for exactly this
reason...particularly if you need to charge it up after leaving the
lights on or similar.  If the battery doesn't hold a charge- don't
just keep charging it back up with a charger, you may be doing
further damage, check the battery out first.

AAA has some good basic info for most folks that I came across doing
a quick search with google:

http://www.csaa.com/global/articledetail/0,8055,1004010304%257C2034,00.html

Brett
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