Fire - Gone in 180 seconds

What psneed said X 2. My remote battery switches simply reflect my evaluation (not necessarily objective - just my latest "Aw crap" vision of what could happen) of possible circumsatances as it applies to my specific boat. Real 90/10 rule stuff with my personal biases and experience added.

Kind of like when I was flying - the most objectively dangerous part of the journey was the drive to the airport.

It is not just safety. If you have a bunch of money invested in high tech batteries it makes sense to take some cost effective precautions. If not then don't worry about it.

sbu22 said:

What psneed said X 2. My remote battery switches simply reflect my evaluation (not necessarily objective - just my latest "Aw crap" vision of what could happen) of possible circumsatances as it applies to my specific boat. Real 90/10 rule stuff with my personal biases and experience added.

Kind of like when I was flying - the most objectively dangerous part of the journey was the drive to the airport.

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the interesting thing is his comments about the fire extinguishers. I personally like Purple K extinguishers. They are normally used in commercial kitchens but after seeing a few boats burn to the waterline because regular extinguishers could not stop the fire. The extra cost of the Purple K is worth not having to go swimming (I hope). The boat we just bought has five extinguishers on board but they are only 2.5 lbs each, so each one is worth about a cup of spit. I plan to add at least two ten pound Purple K's and put on within reach of the galley and one near the engine room. Plan for the worst.

I am paascared!


Kidding aside - plan to get a couple Big Purple K... for safety sake of any fire happening.

psneeld said:

I said repeatedly that it could happen...but really, how often and why?

Hundreds of millions of batteries in use...and how many and why eventually catch fire?

I know of plenty of other issues that boats have...does everyone scurry around and make their boat perfect in every way?

No...use best practices to a point, keep an eye on things and enjoy with a backup pkan.

If every little thing was required by insurance companies and even common sense...most of us couldn't afford boating or have the boat to a point where we could get underway.

Sure do the simple things that keep us 95 percent safe...that last five percent will drive most people nuts.

For those that don't cruise a bunch or live aboard...do they make the rest of their lives 95 percent safe? Health, home, car, activities...etc...etc...?

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That comment I made about the qty of salemen coming to the rescue with extinguishers? It was more than just that, burning batteries have a tendency to explode and the thought of battery acid landing on a bunch of new cars gets salesmen running.

Its also more than just the probability of a failure. Just as it's uncommon to have a battery catch fire, it's also uncommon to need to throw a battery switch to prevent a fire, but they are on pretty much every boat I have seen. I'll wager they are on yours too. You have to weight the probability with the cost of a failure.

For those that don't cruise a bunch or live aboard...do they make the rest of their lives 95 percent safe? Health, home, car, activities...etc...etc...?

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Yes, those things I am in control of. Life is so precious. Having come extremely close to losing mine three times due to circumstances beyond my control, I'd feel like a complete idiot (to myself) for not to address those threats I do control. Some people don't place as high a value on their life, fine; just don't unnecessarily threaten mine as a result.. thanks in advance.

I'm wondering how old the batteries were. It would be interesting to see a graph of catastrophic battery failure relative to age. It would be nice to have my battery bank last 5 to 10 years. But if 90% of these type failures were past a certain age, changing at 5 years might make safety sense.

The other item not addressed in the article was boat use. My charter boat bounces around (Small boat and lumpy conditions) a fair amount when running in the ocean. Cell failures are more common after 3 years. The stuff that sluffs off the plate eventually shorts out the plates in one cell. So I run 2 or 3 seasons and sell the batteries. My trawler will hopefully have a more gentle life and greater battery life. Wondering if battery age and boat use played a roll in the battery fire?

Ted

Could this fire have occurred from one bank being completely drained and switched too a fully charged bank, or would there still have to have been one or more dead cell batteries in that bank?

Ted

O C Diver said:

Could this fire have occurred from one bank being completely drained and switched too a fully charged bank, or would there still have to have been one or more dead cell batteries in that bank?

Ted

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No, not possible. a discharged battery is just a big resistor, there is internal battery resistance to the charge, it will get hot eventually and vent hydrogen bubbles.

An exploding battery is a a hydrogen explosion, which might be able to catch something on fire, but not wires. Wires burn due to a short circuit, they can get red hot. An internal battery short, the system is wet, not dry. Not much in there to burn except a wet plastic case. The original story talks of wires everywhere in the floor, walls, ceiling and them al burning catching the boat on fire. Well wires do not burn unless the current flow in them vastly exceeds their rating and that happens with a short circuit or extreme load, and that happened after the guy joins the banks together after he had worked on the batteries, fully charging them, so IMO, he did something wrong in the wiring.