Do You have the correct TYPE of Battery in Your Beetle???
OR - are the terminals exposed...??

waiting for someone to kneel on the back seat, or a heavy person to sit on the seat, and the seat springs touch the battery terminals.... causing the seat to catch fire....
and the whole car a few minutes later.....
This HAS Happened many times.....

Worst still, if You have a Ford Battery, that is a battery with the HIGHER than normal battery terminals to fit Ford Cars...

Cover the battery with a large thick piece of rubber --
and don't forget to have a fire extinguisher ready at all times.

and try NOT to kneel on the back seat.....

Lee --

normal battery, bought from volkspower, so i assume right for beetle.. with the rubber padding on top, and a fire extinguisher :|

but extinguisher is loose till i can be bothered mounting to the tunnel inthe front

had a seat pinned down on terminals after accident.... 'sniff, sniff'.. suddenly realised it was smouldering... stuff was chucked out all over road as we panicked, and yanked it out from other side. I have a higher battery in mine but I make sure there is a thick rubber mat over top and don't really like passengers on that side! I learned a valuable lesson that day, it really does not take long to catch fire!

heard a story about a guy who was having a good time with his girl friend in the back seat of his bug and all the bouncing if you know what I mean shorted the teminals out and a fire resulted and two half dressed people went running from the car.

This is scary actually. I had it happen once to me when my vw mechanic forgot to replace the battery cover and hold down strap - the metal strap swung over and shorted the two terminals, melting a hole in the battery and setting the label on fire !!! Surprisingly, it still had enough charge in it for me to drive back to the mechanics and give him a serve about it !!!

Seriously people, a piece of rubber mat is not good enough - there are moulded plastic battery covers available that cover the entire top of the battery and are designed to work with the standard volkswagen battery hold down strap.

1. Make sure your terminals arent exposed.

2. Make sure your battery is held down properly.

cheers.

Hi Doug,
The 12 volt batteries do NOT have the metal cover as on the 6 volt models... the original Batteries have recessed posts so nothing can touch the terminals plus a plastic cover usually covers the Positive terminal... These "Continental" type batteries are expensive compared to the $90 EXIDE battery I have in My Beetle... so Most people opt out for the non-genuine type.. that should still have the lip on the bottom for the clamp.. mine is clamped in...
I'm sure that "lawwise" the battery has to be clamped in...
If Your car ends up on its side or upside down, somehow??? if the battery isn't clamped down... the terminals will probably short out on the seat springs... and You have a FIRE !!
I have a plastic cover that comes with many batteries, that are used by the battery companies so they can stack batteries on top of each other... and am going to cover the seat springs too, with some heavy rubber...
I really like the battery boxes that aren't too expensive to buy... I'm still thinking about one of them...

Lee --

Hi

I don't think the DIN batteries (sunken posts) came out until 1971, previous beetles used an exposed terminal type of battery and used a clamp & cover just like 6 volt bugs do, your car should have the old style battery in it Lee.

1302Steve

any one know where I could find a battery box? Had a look in autobahn and super cheap auto but couldn't seem to find one... at the moment mine has a piece of rubber over it...never had anyone in the back seat though but will soon after i get seat belts installed...

Hi

Try a boat place for a battery box.

1302Steve

or a caravan/motorhome place, they have battery boxes too.

thanks ...will try those places...

i don't have a back seat so i have nothing to worry about :P

i just have an 11 plate heavy duty century battery in my baja....i have a heavy rubber mat over it and have had people in the back and it was fine

i hav 2 batterys in the back with the back seat propped up using a stick and jumper leads connecting the 2 batterie coz theyre both rooted and need each other just to start the car. sometimes sparks shoot out of them wen the jumper leads touch the bar the back seat sits on. not sure about this rubber mat business, sounds strange

I bought a new battery today for my beetle
it has the proper recessed terminals and the +ve rerminal has a cover over it.
I had a choice of 2 one was 460cca and the other 400cca, I chose the smaller one should be heaps to turn over the little 1200
marcel

Hi

Be careful with rubber mats covering batteries, the battery neds to breath and the mat could cover the breathing holes.

