Power Generation: Tier 4, EU Stage III, Regulations, Safety

[njc1979]

One cause- static electricity.  

Batteries can vent their gases and a static charge can occur.  Always check the charger and ensure that terminals are clean and the battery is not compromised. 

[joe1019]

Would using gel batteries solve the problem?

[njc1979]

Hard to suggest since no failure mode is identified with a cause.  Id suggest the maintenance free batteries from CAT if your interested.  Most battery issues Ive seen are from faulty chargers, having charger set incorrectly, or lack of cleaning around the terminals such.  

[joe1019]

Thanks for the help. I appreciate it very much.

[Islander64]

It is possible that the electrolyte level in the bttery was low , maybe on only one cell and this produced a short circuit across the plates which in turn ignited the hydrogen gas ....I had a similar fault on a battery when I was working in the Seychelles where we ran a lot of gensets to supply power to the islands resorts ..we moved over to gel batteries...

[jp]

In my experience the most common cause of a "starting battery" explosion is low fluid levels causing the plates to be exposed to the combustible atmosphere inside the cell/s affected. On mobile equipment the most usual cause is slight overcharging causing the

fluid to boil off combined with lack of electrical system maintenance. In a Genset aplication the most likley cause is loss of fluid due to constant

chargeing in a high ambient temperature environment such as is found around most genset engines.

Hope this helps.

j.p.

[joe1019]

It does. Thanks.

[joe1019]

If we go with gel batteries is there any special charger we need to switch to.