Methyl Cloride + 9V Durcel = very large bang in the night?

[regan_russell]

I had left this battery on the diner table and heard a really large bang the other night, I never found the source of the noise until I looked at the battery days later, nothing had been on this table except dinner plates and possibly a small about of spilt methylcloride based plastic glue and a stack of magazines. I had leads plugged into it and had the leads disconnected from the breadboard I was working on...

[jwax]

Greetings regan-russell,
My guess is the bang and the glue are unrelated. You don't provide much information to help diagnose the cause of the battery blowup.
Batteries may pop a cover out over time, quietly. Or, they could violently burst from overload. Are you sure the battery was disconnected from any load?
If it were me, I'd try and see if I could repeat the experiment!
John

[VernGraner]

If it were me, I'd try and see if I could repeat the experiment!

You're most likely a scientist then...





Of course, my suggestion is that he read this page first, and then retry the experiment!

Vern

PS: Lots more science/math/tech cartoons at XKCD!

[Bob Scott]

Russell, if you are using a camera (like a cell phone camera) without macro capability:

I've had good success making macro photos just by holding a magnifying glass as close as possible to the camera lens. One side of a pair of reading glasses would work too.

How to Select a Magnifying Glass

Calculate the number of diopters required using the formula

Diopters= 1 / focal length in Metres

So if your subject is 27 inches (0.6M) away, the lens with the closest required power available in your local drug store reading glasses section has +1.5 dopters stamped into the inside of the arms. These glasses are cheap, usually $10-$15.

For 12 inches focal distance, use +3.0 diopters.

[regan_russell]

Greetings regan-russell,
My guess is the bang and the glue are unrelated. You don't provide much information to help diagnose the cause of the battery blowup.
Batteries may pop a cover out over time, quietly. Or, they could violently burst from overload. Are you sure the battery was disconnected from any load?
If it were me, I'd try and see if I could repeat the experiment!
John

Hi jwax,

Absolutely sure, no load at all, I had played with a bread board and had a little circuit: variable resistor ("pot") and LED. I had a pile of components near by waiting for inspiration or something out of a magazine to implement. I pulled the the two leads out of the bread board stuck a stack of magazines on the table and went and did something else.

The bang was loud, really loud and scared the life out of me. About a second or two later, I heard something like a small bit of light metal fall. It must have been really violent.

Now I am interested in how to repeat (or not repeat) the experiment.

Regan

[haklesup]

A dead short across the battery will do that in only a minute or two. While you had the wire disconnected from the breadboard it looks like you did have the battery connector attached and wires dangling out of it. The same short and subsiquent explosion would have fused or moved the original short open making it hard to detect after failure.

Examine every portion of the battery connector and wires at the best magnification you can get. Look for signs of molten metal beads especially at the wire strands. ALso look for signs of high temp like discolored paint. it could also be a random short of one of the cells inside the battery, peeling the case off will allow you to inspect each cell.

I am sure duracell would be interested in this. You should call the product support hotline, At least you can get a pack of replacement batteries (or a coupon for some is more likely). Don't expect a failure analysis report even if you do send it in to them. Brand name alkaline batteries are in general very reliable but it still can explode as the printed warning on the case says. I'm quite sure a short circuit was involved but if that was due to careless handling or a defective battery can be debated