Battery surprises

[Mancar1]

Ever had a battery just go wacko on ya?
A few years ago I installed a new Ever Start battery in my Dad's 78 Chevy C10. Lasted a week and went out.
When on recruiting duty at Glendale Az. years ago. I went out to start my 65 Ford Pkup and nothing. Not even a click. Popped the hood and my Interstate Battery had melted down like a marsh mellow. (two seasons out there Hot, and Damn Hot)
After mowing at the cemetery for a few hours. I shut down the mower and the darn battery exploded. I mean into several pieces. No hurt, no damage, except to the battery of course.
Keep on Trucking....John

[iwhodat]

I like to buy dealer batteries. I've had the cheap ones from auto zone last less than a year. The dealer batteries seem to last at least 6 years or longer. And they usually cost about $20 more than the auto zone crap. The dealer battery in my 06 F150 lasted over 6 years in the Las Vegas heat. One of the deep cycle marine batteries in my boat was acting up making me think I had electrical issues. When it finally took a dirt nap and got replaced, all of my electrical problems went away. I've never had one explode or meltdown on me like that. Thank God you weren't hurt. People don't realize how dangerous a battery can be

[chad67]

I've never had one go atomic on me, but I've seen one. I was a kid and my landlord came to my dad's shop. He got in his '64 Galaxie to leave, it cranked twice and BOOM! The hood jumped, but didn't come open. We got a water hose and washed it down real quick to get the acid off. I can't remember now what the battery looked like.

[Mancar1]

Funny part of the one blowing apart was. A friend was there when it happened. It shook him up and without thinking he picked up pieces of the casing and tried to put the battery back together We still laugh about that.

[cghstrojan08]

Bought one for my '68 a month ago. It already took a crap last weekend. Just my luck....

[Stealth69]

I usually run optima's but I don't know anymore. I have put 3 batteries between both of my vehicles because they keep exploding I thought maybe electrical short on the pick up but I guess it is not though sine my car blew one too and there is not a wire touched in that car so I give up.

[Ranchero50]

I had both my yellow tops die the same day last winter. I have a monster red top that died and eventually came back after being on a trickle charge for a month.

My '69 Mustang looked like it had a battery explosion, the whole drivers side was acid etched, even the chrome FoMoCo 390 valve cover.

[Mancar1]

I had a Optima that lasted 12 years from truck to truck, and one for a outboard that held up well. Was going to get one for the 68. now I may not. Thanks for sharing guys.

[Ranchero50]

Oh, mine are old enough the .gov traded them back to the dealer as cores and I got them for $25 each.

[fastEdsel]

"50% of the world's problems are caused by women, the other 50% are caused by dirty battery posts!"

We use dealer batteries here too. I have an old International 300 Utility tractor here and it still has the 6 volt system. I purchased a new battery from a company called Battery Direct for that tractor and it has been real strong. I cannot ever remember a battery exploding here though but that must be a real frightening experience.

[Nitekruizer]

I had one battery that I bought quite a few years ago. It was a store brand, but I don't know who manufactured it. Anyway, it seemed to work fine until, one day I went out to start my car. As soon as I opened my door I noticed that the dome light didn't come on. I put the key in the ignition, turned it to "on", and none of the "idiot" lights lit up either. At this point I already knew my battery was dead, but I turned the key to "start" anyway. Of course, nothing happened.

I got my charger and hooked it up to the battery. I noticed that the meter on my charger didn't move at all. It just stayed at zero amps. After a half hour or so, I tried my key in the ignition again, and again no idiot lights, nothing, no power at all. I put my multimeter on the battery and got a reading of 0 volts. I can't remember exactly how long I had had the battery, but it was still on warranty so, I took it back to the store. They checked it over and told me that an internal connection in the battery must have let go. They pro rated me another battery.

I bought a battery in June 2000 at a large automotive parts/department store. It was a 60 Month battery. I installed it in my daily driver. In the fall of 2006, I decided it was time to install a new battery to make sure I wouldn't have any problems during the upcoming winter, so, I went back to the same store and bought another identical battery. The first battery hadn't been giving me any trouble though, so, I decided to keep it for my project car, which I only drive during the summer. I removed it from my project car every fall and kept it in my workshop over the winter to be sure that it wouldn't freeze. About two or three times over the winter I would put the trickle charger on it for a half hour to an hour, just to maintain it. That 60 Month battery, that I bought in June 2000, started my project car and allowed me to go cruisin' until the summer of 2013, when it could no longer reliably crank over my 383.