Battery Caught On Fire!!!!!

[cb7greenie]

Hey guys i dont know what happened but on my way to work.. i saw smoke comin from my hood on the passenger side...i thought a hose blew,, but when i looked at my temperature needle it was normal.. then i parked my car a couple blocks away at work..opened my hood and saw that my battery was on fire..wat can cause this as i was very lucky to catch it and put it out before...well u know ..i had a metal battery holder kinda thing that held it in place...could the wire have touched that and cause a spark?? cuz now that wire is toast

[baracuda]

if the tie down had crossed both termianls at once then, i think its possible, since that would cause sparking and such. any pics?

[searscatalog]

Could both posts be touching the hood at all?



Someone has to say it....pics?

[ExplodingCake]

loose terminals?

[steelbluesleepR]

dont forget, the sulfuric acid and lead inside the battery create hydrogen gas when performing their chemical reaction. some of it could have leaked out and gotten sparked by something. the hydrogen flames (which can not be seen by the naked eye except in VERY dark places) could have easily set the plastic of the battery on fire.

[Sarthos]

Or his alternator could be on the fritz, and tried charging the battery at 16 volts which would boil the acid and could cause it to catch fire or even explode. Otherwise the battery is leaking or the terminals got short-circuited.

[cb7greenie]

every suggestion u guys made is everything i thought it could be ill try and get a pic on here real soon..

[blackfoedoecb7]

I work at Advance auto parts and you have no idea how many times I see this same exact thing happen. It could be an alternator over charging, defective battery

dont forget, the sulfuric acid and lead inside the battery create hydrogen gas when performing their chemical reaction. some of it could have leaked out and gotten sparked by something. the hydrogen flames (which can not be seen by the naked eye except in VERY dark places) could have easily set the plastic of the battery on fire.

This is very true and is the most common thing that causes this kinda thing. Still sucks that it happened but good thing you notice it when it did happen.

[19dabeast85]

My dad's '99 F250 had a bad alternator regulator once and the alternator was putting out over 18 volts causing the battery to get extremely hot, bulge, and the acid boil out. So the alternator definitely could be the problem.