CP
17-12-02, 10:27 PM
Right, I had a battery blow up in my face today. :crazyeye:
I'm OK but I thought I'd post up a bit of a warning about how easily it can happen.
I made 2 mistakes. The first was to make an assumption that someone elses kit would be safe and second i used the wrong procedure to unclip the jumper leads.
Basically I had to borrow someone else's telehandler. It's not been starting properly so they said and needed jumping to get going although there was life in the battery. I took out their double lorry battery jump start kit and connected it up as per normal ( positive to positive etc).
Started it all up OK but the frigging thing was missing and need a bit of revving to keep it going.
Anyway got it running and went round to disconnect the jump leads. As I removed one of the clips from the negative pole on the battery on the machine it blew up. It was situated in a purpose made container in a well in the bodywork with a lid on it. It blew the clip out of my hand and smashed my hand against the side of the container. Bits of debris cut my hand and face. Fortunately the battery was virtually empty of electrolite so i was lucky and didn't get covered in battery acid which would have been very nasty.
What had happened is that because the battery was iffy and was badly low on electrolite it was gassing quite severely due to being charged heavily by the alternator. A slight spark as I disconnected was all it needed to ignite the gases. It was in an enclosed space which held the accumulating gases. I did hear hissing but i thought it was the air system on a lorry that had just been parked next to it.
Therefore always do 2 things when jump starting:
1. Check the electrolite level - if its low it may gas badly. It made do anyway even if the level is OK so always assume that an iffy battery will gas.
2. If its sitting in an enclosed space connect it up first and disconnect it last
to minimise sparking risks in that area that is poorly ventilated.
I was also guilty of being complacent about something I do regularly.
You've been warned!
I'm OK but I thought I'd post up a bit of a warning about how easily it can happen.
I made 2 mistakes. The first was to make an assumption that someone elses kit would be safe and second i used the wrong procedure to unclip the jumper leads.
Basically I had to borrow someone else's telehandler. It's not been starting properly so they said and needed jumping to get going although there was life in the battery. I took out their double lorry battery jump start kit and connected it up as per normal ( positive to positive etc).
Started it all up OK but the frigging thing was missing and need a bit of revving to keep it going.
Anyway got it running and went round to disconnect the jump leads. As I removed one of the clips from the negative pole on the battery on the machine it blew up. It was situated in a purpose made container in a well in the bodywork with a lid on it. It blew the clip out of my hand and smashed my hand against the side of the container. Bits of debris cut my hand and face. Fortunately the battery was virtually empty of electrolite so i was lucky and didn't get covered in battery acid which would have been very nasty.
What had happened is that because the battery was iffy and was badly low on electrolite it was gassing quite severely due to being charged heavily by the alternator. A slight spark as I disconnected was all it needed to ignite the gases. It was in an enclosed space which held the accumulating gases. I did hear hissing but i thought it was the air system on a lorry that had just been parked next to it.
Therefore always do 2 things when jump starting:
1. Check the electrolite level - if its low it may gas badly. It made do anyway even if the level is OK so always assume that an iffy battery will gas.
2. If its sitting in an enclosed space connect it up first and disconnect it last
to minimise sparking risks in that area that is poorly ventilated.
I was also guilty of being complacent about something I do regularly.
You've been warned!