Roger Long wrote:
Larry,

Satisfy my curiosity here. I've seen the aftermath of two battery
explosions so I know they happen and are serious when they do.
However, with all those cars racing around bouncing and jolting their
cheap, thin plate batteries that usually aren't replaced until the
motor won't turn over, I've never heard of an auto battery explosion.
I'm sure they happen but it's got to be statistically rare for one not
to have come to my direct notice.

I understand that the AGM cells in my boat are a wrapped sandwich of
glass mat and the lead plates. How can contact between these plates
be very likely? Is the boat just sitting there motionless more
likely to have these well supported plates bend than all those cars
sitting in unheated garages and out on the street? First, the
batteries have to discharge which seems pretty unlikely with the
cables disconnected. My wife has to have AAA jump start her car a
half dozen times a winter because she doesn't close the doors all the
way or leaves the lights on. No problem so far.

This seems like a several orders of magnitude lower risk than the boat
falling off the jackstands.


Roger,

Larry may have a different view, but my
understanding is that battery explosions
are almost always caused by the release
of explosive gas (usually caused by
overcharging). Battery installations in
boats typically involve small, closed
compartments. Contrast that with
automotive installations in which there
is usually a good flow of air through
the battery compartment and it becomes
clear why automotive battery explosions
are far less common than those in boats.

So perhaps the focus might be better
placed on adequate battery compartment
ventilation: a low-cost, low-tech
solution that could reduce the
probability of a battery explosion in a
boat to that of a similar battery in an
automobile.

I've seen no statistics on steam
explosions so I can't comment on that
except to agree that these would be as
likely in an automobile as they are in a
boat, and are virtually unheard of in
the former.

I do enthusiastically endorse Larry's
suggestion of a simple timer on an
unattended battery charger, BTW.

Chuck

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