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Hurrah !
Finally a person who understands the value of
experimentation. No more worried grandma´s - batteries are not bombs initiated
by seawater nor electric chairs ready to electrocute submariners.
- Do expect that if any chloride has entered the cells the
lawnmower will be in trubble soon.
Best regards, and applause...
Peter Madsen
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, August 07, 2007 7:28
AM
Subject: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Real Live
Submerge Testing on a 12 Volt Lawnmower Battery
Well Boys and Girls, I did some
testing.
Ya I know
that usually means vacate the area with or without your shorts, to another
county. But it's to late, I already did it. One can talk about it for only so
long before they get off there arss and get dirty. It's more fun
to.
So I
removed a fully charged 12 volt lawn mower battery, I could do with out until
next week, if it blow up anyways, and I did some testing. I then
obtained a five gallon bucket, jumper cables, lots of protective clothing, and
a full face shield, among other things. I then put the battery in an empty
bucket and then put the end of the hose into it. Then I remotely filled the
bucket with slightly hard freshwater, I don't remember what the PH of my water
is. Nothing happened, or at least that's what I thought at first. I then
removed the water and battery from the bucket and attached jumper cables to it
in the normal fashion. When striking the ends of the cables together I got the
normal sparks. When I put them underwater there was some weak hydrogen
production from the negative lead. Then when I touched the leads together
underwater, I got the same basic spark as I did out of the
water.
Then I
went and found my old stash of
aquarium stuff, and pulled out some Instant Ocean brand sea salt and mixed it
in freshwater, until I got a specific gravity of 1.21, like most sea water. I
then removed the freshwater from the bucket and added the saltwater for some
more testing. I tested the leads in the same way and got the same
result, but with a bit more hydrogen production from the negative
lead.
Next I
added enough salt into the one gallon in the bucket to make three gallons of
sea water, so I could completely submerge the battery. But before I added the
water I mixed in the salt and tested the leads again.
Now when I put the leads into the
water on either side of the inside of the bucket, the negative lead produced
allot more hydrogen. When I then touched the two leads under water there was a
larger spark on the tangent surfaces and they tried to stick together. They
didn't try to stick together in freshwater and not much in normal sea
water. Point is that if you take your sub to the Great Salt Lake in Utah
be careful.
Now I
added two more gallons of freshwater to the mix, to get a specific gravity of
1.21 again, and put in the battery remotely. Nothing much happened, just some
hydrogen production from the negative pole. This was just a cheap normal
battery, not a AGM sealed type. I then did some testing and then put my bare
finger in the water. Nothing, not even a tingle. I then lowered the level of
the water to about an inch over the top of the poles. Then did some more
testing and then put my finger directly between the poles, nothing.
I then
removed the salt water and refilled it with freshwater and did the same
testing, nothing. I would say that the battery would of slowly discharged by
producing hydrogen until spent. No explosion when submerged in this way.
The hydrogen in an enclosed space would be real bad news. You'll be safer in
freshwater then salt since you'll have more time to get out before the
hydrogen levels get to high. Still you better get out ASAP unless you can
route the hydrogen into your AIP unit quickly. ;
)'
Finally I
reinstalled the battery in the mower and started the mower with no trouble. I
learned allot from doing this, how about you? Just remember I'm a submarine
half full kind of guy.
Here are
my pictures of the submerged battery testing.
http://www.frappr.com/?a=viewphoto&id=4001713&pid=7357670
Regards,
Brent
Hartwig
"Do or do
not, There is no
try"
~ Yoda
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