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Location: Beautiful Northumberland
Car type: 1933 RP Saloon (aka Mildred)
(13-06-2023, 09:05 PM)David Stepney Wrote: I understand that, to equip a workshop to repair EVs commercially, one needs to install a water filled pit large enough to completely submerge one in the event of fire.
Hi David
I do hope you had your tongue firmly in your cheek.
But, I'll play anyway...surely the pit would need to be large enough to take the largest vehicle likely to be serviced, which is already of course 17 tonne lorry sized and I guess soon will include 38 tonners. Your average garage is going to need an olympic sized swimming pool, along with equipment big enough to push/pull/carry a burning vehicle to it. From my H&S days we had it drilled into us that the last thing you put near an electrical fire is water, it was CO2 only. So if you had said they needed a CO2 system to 'flood' an area then I might have believed you
Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think!
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Not so. Saw it happen at Prescott in 2020. Lithium ion battery in a competition car spontaneously burst into flames for no apparent reason. Lots of smoke and some sort of discharge. Marshals and other competitors tried a range of extinguishers to no effect. In the end, battery removed and placed in a bucket of water. That stopped the thing. Turned out the fire in the battery was caused by it over charging.
Steve
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Steve, has that and other incidents not lead to a total ban on lithium ion batteries for competition cars?
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Not sure. However, it certainly made my mind up and that of those that witnessed it.
Steve
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A piece on R4 today mentioned the increased weight of EVs in relation to the design load in multi storey car parks...
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Location: Deepest Frogland 30960
Car type: 1933 RP Standard Saloon
Before I retired Hybrid vehicles were only just starting to appear on British roads, mainly in the form of the Toyota Prius. Even back then we had to have specific protocols in place for the emergency services and accident investigators in any case where one of these vehicles was involved, because any damage to the battery pack or its connections to the drive motors could result in either chemical contamination or high voltage electrical short circuits.
We used the adage, if you're not sure, then don't touch it. Not much help if you've got someone injured and trapped inside but there's no point in attempting a rescue if it ends up with another/more casualties, or compromises the person(s) trapped.
I can't speak for later generation fully electrical vehicles but their increasing popularity is only going to involve them in more and more accidents (sorry collisions). Their systems are capable of generating huge electrical currents, apart from the fire risk created by damage, rupture or other defects.
Be very aware!
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The recommended extinguishant for Li ion fires is F500. This is a water based extinguishant with the F500 additive.
Steve
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All we need now is for it to drift into the London Array wind farm.
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Location: Peak District, Derbyshire
Car type: 1929 Chummy, 1930 Chummy, 1930 Ulster Replica, 1934 Ruby
So, what do they do with it now? Sink it? I suppose they'll need to find out the cause - the last one sank with no real evidence.
