ESAConsulting Engineers, PA
Failure Analysis
ESA has extensive experience in the failure analysis of electrical equipment. Types of equipment analyzed include: relays, fuses, electric penetrations, thermocouples, batteries, motors, solenoid valves, and so forth. Many of these analyses have included root cause evaluations. A number of the failure analyses performed have resulted in ESA's clients obtaining replacement equipment in instances where there has been a warranty issue with the equipment manufacturer. ESA has also used the results of some of the failure analyses in litigation related to the failure.
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Post corrosion at the positive post of the center cell eventually lead to the cell "open-circuiting" in an area above the electrolyte. When this occurred an arc was drawn which ignited the hydrogen gas in the cell, causing the cell to explode. The explosion blew out the partition wall between the center and end cell and ignited the hydrogen gas in the end cell which in turn blew out the side of the cell. |
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This cell was dissected after the cell had shorted (internally). The cause was found to be growth of forming bars in the positive plate grid that had penetrated the separator and contact and allowed the forming bars to contact the negative plate. |
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This cell, which was only 2 years old, was experiencing a problem known as slivering (i.e., the loss of lead from the positive plate in the form of slivers about the size of a thumb nail). The slivering occurred at the positive strap and along the edges of the positive plates. The slivers are the result of the corrosion processes within the cell and the size and quantity vary with the alloy used in the positive plate and the application the cell is used in. |
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ESA Consulting Engineers, PA
PO Box 9251 Jupiter, Florida