Wow! and Thanks, for the honest stories everyone. I never imagined the span of history here.
I am learning on how it could go very badly. I have much to share with my clients next time the topic arises. I have had so many melted battery recombination caps melt down that I quit using them after the manufacturer told me we could not charge a 24 VDC system to 29.2VDC or even 28.4VDC & I had to remove the caps at a much lesser voltage[I have forgotten the voltage]. Dana Orzel Great Solar Works, Inc E - [email protected] V - 970.626.5253 F - 970.626.4140 C - 970.209.4076 web - www.solarwork.com "Responsible Technologies for Responsible People since 1988" Do not ever belive anything, but seriously trust through action. From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Starlight Solar, Larry Crutcher Sent: Wednesday, December 15, 2010 12:35 PM To: RE-wrenches Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Battery based hydrogen incidents I was hesitant to reply because I surely will look foolish, but perhaps it may help someone in the future. I did something very stupid back in 2001 that caused an explosion. The battery bank (12 volt, 660AH) was located in a metal cargo container next to the wall and set in a plastic container. The container had open doors on both ends. The battery was in the absorption cycle with heavy gassing. I noticed that the positive terminal was slightly loose. Fully aware of the danger of the task I was performing, I grabbed my socket wrench and began to carefully snug it down. Even though I carefully observed the location of the wrench, I did not think about the steel container wall as having a path back to battery negative. It did. I blew the top off a battery that I was standing over. Fortunately I was wearing safety glasses or I probably would not be here today typing this. There was a water hydrant near and I was able to flood my face and body for about 15 minutes. No facial scares but a lessen very well learned: Do NOT work on batteries that are off gassing. Gassing begins at about 2.3 volts per cell. If you are a battery novice, I encourage you to thoroughly educate yourself and do not neglect your safety gear when working on batteries. Another event I witnessed: In 2007 I was at a campground and heard an explosion. The owner of an RV a few spaces down from me was opening the battery compartment as I walked up. Inside he had un-vented batteries in the same compartment as the inverter and other switch gear. His batteries were obviously gassing when something sparked it off. The top was blown off a 6 volt battery and he had electrolyte everywhere and a damaged cargo door. We work on hundreds of RV's and sadly I see this kind of poor "workmanship" every week at our service center. Larry Crutcher Starlight Solar Power Systems 928-342-9103
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