Wow, Car battery gernaded

I have a car that I store in the winter and I didn't take it out this summer so since the weather was nice today I thought I would start it and run it around the block. I put in a good battery that had been on a trickle charger and when I turned the key BAM the battery expolded. Fortunatly, the hood was closed. The battery was completely dry so I figue my 1 amp charger must have cooked the battery and adding a load to it caused the explosion. Am I right on this? I guess I better invest in a couple of battery tenders that are safer to use.

Had to read that twice--first time I read, "I have a car that I stole in the winter . . . " :gulp:

How long did you have it cooking? Had you checked the liquid levels in it before you put it on the charger? Why do you keep it on a charger--how about just disconnecting the battery and storing it someplace warm?

I just keep spare batteries out in the cold...
I know it's not good for them, but sometimes you don't have space.
I put them on a trickle for a day or two every other month or so.
Haven't had any problems yet.

I had two trickle chargers I used for 20 years that I left two batteries hooked up to all winter in an unheated garage and I never had a battery run dry. Those chargers died this spring and I've been using a 1amp trickle motorcycle charger and apparently it was overcharging both batteries. I should have been more careful when I used a different charger. It's too bad I ruined the better of the two batteries.

Batteries do need to be charge on occasion. They get what's known as stand loss, and sulfate. You do need a charger that senses when the battery is fully charged, so it shuts down and doesn't boil the battery dry. Slow charging is the best. Some better chargers I believe pulse charge the battery as it gets nearer to a full charge. Heat is a batteries' enemy.

1 amp is way too much for a trickle. I would think 0.1 would be plenty.

Yes, you are right.

The battery had hydrogen gas in it, a byproduct of charging, along with some oxygen from the air. Being dry, when you put a load on it, there was a spark inside the battery. Result = explosion.

Glad you had the hood closed! Wash the car with baking soda/water mix to neutralize the acid.

Battery minder chargers regulate the current, and won't overcharge a battery.

Woo Hoo! That's one in a row! :lol:

A "smart" charger that I like and recomend.

http://smartercharger.com/

What you want is a float charger, which is a trickle charger with brains. A trickle charger is just a glorified DC adapter.