Norman Johnson wrote: > Phil, > > I am a bit unsettled about the location you are considering for your house > batteries. If seawater should get to them chlorine, a very poisonous gas, > would result. I have flashbacks to submarine movies where the heroic > sailor dives into the battery compartment to effect a repair. > Norm > > Phil Rosch originally wrote: > I'm thinking I could put all the batteries amidships, above the bilge, but > below the sole and put the buss bars on opposite stringers, well away from > humanity. Starter feeds would pop through the sole where appropriate and
REPLY Not to belittle Norm's concern; but does anyone know the exact process and voltage by which chlorine gas is evolved from sea water submerging the batteries. I have conducted experiments in which I deliberately fed raw DC power from a battery into sea water to test for stray current corrosion. Minute amounts of hydrogen were generated but no sign of a greenish gas like chlorine. I think it requires more than 12V or even 24V to create enough electrolysis to create chlorine gas in any appreciable amounts at a rapid rate. Submarine battery banks are series wired for several hundred volts. Quite a different thing. Certainly placing batteries above the bilge and the high water alarms is not the same as having them down at the lowest point of the hull. Furthermore, with high water alarms, the situation is not anywhere the same as a deeply submerged submarine with no other options. Plus, a surface boat can ventilate with open doors unlike a sub deeply submerged. It becomes a question of assessing the relative risks. Will placing batteries above the deck plates pose a higher risk of tripping over them or of causing any short circuits than the possibility of submerging the batteries undetected? regards Arild _______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list [email protected] To adjust your membership settings over the web http://www.liveaboardnow.org/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard To subscribe send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] The archives are at http://www.liveaboardnow.org/pipermail/liveaboard/ To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html
