Smoking Battery?

[K-Phat]

So I got a new battery for my Jeep a little over two weeks ago. This weekend when I turned off the Jeep a puff of white smoke came out from under the hood near the battery area. When I tried to turn it back on it would not turn over I mean there was no power to anything no clicking nothing. I then hooked up some jumper cables and once everything was hooked up and I went to turn it on the cables started smoking and it got so hot that the plastic covering the cables was melting a bit. So I'm thinking it is a bad battery cell, leak, something like that but I'm looking for any advice. Thanks.

 

[Keith__C]

yes that battery is no good, however you need to have your alternator checked out as soon as you get a new battery in there to make sure it is not overcharging the battery as well.

 

[Mooseknuckles]

Yeah, that get alternator checked. If the Jeep is running only on the battery with no alternator, the battery will get super hot, and possibly explode.

 

[jbxx]

Warning! Danger Will Robinson ( my arms are waving up and down ).
If the visual escapes you don't worry you are too old or too young).
Do not approach the battery without max PPE, safety glasses, and a thick coat at least. Something is very wrong. Take the alternator out and take it to a good local
parts place they can test it for you. If you have large brass ones, get a voltmeter,
put it across the battery and stand back. You should see around 13.8V or so
before hitting the starter. When the engine kicks in you should see a little above 14 V. The battery can explode covering you with sulfuric acid, not to mention , excessive gassing ( Hydrogen) that can explode. Which is why you NEVER put
jumpers directly to the terminals. Always make the last connection to the donor frame ( assuming no Lucas prince of darkness + grounds).
Makes my butt pucker everytime I see someone do it to the terminals.
Rant off.
J.B.

 

[Crazy4diesels]

If the insulation on the jumper cable wire melted along its length there was too much current flowing (short circuit). If the melting was at the end of the wire where it is crimped into to allegator clamp then there was a bad connection at the crimp (jumper cables were no good). If the melting involved the plastic handles on the allegator clamp then there was a bad connection to the battery post.

Looking at the original battery problem... If the battery was smoking (usually smells pretty bad, like sulpher) it was being overworked. You usually get battery vomiting and "boiling" before (or with) smoking so check the area for spilled electrolyte. This will eat all of the paint it gets on and make a "wet paint" smell. The most common "normal" failure that makes smoke, vomiting, and/or "boiling sounds" in the battery while driving is overcharging. this could be caused by EITHER the alternator putting out too much (voltage too high) OR by having a shorted cell. When you have a shorted cell you end up with a 10 volt battery... and charging that 10 volt battery at 14 volts will overcharge it. I have had several regulators blow out in my 89 Dodge Cummins truck and when they blow "shorted" the alternator "boiled" the battery. When they blow "open" I got low voltage (no charge). I've also had a couple of shorted cells in that truck which behaved as above. Hope this helps some, Best of luck - John

 

[Hemi 08]

I agree with the overcharging or the starter soleniod is sticking perhaps.

 

[K-Phat]

Hey guys the first thing I want to say is thanks for all your advice/help on this. The second thing is I wanted to let you all know that I found out what caused the short.....I went to check the alternator and to my surprised I found the positive led line from my winch (red cable) had slipped from the fire wall and ended up melted/jammed into the alternator pulley!!!! Yeah so I removed that and jumped started the Jeep but it is still a mess cuz the battery won't hold a charge and when I drove it the battery gauge jumped from 14 volts into the red which is like 19+ I think. So this weekend I'm going to go get the alternator and battery checked out....