Aircooled VW South Africa

I charged my Ghia battery overnight with one of those 'charge/discharge' chargers, disconnected the charger terminals and turned the key, then bang
just like a gun shot, acid everywhere, luckily no-one was nearby.
The battery is about 4 years old,I mistakingly thought this was a self venting battery as I could not see and vent holes to open
(until I pulled back a large sticker covering them) I had charged the battery before with no issues.
I will put this down to school fees and buy a new one.

Hey, Thats a Bum one, it could have disfigured you with all the acid.

Now that was luck, maybe you should try the Lotto......

Think you should show it to the supplier, may stop someone else get hurt.....

Herman

yikes!! Glad you are OK

Was there an issue with your battery before you recharged? Maybe one of the links between the cells inside did not make good contact. Then, when turning key, a spark happened inside...

Having seen this a few times and if you look at your battery on the side that blew out is the breather hole close to the negative terminal post and if you charged it in a poor ventelated space the odds are that the sulphuric acid gasses given off from charging it increase and where hanging about and when you tried starting it the terminal may have been loose or not making good contact and caused a spark igniting the sulphuric acid fumes and ignited fumes made their way back down the vent hole and bang there goes a few rand for that reason its best to take the caps off so there is no fume build up.inside the battery thats if it has screw on caps.
Thats my 2c worth,I have been known to tell lies before though.

I have blown about 3 of those long Silver sealed jobs. Two on my Tata truck and one on charge. I used a smart charger on the charging one, set to fast, deep charge. The truck alternator was putting out too high a voltage.

It's a real bastard when a batter explodes in your workshop. Fine mist of concentrated Sulphuric acid goes all over the place. Recommend to you spray all exposed mild steel with light oil and wipe all surfaces not with water but with an acid neutralize. Bicarbonate of soda solution?

https://www.tamut.edu/About/administrat ... sposal.pdf