Exploding 9V battery

[DDY]

I was just about to take apart this exhausted 9V battery to make a shim from the battery jacket, the moment my pliers touched the casing. Bang!

My hearing in my right ear is slowly returning, the pop was loud, firecracker loud.

I never expected an alkaline battery to pop like that, I'm adamant it has never been shorted, at least externally, it had sat on my shelf for a few months having been pulled from a smoke alarm.

I'm guessing hydrogen was behind the bang, perhaps the electrolyte had undergone electrolysis though an internal short, the battery is completely dry and quite a lot of (very basic) powdery substance was ejected, much of it across the desk and on to the floor.

Also ejected was what appears to be a miniature APDS projectile, apparently highly effective against plastic.

Slow day for me, thought I'd share.

[peterb]

Latest terrorist device against micro drones?

[watercooled]

Interesting! Hydrogen is a definite possibility in alkaline batteries so that would be my thinking too - somehow it found itself in a good fuel/air mix waiting for a spark.

[deejayburnout]

Interesting, I would have expected it to have blown out of the top. Also in my experienced of taking apart batteries (being a nosy electrician) they were made up from small button cells.

[watercooled]

It's the likes of 12v keyfob batteries that are comprised of many button cells. From what I know there are two types of PP3 battery - ones like the OP posted, consisting of 6 ~AAAA cells, and others containing a bare cell stack wrapped in plastic.

[DDY]

Two more cells popped!

I managed to muster enough courage to remove the jacket after what happened earlier, then another cell popped!

I caught the second pop on a crummy video, disappointingly the quietest of all pops (00:27): http://smg.photobucket.com/user/DDY/...2.mp4.html?o=0

The third pop happened some time after I bagged the lot up and chucked it in the battery bin.

On further inspection, these particular 9V battery sort-of AAAA cells are cans with a closed negative end and an 'open' positive end, which is capped with a bit of plastic, and they're not vented

While this exploding battery is far more scary than it is dangerous, the main hazard is the dispersion of the dried up electrolyte, with a pH of 'dark purple', I wouldn't want it in my eyes or on my skin. Secondary to that is a risk of heart attacks, because the third pop was really like someone playing a firecracker prank on me.

[Zak33]

If ONE duracell battery exploded... Once. . I'd,be surprised...presuming itwasn't in.a fire or shorted out etc.

The moment TWO did it....I'd be onto Duracell customer care INSTANTLY.

Is there ANY chance,that you bought fake duracell? We're they particularly cheap? How long did they last in comparison to the last batch?
I think you might have a cheap fake batch of copied cells :-(

[Zak33]

A quick search on ebay forums....

https://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Buyi.../qaq-p/3281669

[Saracen]

If ONE duracell battery exploded... Once. . I'd,be surprised...presuming itwasn't in.a fire or shorted out etc.

The moment TWO did it....I'd be onto Duracell customer care INSTANTLY.

Is there ANY chance,that you bought fake duracell? We're they particularly cheap? How long did they last in comparison to the last batch?
I think you might have a cheap fake batch of copied cells :-(

I had a Duracell AA go off with quite a loud pop a couple of weeks ago. It was one of two powering the receiver/display of a household electricity monitor, and was attached to the wall about two feet from the chair I was sat in.

One minute the display was working normally, then ... POP. No display, and a transparent liquid leaking from the battery.

I removed both AAs, cleaned the 'liquid' (really more of a cross between a liquid and gell) put new batteries in, ditched the popped one and it's companion, and the receiver/display was fine.


I wouldn't say this exploded exactly, but it was certainly a loud-enough POP to make me jump.

My Duracells would have been bought in a traditional and major high street store, probably Waitrose, maybe Sainsbury, but certainly not exceptionally cheaply and not online/ebay. I've never bought Duracells online,etc, though these would probably have been in that device for a year or so.

Mind you, now it has Eneloop (or maybe Panasonic variants) rechargeables instead.

[Ttaskmaster]

It happens. It's being reported more than previously, with all the Li-Ion 18650 batteries that e-Cigs use... Mostly it's people who get knock-off devices and leave them charging overnight with cheap leads or mains chargers.

I knew someone who was a costumed Stormtrooper, working at various media events. He had a voicebox set in his helmet, powered by a set of AAs. One leaked and fluid ran down the back of his neck. The acid reacted that fast it burnt away the nerves, so he didn’t feel a thing. It was only spotted when he took his helmet off during a break... nasty!