Miata Explosion!

[Rogue]

I got in my LE this morning and when I tuned the key the battery exploded.

No EXPLODED! Like something from Hawaii Five-O.

well no fire, but I had the hardtop on. That will wake you up.

The battery is blown out on both sides and top, but the pan caught the liquid.

I have not had a battery blow-up before, although I have heard about it.

There was no warning, and it was a Mazda battery.

[Ted the Red]

Wow! everything alright didn't blow out the quarter panel did it?

[trickyrix]

Holy CRAP, man! That sounds like not a lot of fun... everything OK now?

[tailchaser]

Surprised that didn't happen when we did the overnight engine swap in Stretch's garage a few years ago...

Battery was too weak, so he grabbed the nearest charger and plugged it up... battery juice came pouring out onto the garage floor.

[Nexus Flux]

Wow, hope you and the car are OK

I have heard of the fumes possibly igniting from a spark, but that's still crazy

[channelmaniac]

Sounds like an old battery... the sludge in the bottom eventually builds up to the point it shorts the cells.

Thankfully it's rare.

You should wash out the whole trunk with some kind of soda solution to neutralize the acid before it eats the trunk out.

[MadMonkey]

WOW! Hope the car is okay

You should wash out the whole trunk with some kind of soda solution to neutralize the acid before it eats the trunk out.

+1, that stuff is nasty. I was changing golf cart batteries recently and accidentally splashed some on my shirt... it fell apart the next day

[black roadster]

Sorry to hear that Rogue. Hope there is no permanent damage.

[Billy Blaze]

What a mess to clean up, sounds like nothing major though just scary and a PITA to clean up after.
Sorry that happened to you Stevan.

[Ataim]

The insulation in the back of a Miata is VERY flamable. You got lucky.

[redmenace]

...it was a Mazda battery.

Do you mean the Miata-specific (AGM) unit? Also curious how old it was...

Sounds like an old battery... the sludge in the bottom eventually builds up to the point it shorts the cells.

Isn't this only true of wet-cell batteries?

[channelmaniac]

Nope... batteries are batteries... Any of them will flake off materials from the plates. It's just harder for that material to build up in the bottom of the casing when the plates are wedged with material between them in the AGM batteries but it still happens. That's why batteries have space between the bottom of the casing and the plates - for all that crap to settle out to the bottom and not short the plates.

[bnordin]

This sounds very strange!?! How are you and the little lady getting along these days. I didn't want to say it but I thought you married over your head.

[onething]

Nope... batteries are batteries... Any of them will flake . . . - for all that crap to settle out to the bottom and not short the plates.

I knew they would short circuit from sediment build up; that's why a marine battery has a bigger space in the bottom of the jar*, but I just never heard of that causing them to go boom.

I've seen them arc and ignite the hydrogen around the posts when being connected for charging or jump starting, I've seen them explode when the clamp was not tight and arced, and I've seen them explode from external heat sources (welding, camp fires, and D cells being placed in my Mom's brand new oven to rejuvenate them).

Neutralize the whole back of the car ASAP as someone suggested. Glad nobody was leaning over the battery like my old boss. He got double black eyes and smashed glasses when he wiggled the cable on his wife's car

*Marine batteries are expected to get deeper cycles and flake more, so they leave more space at the bottom of the jar.

[cam76034]

Between this story and the one my wife told me recently about a coworker whose husband was mixing up some shock for the pool and it exploded in his face...I think I'll start wearing eye protection when working around batteries and pool chems from now on.

[Titus]

Between this story and the one my wife told me recently about a coworker whose husband was mixing up some shock for the pool and it exploded in his face...I think I'll start wearing eye protection when working around batteries and pool chems from now on.

Details on the pool chem story?

[cam76034]

As related to me, he was mixing shock and water in a bucket. It exploded with a force that rattled the windows and burned his arms and face. Only thing I've ever noticed on the fine print not to pour water on top of dry shock. I don't know if that's what he was doing or not, but she hasn't been back to work as he's still in the hospital.

[Titus]

As related to me, he was mixing shock and water in a bucket. It exploded with a force that rattled the windows and burned his arms and face. Only thing I've ever noticed on the fine print not to pour water on top of dry shock. I don't know if that's what he was doing or not, but she hasn't been back to work as he's still in the hospital.

Yikes. Note to self... don't pre-mix shock.

[Nexus Flux]

That is also the same reason why stores do not store any liquids in the overhead above the pool shock. I used to help merchandize pool chemicals for an Arch chemicals sales rep.

[CosmosMpower]

Man, between hearing all these stories about exploding pool chemicals and fishing trees out of them after every TX storm I'm definitely not getting a pool when I buy a house.