Battery terminal's very hot

[Cobra5]

They don't anything like they used to(made to last a life time!!)Yes I had a battery short out in the plates

The first time it happened to me I had the parts guy arguing with me that it just doesn't happen. He even second guessed his fancy load tester so he called his distributor who told him that yes it happens but not that often. I got a new battery and now that's the first thing I check.

[rickf]

I had a couple short internally. One was in a company vehicle, the driver had it at home overnight (Bad move that ended up costing him his job) and told me he heard a small explosion a couple hours after he got home. Looked around and found nothing so brought it to the shop the next day. This was an 84 Dodge van and the battery had exploded! There was nothing left of most of one side of the case and yet this thing still started the vehicle!!!! I went through several boxes of baking soda mixed with water neutralizing that mess. Then I also had one in one of my cars that was working just fine and out of the blue would not start, I open the hood and it was boiling, I got it out of there fast and put it under a bucket behind the shop. The firehouse was right across the street so I told those guys about it and they came over with a brush truck and hosed it down real well but it fizzed all night. The bucket was not a real good idea in hindsight, That was why I called the guys over to blow the bucket off from a distance with the hose. Think about what is coming out of a battery when it is boiling, Hydrogen gas. Much better to let it vent to atmosphere than confine it. It got hot enough that during the night it melted the case some. A shorted battery can be very dangerous. But that will not make the terminal hot, it will make the case very hot. And to be on the safe side it is probably best to just walk away and let it go, if it decides to blow when you are working on it you are in a world of hurt. Shrapnel and at least a gallon of very hot sulfuric acid all over you.

[lpcoating]

I've had two batteries in cars blow up. They sounded like a .243 being fired. Scary. Luckily I was behind the wheel and not under the hood when it happened.

Guy