Oh dear, perhaps a little more testing was required.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21038128
It would seem so, there seem to have been a fair few un related problems
Another
Link
Just goes to show, if you are in the market for a large passenger aircraft - buy Airbus!!
Companies have gone to the wall with less serious issues, I dread to think what the daily penalty will be for Boeing !
I'm old enough to remember the engines dropping off of DC10's.....
Yes, this is not going to help Boeing. To be selfish, however, it can't but help the guys with jobs on this Septic Isle involved with building
the Airbus.
Trouble is, a number of the problems seem to involve lithium ion batteries, which get used in various places around the plane. I don't know
which type they use, but we've all heard about the ones in laptops and phones bursting into flames, and the type I use on R/C planes (LiPo) have
virtually been banned from passenger aircraft. They're all fine when managed properly, but nasty when they decide to overheat... and once
they're on fire, they can't be put out by normal means.
Oh - and the Airbus also has lots of these batteries on board...
Note: Statistically, the number of laptops/phones bursting into flames is incredibly low - it's just that they got a lot of publicity. The
number of LiPo batteries (used in R/C) is far higher, mostly due to charging abuse, physical damage, or cheap-and-nasty manufacture. Hopefully the
aircraft ones are far better in construction and get proper maintenance!
[Edited on 16/1/13 by David Jenkins]
They should have used LiFe batteries, much more stable. Lipos are great (use them in my r/c plane all the time) but they swell if you over-use them,
they get toasty warm (which causes more swelling), they suffer from thermal runaway and they burn like crazy.
Of course they could have used LiFe batteries in which case I fail to see why they're failing. Even if you short out a LiFe battery it
doesn't go boom.
quote:
Originally posted by BenB
They should have used LiFe batteries, much more stable. Lipos are great (use them in my r/c plane all the time) but they swell if you over-use them, they get toasty warm (which causes more swelling), they suffer from thermal runaway and they burn like crazy.
Of course they could have used LiFe batteries in which case I fail to see why they're failing. Even if you short out a LiFe battery it doesn't go boom.
quote:
Originally posted by motorcycle_mayhem
I'm old enough to remember the engines dropping off of DC10's.....
Yes, this is not going to help Boeing. To be selfish, however, it can't but help the guys with jobs on this Septic Isle involved with building the Airbus.
i use lipo in rc cars, never seen one go up, i've seen a couple swell but nothing more, same driver, very high power motor, too much current drain for 20c cells. i've also had an accident with one, in a heli, got pushed back into the spur gear, cut into the layers of the cell, discharged it on a long wire, and into salt water, didn't swell or anything. i think there safe enough if there used within the limits they are designed for charged correctly and looked after correctly
You are correct - a brand-name LiPo shouldn't burn if it's handled properly and charged according to instructions. Unfortunately it's
easy to get it wrong, if you're a numpty...
...but all my batteries are in very good working order, before anyone comments!
Whats worrying about about the Dreamliner is it is a number of completely different issues which suggests problems in within Boeing.
Airbus have also had major problems with the A380 and the A350 is way behind its' original in service date.
Oh dear.....
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-01-18/why-the-batteries-in-boeings-787-are-burning
[Edited on 18/1/13 by T66]