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Dear Ian.
The 12 inch diameter pvc pipe I am using for my
battery pod is approx 3/8th's of an inch thick. It is very strong, somewhat
heavy and made
much stronger once the permanent end cap and female
threaded fitting are glued in place giving it support on both ends.
Also being a pipe it is curved and will withstand
more external stress than a flat surface. Perhaps if you hit it with a
sledgehammer with a long swing and all your might
it might crack but although I have never tried that, (12 inch pipe is
expensive!) I'm thinking you would
have to hit it multiple times to crack or bust it,
this is thick and strong material. My wetsub itself is fiberglass and nowhere
near
as thick or as strong as this pvc is, so my battery
pod will actually be stronger than the body of my wetsub
itself.
Hopefully being a wetsub and having excellent
visibility I will not crash into anything with
sufficient force to crack the pod.
I think it would probably take more force than my
74 lb thrust minnkota motor could put out to bust
my pvc pipe even if I purposely ran it into something.
In the unlikely event that it develops a leak or
were to somehow become compromised and fill with water my battery pod will be able to be jettisoned in case of
an emergency so I think it is an appropiate
battery pod material for a two man 12 foot
long wetsub especially since I will never take my wetsub below 100 feet.
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