Kris, I'm happy that your client is "okay", this is truly a dangerous situation.
The plates are compressed together with a very thin separator between them. If the tops of the plates were exposed they could spark thru the separator, and ignite hydrogen gas leaving the battery. This with the compression inside the battery could cause the top to blow off. Most commonly the batteries are installed under the inverters or in very close proximity, usually in a small room with no ventilation. When the inverter transfer relay switches it sparks. This is most often the cause of this. That spark ignites they hydrogen, and just like gun power it traces back to the source (Inside the battery) and ignites... Since the vent caps are on there is compression and it blows the top(s) When ever the battery is on charge and when the voltage of the battery is above 2.2vpc or 6.6volts there is hydrogen gas being generated. You should never do any maintenance to your bank with the chargers enabled... when I'm working on a bank I always open up any doors and windows turn on any ventilation to ensure that I don't experience an ignition event. Ignition events are not any fun, and often require a change of underpants... Even though you can barley see just the top of the cell... It' looks a bit "gooey" This is usually an indication of a lot of heat. I see the temp sensor on the battery post, Most battery manufactures would prefer the temp sensor to be mounted on the side of the battery, we ask this because while charging in this environment the top of the battery is around 15 to 20F cooler than the side of the battery. This is going to result in a battery that is being overcharged due to excessive heat The sensors from Schneider, Magnum and Morningstar can be taped to the side of the battery and will still accurately read temperatures This is much better than attaching to the post and not getting an accurate reading. Any temp sensor that you mount to the side of the battery should be about 1/2 way down the battery below plate level. If it's got the sticky tape, make sure when you attach it you run some electrical tape (Duct Tape) all the way around the battery to secure it to the side of the battery. If you depend on the sticky tape to secure it, you will find that the sensor falls off the battery about 4-6 months later! <http://www.rollsbattery.com> <http://www.rollsbattery.com> <http://www.rollsbattery.com> <http://www.rollsbattery.com> <http://www.rollsbattery.com> <http://www.rollsbattery.com> <http://www.rollsbattery.com> <http://www.rollsbattery.com> <http://www.rollsbattery.com> <http://www.rollsbattery.com> <http://www.rollsbattery.com> <http://www.rollsbattery.com> <http://www.rollsbattery.com> <http://www.rollsbattery.com> <http://www.rollsbattery.com> Steve Higgins ⋅ Technical Services Manager t +1.902.597.4020 m +1.206.790.5840 f +1.902.597.8447 e [email protected] <javascript:void(0);> <http://www.facebook.com/RollsBattery> <http://www.facebook.com/RollsBattery> <http://www.twitter.com/RollsBattery> <https://www.youtube.com/user/RollsBattery> <https://www.linkedin.com/company/rolls-battery-engineering> <http://www.instagram.com/RollsBattery> <http://www.instagram.com/RollsBattery> <http://www.instagram.com/RollsBattery> ------------------------------ CONFIDENTIALITY: The information transmitted herein is intended only for the addressee and may contain confidential, proprietary and/or privileged material. Any unauthorized review, distribution or other use of or the taking of any action in reliance upon this information is prohibited. If you receive this email in error, please contact the sender and delete or destroy this message and all copies. ------------------------------ On Fri, Jul 20, 2018 at 8:00 AM Jerry Shafer <[email protected]> wrote: > Kris > the internal plates are soldered together and can fail open and have been > know to make a spark as they make contact again, you can see this in the > aftermath by looking where all the plates contact the bridge inside the > battery, when adding the water resulting in the cooling of the battery > likely triggered the event. > Jerry > > On Fri, Jul 20, 2018 at 2:30 AM, Kristopher Schmid <[email protected] > > wrote: > >> Since we are talking batteries... I had a scheduled checkup on an >> inherited stand alone system last Tuesday. On Monday night, the client >> called to tell me that a battery blew up in his face when he was adding >> water (no doubt to prevent being scolded by me regarding fluid level >> maintenance). He assures me that there was no metal in the vicinity and, >> indeed, I saw no evidence of a short on the terminals. Judging by the rest >> of the pack, it's likely that the plates were exposed and he was adding >> fluid with hard solar charging in progress. Fortunately he only suffered >> an injured finger and a ringing in his ears. >> >> Best guesses at the cause of the explosion? >> >> Picture attached. >> >> Thanks, >> Kris >> >> _______________________________________________ >> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance >> >> List Address: [email protected] >> >> Change listserver email address & settings: >> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >> >> List-Archive: >> http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html >> >> List rules & etiquette: >> www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm >> >> Check out or update participant bios: >> www.members.re-wrenches.org >> >> >> > _______________________________________________ > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance > > List Address: [email protected] > > Change listserver email address & settings: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > List-Archive: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html > > List rules & etiquette: > www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > > Check out or update participant bios: > www.members.re-wrenches.org > >
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