Battery submerged in water - safe to recharge?

[canard]

Does anyone know if it is safe to recharge an electric bike battery that has been completely submerged in water? Long story short - yesterday I managed to ride into a very deep puddle of water during a torrential rainstorm in which the entire motor unit and battery of my BH Emotion Max 700 got submerged in water. Now I'm afraid something dangerous will happen with the battery if I try to recharge it - does anyone know if this would be safe?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[wesnewell]

You need to open all electrical components and make sure everything is dry before charging or even using the electric parts on the bike. It would also be a good idea to disconnect all connectors and check them. If left long without drying out, electrolyisis will corrode everything.

 

[canard]

OK, I see. I'm in kind of a bind here as I have zero experience in electronics and on the battery pack it says quite clearly that one should NOT disassemble it. For what it's worth, the bike works fine so there are no obvious since of damage, it's just that I'm concerned that something dangerous will happen if I recharge the battery. I mean, I can live with the electronic components being permanently damaged but I don't want to get killed in a battery explosion or something like that...

 

[wesnewell]

Just make sure everything is dry. Leave in sun a couple of hours at least.

 

[canard]

OK, got it, thanks. So there's no need to disassemble as long as I make sure it's is dry? Sorry if I'm being a bit of a chicken here - I just got spooked out a bit after reading some stories about poisonous gases being released from lithium ion batteries that had been submerged in water.

 

[kfong]

You should be fine as long as you make sure it's all dried out. Battery themselves are sealed, it's the electronics and connections you need to worry about if they are still wet, leaving it out in the sun or have a fan on it to dry it out before use.

 

[waynebergman]

I think if you admitted to the manufacturer the pack was submerged in water your warranty would not be any good anyways. Two of my packs got wet with only a spinkler system and I lost them both. The first one started acting the very next day and the other a couple of weeks later. IF there is any moisture in and around the cells I would want to open up what I can so moisture can escape. At this point forget about the warranty I would say and make sure no water is anywhere inside your pack enclosure. If there is water in there it will not escape out of the opening that let the water in there in the first place and the damage could spread like a cancer. This is only my opinion but I lost 1500 dollars (after shipping and taxes) worth of 18650 because I did not open and dry the pack as soon as possible. It was a very expensive lesson for me.

The thread I posted here tells more of the story with some photos http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=56248

Good luck.

 

[Dauntless]

Here's your problem: If you have perfectly clean, distilled, deionized water you got on your batteries, forget all about it. (In a perfect world that's what all water is, right?) Water in it's purest form is an insulator, it would hurt your batteries less that electrical tape. (Afterall, there'd be none of that GOO in the water.)

It's not that there MIGHT be something harmful in the water. ANYTHING in the water is harmful, it's just a question of how much of what it's depositing. Salt water might have toasted your batteries the moment it hit. I saw the video that was being recorded as a cameraman dropped a TV camera in the ocean, quite the explosion. I also saw a guy walk out on a diving board to shoot downward into a pool at a swim meet, losing the camera as the board bounced more and more. (Pure silent movie hijinks.) When it dried out, it worked fine. Far less mineral content per gallon to the pool than to the ocean.

The nice thing about pulling the battery apart is to be able to be sure nothing was deposited on your connections. As the man said, the REAL damage was done after he DIDN'T clean it.

 

[e-beach]

Hey canard!

First of all follow these instructions....


Everybody who has said to dry you battery pack is 1000% correct. It has to be dried and cleaned to have any chance. If the manufacture said "do not disassemble" that is because they didn't expect you to ride your pack into full water submersion.

But...to make sure we are all on the same page, post photos of your pack as it stands today so we can see if is water proof enough to charge without disassembling it. Just keep the photos under 500Kb so you can post them on ES.

In any case, Welcome to ES!

 

[canard]

Thanks for all the help guys. I have attached some pictures of the battery pack.

I'll try to get hold of a voltmeter in the meantime.

EDIT: Forgot to mention I live in Sweden.

 

[dogman dan]

Figure out how to open the case, if dry inside, go for it. If not, dry it out. A day in the sun might do it, or you can try the rice trick. Put in a plastic bag along with a bunch of rice, the rice will pull the humidity out.

 

[r3volved]

Figure out how to open the case, if dry inside, go for it. If not, dry it out. A day in the sun might do it, or you can try the rice trick. Put in a plastic bag along with a bunch of rice, the rice will pull the humidity out.

I was just about to mention the rice trick, or alternatively if know anyone in warehousing, get a bunch of silica desiccant packs and put them in an air-tight container with your battery.

 

[FfredDRredD]

FogHorn LegHorn numbered his feathers in case of emergency, i numbered and labeled all wires and connections for emergencies

 

[e-beach]

Looks like screws and tabs....hopefully not glued also. Like others advised, open it and expect it for moisture. If wet, just dry what you can with a rag or paper towel, then set in a place where it can dry out. A blow dryer on low heat can also do the trick, just don't cook anything. Once dry, test cells for voltages.

If dry, test cells for voltages and if good, reassemble.

 

[canard]

I wasn't able to open the battery so I took a chance and recharged it. Voltage after recharging is 41.6 V and I was told on another forum that anything over 41.5 V is normal, so I'll just keep riding and hope for the best, eh?

Thanks everyone for all the help!