Risk of poisoning with 12V Battery not vented properly

[Cherokee]

Again, now a direct question.
Why Oh why does the Mavbrid, or any hybrid need a 12 volt battery ?

To start the ICE ? Our little back up Noco battery boosters are Lipo with enough grunt to start a 6.0 L diesel right ! Or so they/them say.
:’P

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[710-oil-614]

Hopefully @Administrator at least edits the title so this isn’t erroneously kicking dirt on hybrids.

 

[Matso]

Motorists in general should be much more aware and concerned about CO inhalation inside their vehicles as symptoms are much more subtle and there is no odor to detect it. And it's just as deadly of course.

 

[Escapologist]

Why we need lead acid at all? I think it's that a good condition lead acid can "bootstrap" itself at temperatures well below freezing. i.e. wake itself up chemically with it's own internal heat when you stick a load on it. Whereas the Li chemistries find it difficult to get going until they're near freezing or above.

I am noticing this over the last week, start at 1C, starts electric, crawl a little ways before IC fires, might be switching to electric after short IC run. -4C, motor fires up as soon as I hit start button, don't get electric for 5 or 10 mins.

 

[Glen Baker LLC]

This is nothing but spreading FUD. GM had batteries under the back seat as far back as the 90's. Should people be aware of a the vent tube as an overabundance of precaution? Yes. But saying people shouldn't buy a Hybrid because the 12V battery is behind the seat is plain silly. There are plenty of non Hybrid vehicles that also have the 12V battery behind the seat.

Exactly.
1970's Corvette had the battery sitting right behind the driver's seat?

Screw it. Us old guys don't need no stinking vent tubes.

 

[scottjl]

guess i'll go out doing what i love.. driving around in my maverick.

 

[MaverickDragon]

I have a couple of large forklift FLA batteries that exhaust hydrogen sulfide gas in a confined area.
It's not a problem because they are more than adequately vented.
A friend of mine got very ill because his solar FLA batteries were not vented.

I wonder if the guy involved changed his battery and didn't address the vent issue himself.
It's also a wonder why he didn't notice the very distinctive odor...

 

[Larrythelunatic]

Again, now a direct question.
Why Oh why does the Mavbrid, or any hybrid need a 12 volt battery ?

To start the ICE ? Our little back up Noco battery boosters are Lipo with enough grunt to start a 6.0 L diesel right ! Or so they/them say.
:’P

Because all of the auxiliary gizmos (radio, lights, gauges, etc) operate on 12v.
The 12v battery basically acts as a voltage regulator.
Besides, who wants high voltage wires running behind his dashboard?

 

[Mavster Mechanic]

AGM is still lead acid, and needs vent tubes. When they say they are sealed, that just means you cannot open it to add liquid like some older batteries.

I think many AGM varieties you can mount upside down or on the side. So I think it depends on the exact make & model.

 

[icegradner]

Again, now a direct question.
Why Oh why does the Mavbrid, or any hybrid need a 12 volt battery ?

To start the ICE ? Our little back up Noco battery boosters are Lipo with enough grunt to start a 6.0 L diesel right ! Or so they/them say.
:’P

The computers, radio, lights, door locks etc all run on 12v systems, it would be like running a notebook computer without the battery installed just because you have it plugged into a household outlet. You need standby power to start the HV system and keep other things responsive when the HV system isn’t running. Keeping the HV system on all the time would needlessly deplete the HV battery. Not to mention dramatically increase the cost of building and maintaining the vehicle with all the heavy gauge wiring.

One of the electric motors turns on the ICE, but you need power to the computer to tell it to come on.

 

[Mavster Mechanic]

Again, now a direct question.
Why Oh why does the Mavbrid, or any hybrid need a 12 volt battery ?

To start the ICE ? Our little back up Noco battery boosters are Lipo with enough grunt to start a 6.0 L diesel right ! Or so they/them say.
:’P

The high voltage battery is disconnected while parked.

You use a 12v battery to close the contacts on the high voltage one.

Even full EV's make use of a 12v battery usually for the same reason.

 

[Carlitos_92]

It's also a wonder why he didn't notice the very distinctive odor...

You can only detect the odor at a limited range of concentrations, and even then, H2S deadens your sense of smell, so you don't have very long.

 

[MaverickDragon]

The hybrid has a 126 horse power starter motor.
It uses the traction motor through the wonders of the eCVT design.
One of the big plusses that its stop/start isn't dependent on running down the 12 volt battery.

 

[MaverickDragon]

You can only detect the odor at a limited range of concentrations, and even then, H2S deadens your sense of smell, so you don't have very long.

While true, the odor at some point is detectable, and that was seemingly ignored.
There are also symptoms that occur prior to death, such as eye irritation, sore throat, cough, nausea and shortness of breath, which would be immediately eliminated if he had bothered to just open a window.

I'm wondering if there were other problems in the vehicle, as hydrogen sulfide typically is released in quantity when a battery is being overcharged, or the battery itself is damaged.

I think the court case defense will be looking at what steps were taken by the deceased that could have led to his own demise. Were any warning messages ignored? Were modifications made to the vehicle charging system? Is Ford responsible if he replaced his own battery inappropriately?

I would say no on a jury, if that was the evidence.

 

[First Sergeant]

Exactly.
1970's Corvette had the battery sitting right behind the driver's seat?

Screw it. Us old guys don't need no stinking vent tubes.

Exactly.
1970's Corvette had the battery sitting right behind the driver's seat?

Screw it. Us old guys don't need no stinking vent tubes.

I agree Glen. I never blinked an eye driving my old 51 GMC pickup. No battery scare, but others might be concerned with that gas tank, RIGHT BEHIND THE SEAT in the cab! Nothing like the smell of gas fumes early in the morning! The smell, you know, that gasoline smell... Smelled like... victory!" (sorry Robert Duvall). Never even cared, had hay to haul and other chores to do.

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