I would bet that any venting to the outside is not for hydrogen gas,
but rather to remove any sulfuric acid fumes from immediate area, to
reduce corrosion of nearby parts.

you are not going to get an explosion under the seat from the small
amount of hydrogen gas produced by the battery. A battery can explode
from within if hydrogen and oxygen are not allowed to escape, but
that is different than the fear of vented hydrogen combining rapidly
with the co-produced or atmospheric oxygen, in the space under the
seat of a vanagon. Hydrogen and oxygen are the products of
*overcharging* lead acid batteries.

its a different order of magnitude if you have a vast bank of
charging batteries, ie a diesel electric submarine.

alistair

On 1-Oct-10, at 10:43 AM, Loren Busch wrote:

  RE: Stock battery venting
I'll try to get a picture and post a link to it.