RE: Evolution of Hydrogen Gas

[Larry Elie <lelie ford com>]

----------
From:   Steven Naugler[SMTP:snaugler earthlink net]
Sent:   Monday, January 04, 1999 10:39 PM
To:     elec-trak cosmos5 phy tufts edu
Subject:        Evolution of Hydrogen Gas

;David,
;    I have questions about the Ford EV Ranger pickup you referenced in the
;following text:

;"Well, I agree, but with a caveat.  Most garages ARE leaky.  My tractor is
;in my
;insulated but leaky garage.  But I know people who have tested Ford Ranger
;electric pickups; 24 (!) 8V batteries, in series.  They run a fan whenever
;the
;charger is operating, to carry away the Hydrogen.  After testing, they 
found
;that
;they had to run the fan for 30 seconds AFTER the charger went off; the
;mixture
;was still combustible!  Yet we allow the batteries to be charged in a 
normal
;garage."

;1.  Is the fan built into the truck?
;2.  Or is it part of the garage where charging occurs?
;3.  If it is part of the truck could it be that the 30 second delay 
between
;end of charge and turning off of the blower is to account for the time
;hydrogen bubbles rise out of the battery electrlyte? ( I know that after I
;turn off my GE charger I hear a gradual reduction in the bubbling noises
;coming from the batteries.)

;Steve Naugler

Actually Steve, I was replying to David.

I checked with an EV guy.  My data was 'out of date' .  The current (bad 
pun) Ranger 
EV has 39 (!?!) 8V batteries in series.  I don't think they shipped any 
with less.  Don't 
ask why the odd number.  Anyway, the fan IS built into the truck (in the 
battery 
compartment).  The source of the delay was not certain, all the engineers 
cared about 
was to make sure the H2 got out of the compartment.  The point is that the 
gas is 
still in the garage at that point.  BTW, the 'winter range' of the Ranger 
electric is 75 
miles best case at 20F with a new set of batteries.  It was -9F this 
morning in 
Detroit.  The people who leased those puppies are probably not coming it 
today.

Larry Elie