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Featured Cayenne Poss. Hydrogen Sulfide from wrong 12v Battery

Discussion in 'Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News' started by wjtracy, Oct 5, 2016.

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  1. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    I'll put this here (mods: OK to move) as it potentially pertains to Gen2-Gen3 Prii.

    Hydrogen sulfide inhalation killed mother, toddler found on Florida's Turnpike in June

    Apparently an inside-the-car 12v battery in a Porsche Cayenne SUV was replaced with non-OEM wrong type and possibly poisoned the passengers with H2S. Only known case of this ever happening. I have never smelled copious H2S coming from a car battery, so I wonder what happened?

    Authorities are still trying to confirm. Hard to imagine how so much H2S could form but there is the H2 gas formed and sulfuric acid is there of course. I guess we have to wait and see. H2S is not too bad as a trace smelly gas (rotten eggs smell) so they would need to get a pretty big snootful of it somehow. Maybe something else going on here. Very sad of course.

    Gen4 Toyota has placed the battery under the hood.
     
    #1 wjtracy, Oct 5, 2016
  2. mikefocke

    mikefocke Prius v Three 2012, Avalon 2011

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    Two things I can think of as possible explanations ...

    Many Porsches use a vented battery and the replacement battery wasn't vented.

    The car had sat unused for a while allowing the battery "fluid" to evaporate. On a first use for a long higher speed trip on a hot day after only being used for short trips for a while, the battery just overheated, melted the plates and burned up. Happened to me one time and I melted the paint off a rear fender where the battery was located in a '60s Alfa. Removed the battery and after a jump, drove 50 miles back home without a battery even in the car (a generator, not alternator setup). The days before credit cards and I didn't have the cash in my pocket to buy a battery.
     
    #2 mikefocke, Oct 5, 2016
  3. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    There's another thread going here about AC use, a lot of responders saying they run constantly in recirc mode. This too is a head shaker for me.
     
    #3 Mendel Leisk, Oct 5, 2016
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  4. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

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    I had a bad voltage regulator on one of my motorcycles go bad and deliver full voltage (18+) to the battery cooking it. H2S has a very strong and distinct smell of rotten eggs.
     
    #4 fotomoto, Oct 5, 2016
  5. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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    Had it happen in a Cherokee 140 after take-off at Kitty Hawk. Quick circle and land with absolutely no FBO or other services.

    Master switch on long enough to start the engine and then pulled the master switch. Flew home the old fashioned way. <GRINS>

    Bob Wilson
     
    #5 bwilson4web, Oct 5, 2016
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  6. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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    Flapping like mad?
     
    #6 JimboPalmer, Oct 5, 2016
  7. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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    VFR - Ve Follow Roads.

    Bob Wilson
     
    #7 bwilson4web, Oct 5, 2016
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  8. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    #8 Mendel Leisk, Oct 5, 2016
  9. cheallen

    cheallen Junior Member

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    If you can smell H2S, you are alive. Because it is so poisonous, evolution has made humans very sensitive to the smell of H2S
    When the H2S level gets to the fatal level, the nose can no longer smell it - which causes a serious problem where H2S is stored, i.e. is it safe to enter a room thought possibly to contain H2S when you cannot smell it?
    Bob Allendoerfer, PhD Chemist.
     
    #9 cheallen, Oct 5, 2016
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  10. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i have no idea.(n)
     
    #10 bisco, Oct 5, 2016
  11. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    I see that over-charging a 12v can release H2S but I've never seen or smelled that
     
    #11 wjtracy, Oct 5, 2016
  12. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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    In Oklahoma, we once had to take a detour because a 'sour' well blew-out. We were still downwind and even rolling the windows up, it was pretty bad.

    Bob Wilson
     
    #12 bwilson4web, Oct 6, 2016
  13. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Just read that the insurance company disposed of the Cayenne, that would seem odd to me. One time at a Summer Camp our kids cabin burnt down (nobody hurt) but they bull dozed it one day later and blamed the kids for leaving a hair dryer on...right.

    I am skeptic of the H2S poisoning claim but who knows.
     
    #13 wjtracy, Oct 6, 2016
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  14. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    The deaths happened back on June 2nd. The toxicology report only came back recently, and why it's news now.
    The battery wasn't an OEM model, and it wasn't the right type. NHTSA took the battery and car for their investigation.
    If they tore it up, it was likely not worth re-assembling to the insurance company.

    Hydrogen sulfide inhalation killed mother, toddler found on Florida&apos;s Turnpike in June - Orlando Sentinel

    There were darkened coins found in the car; possibly a reaction with the H2S. So the insurance company could concerned with liability from unseen damaged the gas might have caused, or they couldn't get all the odor out.

    Medical examiner confirms suspected cause of deaths in Turnpike mystery | Local News - WESH Home
     
    #14 Trollbait, Oct 6, 2016
    Last edited: Oct 6, 2016
  15. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Yes I know.
    It would take a university or industry lab about 1-hr to see what the dark stuff is by scanning electron microscopy. Sulfides are black. So it just seems we are not getting a good investigation, and now 3 months later they say it was H2S.
     
    #15 wjtracy, Oct 6, 2016
  16. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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    Where is the battery relative to the cabin air intake?

    Bob Wilson
     
    #16 bwilson4web, Oct 6, 2016
  17. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    apparently under the driver's seat <Yikes!> if I got that right.
    I assume it was not a Cayenne Hybrid but that would make it more interesting if it was.
     
    #17 wjtracy, Oct 6, 2016
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  18. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    A back log at forensic labs for tox results, or other tests, is not unheard of.
     
    #18 Trollbait, Oct 6, 2016
  19. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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    #19 JimboPalmer, Oct 6, 2016
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  20. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Battery removal Cayenne - Oh man sheesh lots of disassembly of seat trim to get to it
     
    #20 wjtracy, Oct 6, 2016
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