Gazzar Posted June 14 Share Posted June 14 I acquired an intelligent battery charger thing from my eldest. Did a good job on the Volvo and the Landrover battery, and has a repair function, so thought I'd try recover an old battery. Didn't go so well..... No damage, but quite a loud bang... 2 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fmmv Posted June 14 Share Posted June 14 That looks a definite sphincter toner. What about the acid? Did it just evaporate? I'm thinking the battery boiled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddy Posted June 14 Share Posted June 14 Always livens up a day in the workshop! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzar Posted June 14 Author Share Posted June 14 Acid on the workbench, the floor, in my hair, but no permanent damage. I've two more batteries that aren't well. They're going to be disposed of. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted June 15 Share Posted June 15 Crikey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve b Posted June 15 Share Posted June 15 was it grinding that caused ignition? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escape Posted June 15 Share Posted June 15 I've found the recondition function on the Ctek very useful. It has brought back a few batteries and certainly prolonged life of many others. But I never use it if I'm not close by and regularly check that there is no excessive heat or swelling in the battery. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted June 15 Share Posted June 15 The whole idea of those ctek chargers is that you put them on and leave them for long periods of time … I do that - and people with motorbikes laid up over winter, classic or collectible cars in storage, all use them to maintain the battery whilst not being used or attended .. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbekko Posted June 15 Share Posted June 15 55 minutes ago, Anderzander said: The whole idea of those ctek chargers is that you put them on and leave them for long periods of time … I do that - and people with motorbikes laid up over winter, classic or collectible cars in storage, all use them to maintain the battery whilst not being used or attended .. Yes, but no. The regular mode is fine to leave, but the regen mode works vety differently. It pulses voltage into the battery to clear build-up on the plates. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post JeffR Posted June 16 Popular Post Share Posted June 16 welcome to my world! It gets excitingly aromatic sometimes. Reminds of my mis-spent youth, put a battery on to charge in parents sitting room, then went out for a swift half with a mate, well the half turned into somewhat more that that, substantially more. Got back (parents were away) and thought "is their any fluid in it?" , couldn't find a torch, so used my lighter.... The resulting explosion cost me my fringe and eyebrows, the sitting room carpet had a small hole in it which gradually expanded, so it ended up with me having to replace the carpeting. Bloody expensive swift half. Gotta love the advertising algorithm, its for yuasa batteries.... 1 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted June 16 Share Posted June 16 4 hours ago, JeffR said: welcome to my world! It gets excitingly aromatic sometimes. Reminds of my mis-spent youth, put a battery on to charge in parents sitting room, then went out for a swift half with a mate, well the half turned into somewhat more that that, substantially more. Got back (parents were away) and thought "is their any fluid in it?" , couldn't find a torch, so used my lighter.... The resulting explosion cost me my fringe and eyebrows, the sitting room carpet had a small hole in it which gradually expanded, so it ended up with me having to replace the carpeting. Bloody expensive swift half. Gotta love the advertising algorithm, its for yuasa batteries.... Youth can give great excuses for daft ideas. When I was six or seven years old, I thought it’d be a great idea to use the pestle and mortar from my Christmas chemistry set to grind up the charges removed from about twenty of those red plastic caps for cap guns to make a bigger charge. You can guess how that worked out. No doctors involved, but some shocked parents. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzar Posted June 16 Author Share Posted June 16 On 6/15/2024 at 7:57 AM, steve b said: was it grinding that caused ignition? Very probably. Still finding bits of plastic.... I need an outdoor charging shed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzar Posted June 16 Author Share Posted June 16 4 hours ago, JeffR said: welcome to my world! It gets excitingly aromatic sometimes. Reminds of my mis-spent youth, put a battery on to charge in parents sitting room, then went out for a swift half with a mate, well the half turned into somewhat more that that, substantially more. Got back (parents were away) and thought "is their any fluid in it?" , couldn't find a torch, so used my lighter.... The resulting explosion cost me my fringe and eyebrows, the sitting room carpet had a small hole in it which gradually expanded, so it ended up with me having to replace the carpeting. Bloody expensive swift half. Gotta love the advertising algorithm, its for yuasa batteries.... Advertising? You see advertising? How strange. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escape Posted June 17 Share Posted June 17 On 6/15/2024 at 11:11 AM, Anderzander said: The whole idea of those ctek chargers is that you put them on and leave them for long periods of time … I do that - and people with motorbikes laid up over winter, classic or collectible cars in storage, all use them to maintain the battery whilst not being used or attended .. That's something I never do. I'm sure it's fine on a battery in good shape, but then again that wouldn't need constant charging in the first place. My approach is to cycle the charger between all the batteries in the Shop, both the spare ones and those in cars not being used. Charge until full and then onto the next (or back on the shelf). And never when I'm not around (less I forget...). When I've done a reconditioning cycle, I'll usually follow up with a standard cycle the next day. If the reconditioning worked, that should not take long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted June 17 Share Posted June 17 For context, the solar setup in my folding camper has a charge controller which will do exactly as suggested above, high frequency, higher voltage zapping of the battery to maintain it, and it is set to do so once a month. In a few years it hasn't blownup yet. Same for ctek style chargers, there are millions of them out there being used on classic cars, and they don't blow up. I think the issue here is any battery gives off explosive gasses while charging, if you grind nearby or expose to a flame it's going to explode. Or as me and a mate did when 16, unable to work out why a vehicle wouldn't crank, and he shorted right across the terminals with a jump lead. Boom. Piece of battery lodged in the roof insulation 20ft up... 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nonimouse Posted June 17 Share Posted June 17 On 6/15/2024 at 8:25 AM, Escape said: I've found the recondition function on the Ctek very useful. It has brought back a few batteries and certainly prolonged life of many others. But I never use it if I'm not close by and regularly check that there is no excessive heat or swelling in the battery. Likewise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted June 18 Share Posted June 18 Having been made to watch the BT battery safety training video* early in my career I've always treated this stuff with what most would consider way too much caution - but seeing all the wonderful ways batteries and high-power stuff can go wrong and kill you I'm quite happy being a chicken around it all! I don't leave chargers unattended unless the battery is somewhere it can explode without damaging anything else. The rise of cheap lithium batteries (esp. from China) that people are starting to bolt into their vehicles gives me the absolute jeebies too. *= Which was from the 80's and involved more fire & explosion than the average Hollywood blockbuster. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted June 18 Share Posted June 18 8 hours ago, FridgeFreezer said: The rise of cheap lithium batteries (esp. from China) that people are starting to bolt into their vehicles gives me the absolute jeebies too. Likewise! Having seen how some lightly crashed li-po batteries in model planes can make an impressive kaboom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted June 18 Share Posted June 18 All these potential dangers out there in the world …. 🤔. I do worry about Jeff… 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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