Exploding Battery

I recently had my boat at a dealer for an extended period of time to get some repairs done. When I picked up the boat, I found that one of the batteries had exploded. I had never heard of this before. Has anyone else ever had this issue and does anyone know what could cause this? The boat is a 2012 so it is not like the batteries are extremely old.

Your lucky the boat didn't burn to the ground.

Actually, may have been better off if it had.

When charging a battery can off gas hydrogen which is explosive (the Hindenburg) They can also explode, sort of, if a plate breaks and creates a dead short.. They could look like they exploded of the battery had discharged enough to freeze in very cold weather. Four years is a fairly old battery although they normally last five or more. Tell us more about the explosion and what the dealer said.

Just a fair warning as ive seen this over and over with customers boats. If you leave your battery on a charger all the time, you need to be diligent about checking water levels in them periodically. What happens is while charging with low water levels and and or battery chargers that dont have an automated float switch built in, like stated above ^^^^ they put off hydrogen gas and the second you spark the battery whether be a plate fall, disconnecting/connecting battery cable, or starting the engine, they will explode like a bomb. So if you ever come up to your boat and it reeks (almost like rotten eggs) unplug your battery charger from 120V source and let the batters cool and ventilate the air in the bilge by opening hatches. Dont try to start the boat or use anything electrical as this will more than likely set them off.

Dealer said everything was fine when the boat left his shop. Battery was not on a charger. Found the battery had exploded inside the battery compartment when we took the cover off after bringing it home from the dealer. We suspect the boat has an underlying electrical issue but both the dealer and manufacturer claim it is not so. Two new batteries were installed along with new connectors. Boat was lake tested and supposedly ok. Ran the boat for less than 30 minutes at cruising speeds with no weight and it died. New batteries are testing at less than optimum voltage. Currently the boat is just a barge.

The boat was never in freezing temperatures so that is not part of the equation. Ignition was off and there should have been no external source of a spark. Boat had been in the dealer's shop and then covered on their lot. I just have never experienced or heard of this before and I have been around boats for over 50 years.

We suspect the boat has an underlying electrical issue but both the dealer and manufacturer claim it is not so.

With what is known here, I agree with dealer and manufacturer.

Was the switch off? If so, this eliminates everything related to the boat, except maybe the auto bilge that might be wired to one battery or the other. If it is fused as it should, a shorted pump would blow fuse, problem diverted. Stuck on, pump runs till battery dead. Would come right back on as soon as battery voltage is restored.

Loose connections, low water, over charging, freezing, spark while charging, internal short can all cause a battery to "explode".

When you say "internal short" does that mean within the battery or within the electrical system? Would overcharging and a spark while charging only cause an explosion while the battery is actually on the charger or can there be a time delay after it is off the charger? Since the boat was just serviced for an electrical issue, I would assume that loose connections and low water should not be possibilities. What would be the possibilities that would cause it to explode when just sitting in storage?

I had a battery explode this offseason. What a freaking mess, soaked the carpet with acid and made anything metal it gone on corrode like a mfer

Sometimes they just explode ..Ive seen it in trucks more then once .If you ran the boat for 30 minutes and the batteries are dead you got a major draw somewhere or your charging system has issues . You should notice close to 14volts while running with nothing turned on but the engine .