Blown Up Battery

[Hooky.]

G'day Raiders

Got back last night from a four day "boys weekend" away on the Hawkesbury. All was well until Friday morning when I was all "amped up", literally, to go for a spin in the tinnie.

Getting all worked up and excited I put the deep cycle battery in the boat, put the hatch down and all of a sudden "BOOM".

An aluminium bracket on the hatch crossed over both terminals on the battery and the 4th of July was a happrning thing.

The darn thing blew up like there was no tomorrow and the space under the hatch lit up like the sun.

Acid every where and when I opened the hatch everything was glowing. Luckily I was pushing the hatch down and whilst my pressure of leaning down on the hatch was enough to smother the "blast", it did tend to have a bit of an upwards force about it.

Lesson learnt, make sure there is nothing in the way that will arc out the terminals.

Note to self: Stop and think before acting and make sure there is good light when installing a battery so you can see what you are doing. Don't let the excitement of fishing get in the way of safety.

I was lucky but it could have been worse.

Hopefully my mistake can be a lesson for all.

Never say "it won't happen to me."

[Outnumbered]

wow you sure are lucky it didnt get you,

just a tip to be on the safe side after you wash out the acid throw around alot of sodium bicarb to neutalise any acid residue.

now i'm going out to have a look around my batteries

Edited July 11, 2005 by Outnumbered

[Hooky.]

just a tip to be on the safe side after you wash out the acid throw around alot of sodium bicarb to neutalise any acid residue.

57499[/snapback]

Thanks for the tip there Brian.

I never thought of that, I just gave the boat a good hosing out.

cheers

Hooky

[Outnumbered]

I'm sure that acid would make short work of skin and eyes.

57508[/snapback]

forget the skin and eyes save the boat !!!!!

(just kidding hooky)

[Ozy]

When I bought my new boat I asked the question on a few forums whether or not I should use a battery box as I had a battery tray built into the bow. I did end up using a box but there were few guys telling me not to worry about it.

Hooky's experience has just highlighted the advantage of keeping your battery in an acid proof battery box.

[Hooky.]

forget the skin and eyes save the boat !!!!! 

(just kidding hooky)

57510[/snapback]

No problems there Brian, I copped those jokes on the weekend as well.

When I bought my new boat I asked the question on a few forums whether or not I should use a battery box as I had a battery tray built into the bow. I did end up using a box but there were few guys telling me not to worry about it.

Hooky's experience has just highlighted the advantage of keeping your battery in an acid proof battery box.

I won't argue with you on that Ozy.

[Guest Jocool]

How many Lotto tickets did you go out and buy after buying a new battery Hooky?

Good to see it ended the way it did. Could have been a lot worse!

[Hooky.]

Hahaha, never thought of buying a lottery ticket. Probably won't have any change left after I buy another battery.

A good tip on the bi-carb soda. A question though.

How is the bi-carb soda applied? In powder form as it comes when first bought in the pack or added to water, sprayed on and allowed to dry on the aluminium?

cheers

Hooky

[Outnumbered]

either powder form or mixed with water will do, if the area is small enough and water tight fill it with water and mix in the bi carb then get an aqurium ph test kit and make sure it reads as being very alkaline and leave it about an hour, then rinse it out.

if your just using powder make sure you get it in any crevices leave it a while then wash it out under low pressure to flush it through.

hope that helps mate

[Hooky.]

Thanks for your help and reply Brian.

cheers

Hooky

[Guest bluecod]

In one respect, very lucky indeed!

Hope you don't forget to treat the underside of surfaces as well, though by this time any major problems would already be evident.

[wombat]

Hmmm....nasty. Praise the Good Lord he's keeping you for somethin special. That battery really coped it good. Thanks for the warning Hooksey.

Wombat

[Hooky.]

Even though I've probably made a goose of myself in some way by posting up my foolishness, it has certainly helped me learn by everyones replies and thoughts.

Thanks.

cheers

Hooky

[Warpig]

I thought of this post last night when I was putting 12 V through the trailer harness so I could detect a leak-to-earth at the tail lights and found the fault sooner than I expected... nice big fat spark when I closed the circuit, but no bang.

I traced the leak with the ohmmeter after that little exercise in idiocy...

[Hooky.]

And a few have learned from your momentary foolishness. Thanks Paul. Check Trev's signature

57693[/snapback]

It is important to learn from ones mistakes

It is cheaper to learn from other's mistakes!

Oh so true.

[Hooky.]

Hooky,

Just for interests sake, had you just charged the battery??

BTW - Remember our site sponsor for the replacment battery. I'm sure they will beat anyones price!!

57820[/snapback]

G'day Jimbo

Yes the battery was fully charged. I charged it the night before and then again a half hour top up before putting it in the boat that morning. The fact that it was charged to the hilt probably helped it blow up like it did.

As for the new battery, it's all sorted out and will be delivered to me at the Ausbream social on Sunday morning.

Ended up getting a 100amp/hr Delkor no maintenance battery (which is what I was wanting) from Yabbie Marine through Ben (wakd) and he more than helped out with price matching and as for customer service, 'ya can't beat getting a fully charged, ready to go battery delivered to you at 6.30 am on a Sunday.

Thankfully Ben is fishing the social as well and I doubt he would normally practice such habits on a Sunday morning.

cheers

Hooky