Also keep sparks away from batteries, the gas they produce is highly explosive.

1302Steve

This forum is so good, lol. I really hadn't thought bout the breather holes, thanx steve....*sigh,, yet another thing for the to do list...*

We have the correct battery but it appears to be rooted. Fleur went to start the beetle for the first time in a week and it was dead. I onl just charged it up a few weeks ago.

I checked the generator and it was charging.

I might get a big truck battery with the rope handles. I wont have room for the top plastic cover or rubber mat, so will just take a chance with the seat arcing out. With all that power it should burn in about half a second!

Try a boat specialist for the plastic battery boxes. They use them in most boats to stop the salt spray.
I would drill a hole thru the floor and vent it out thru there if using one of these battery boxes.

Oh I reckon anyone who has been on "the job" in the back of a beetle is either a contorsionist or a midget. :thumb:P:P

I've always thought that VW Never had ventilation in the car for the Battery... If You place a heavy rubber mat or truck mudflap over the battery terminals, there is plenty of room for the battery ventilation... and then there are those sealed batteries... which are common these days...
The battery boxes sold for boats etc are usually expensive as they have wiring etc in them...
Plain battery boxes are cheap, but I haven't noticed any around for a while...
My Beetle just had a normal battery in it .. Steve.. and I haven't seen a 12 volt battery cover...
If You are using a car rubber mat of some sort over the battery, be careful as they tend to perish and split...
It may take a while, out of the sun & in the dark....

Mitsubishi cars really pour the amps into their batteries when charging, resulting in an acid mist all around the battery, that takes the paint off.. ..
I heard a Mechanic say that most Mitsubishis do it... So You wouldn't want an inside battery with a Mitsubishi car!!!!

Lee

I was undoing the battery connection when i touched the metal bar with a shifter.......this resulted in the battery exploding and sending battery acid all over the floor and me.

I had a great day pulling out the seats, washing the floorpan, treating is with rust kill and respraying it.......

It is always the way that when you start a small job it ends up being a huge one.:bounce:bounce

Hi

Lucky you can still see nwarner to type. The best way to undo a battery terminal, - 1st then + when undoing, reverse when refitting. Lee Im sure I will find a battery cover at Valla and I will show it to you.

1302Steve

sorry, i gotta add to this.... :thumb

oh! but the head room (no pun intended)! Dont have to contort anything!

I have this mega six billion CCA sealed zero maintenance battery, recessed terminals, and this really cool window on the top which changes colour depending on the state of charge.... my previous battery lasted something like 7 years (but it wasn't real happy towards the end). this one had better last forever, cos it was pricey and it looks really cool. and you can jump start a mining truck with it.
when it's fully charged you can run a small kiln, a soldering iron and Port Kembla steel works for 32 hours
:duh

:duh Oi peter, ur sposed to be the rat king, wat u doing putting fancy schmancy stuff like that in, you showoff, whats wrong with the $25 reco cheapies from the wreckers yard hey... (ur secretly doing a rebuild resto jobbie on ur bug arent you, you've turned havent you.....you have gone to the shiney side haven't you eh?,,, hope to see you at valla, me and the other ratties are gonna catch ya and roll u round in a vat of used transmission oil, then cover you with feathers and then make you do a walk of shame at the show n'shine....muhahahahaha!)

woohoooooo!!
sounds lahk wern heck erva parrty ta me!!!
I'll bring my banjo and corn cob pipe and moonshine and all:duh

yeah lee my jeans are rooten now!

were black, the acid spots turned green then just crumbled away

i liked them jeans.. moral of the story, batteries suck, dont touch them unless hey dont work and need replacing.. even then be damn careful!