Battery exploded?!

Can anyone explain why a battery would explode on a 36 volt system?I have 3 batteries hooked up to a minn Kota 101 trolling motor and a minn Kota 4 bank charger that was charging all the batteries in my boat when the #2 battery exploded into 20+ pieces and blew battery acid everywhere.the batteries were bought new in 09' and were working fine a week ago.I know 3 years is about average lifetime for a marine battery but I've never had one explode on me!
Also,I went and bought another battery and hooked it up,now the trolling motor is not kicking out anywhere near the power it should.it's kinda acting like it's only running on 1 battery?ima take the other two 09' batteries to have them tested.is it possible for all 3 of them to go bad if 1 of them blew up?the 4 bank charger seems to still be working all right,it still shows 4 green lights showing that all batteries are fully charged.I'm hopin it's just the batteries,fingers crossed.

Probably a spark ignited built-up hydrogen gas from charging. It's not uncommon. It's a good idea to open any compartments while batteries are charging, especially for the first 8 or 10 hours. Loose connections or a mechanical failure inside the battery can supply the spark.

The one battery failing wouldn't have caused the others to fail, but it could have tripped a breaker or damaged the wiring. Measure your voltage across the posts that have the TM cables connected. You should see about 38V if the charger has been off for a while, up to a little over 44V with the charger on.

Thanks Catfan,that makes alot of sense.I don't have a battery tester but if I were to take them out and take em to a battery shop they should be able to tell me if they're bad right?or do they have to be still wired up to test them?I'll check all the breakers and if they're ok does it have to be the wires?

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Originally Posted by mandingo

Thanks Catfan,that makes alot of sense.I don't have a battery tester but if I were to take them out and take em to a battery shop they should be able to tell me if they're bad right?or do they have to be still wired up to test them?I'll check all the breakers and if they're ok does it have to be the wires?

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read the book.

Folks at a parts house will lead you astray. I've had batteries that would only take a half a charge and they told me the batteries were fine.:rolleyes:

Go buy a cheap voltage meter to check your voltage and a carbon pile battery tester. My battery tester came from Harbour Freight,it looks just like the one my friend has that came off the Snap On truck. Has the same meters, control knob and printed instructions, the only difference we could find was the color and price. IMHO if a guy is going to have anything with a electrical system you should also have some diagnostic tools.

Mixing up by putting one new battery in series with two more that a three years old is not a good idea....Your two three year old batterys are weak and they will pull your new one down. You should always replace all three with new ones the same size and group.

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Originally Posted by justinp61

Go buy a cheap voltage meter to check your voltage and a carbon pile battery tester. My battery tester came from Harbour Freight,it looks just like the one my friend has that came off the Snap On truck. Has the same meters, control knob and printed instructions, the only difference we could find was the color and price. IMHO if a guy is going to have anything with a electrical system you should also have some diagnostic tools.

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Take it to wal mart for a free load test or Advanced Auto or Auto Zone.

Best check 2 all 3 for liars. Ask to see the load meter reading. And get those tools.

I will second what G said, you should always replace them all at the same time, unless you get a bad one from the get go. I know this from experience,and after buying 4 batteries for a 24v system, I learned.