Re: (ET) battery gases

[Ken Olum <kdo cosmos phy tufts edu>]

My understanding is that the ignition danger is connected with hydrogen
that might have been produced by electrolysis when the battery was
charged.  I doubt you have a problem if you're sitting in an open space,
where the hydrogen would rapidly dissipate.  To be sure you could take
the caps off the cells to let any explosive mixture in there dissipate
also.  Then put them back on again before grinding.

Also very be careful about dealing with batteries with wires attached.
I got in trouble with this once when the free end of the wire touched
the other battery terminal.  Fortunately I got away with only a small
amount of melted lead.  Also, as usual, you want to make sure there's no
danger of short-circuits caused by tools.  So carefully insulate the
terminal that you're not working on.

                                        Ken