Hi all,
I'm building my battery pods and wondered if I
could pick your brains.
On the K-350, I believe the battery pods are
mounted on pipes that go through the pressure hull, thereby connecting the
pods to the cabin. They can be isolated with screw-on caps. I presume
Kittredge's reason was to allow forced ventilation during charging. Also,
Busby explains that if you use hydrocaps in a sealed pod, the caps can consume
the little O2 available in the pod during discharge (i.e., a dive), at which
point they would cease to work and start releasing hydrogen that can quickly
reach an explosive concentration. One approach to prevent this was to add O2
to the pods before diving.
Kittredge was no doubt designing for lead-acid
batteries. But these days with AGM batteries, I'm wondering if the same issues
are still of concern, or whether I can just make the pods truly isolated. I
suspect the latter, because I'm not aware of the pods on modern submersibles
being piped to the cabin. Perhaps I'd have to remove the pod endcap on land to
charge the batteries. If so I'd be unable to charge afloat, but frankly I
don't envision doing that, because I don't care for leaving the boat in the
water for extended periods. Over days, condensation really starts collecting
inside.
I can see several safety advantages in keeping
these spaces truly isolated. Any opinions?
Thanks,
Alec
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