Re: solid state magnifier...accidentally...cool!

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <Hollmike-at-aol-dot-com>

Well Ed, 
   I certainly cannot argue against experience like that.  You are the first
I've heard of that actually has caused such an explosion.  I guess some
hydrogen can be trapped in the cells and the spark you caused was within inches
when disconnecting the battery.  I really wouldn't have thought that possible
after a couple of weeks of sitting idle. 
  The 32V battery was charging so I can see that happening, I guess.  How close
was the ignition source to it when that happened.  My guess is that it was
within a few inches too. 
   As for the 2V battery,  are you sure that wasn't caused by excessive heat
build up within the cell itself?  Running continuous current like that will
generate a lot of heat due to the internal resistance of the battery. Perhaps
it was sealed well enough to build up pressure causing it to burst.  It might
not have been due to ignition of the hydrogen(if any) but rather due to the
heat. 
dunno now,  but I have a car battery sitting here and am going to short it
through a power resistor and shine a flashlight into the cells to see if I
observe any bubbles. 
Mike