Anyone heard that a battery submerged in salt water produces
Chlorine gas? From those in the battery industry that I have asked it
would appear to be true.
If it is correct, that would be a much larger problem than
getting shocked or splashed with acid.
Ron
From:
owner-personal_submersibles@psubs.org
[mailto:owner-personal_submersibles@psubs.org] On Behalf Of Brent
Hartwig
Sent: Monday, August 06, 2007 10:28 PM
To: PSUBSorg
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