Kongsberg ACS500, Instruction Manual

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Lithium batteries safety procedures
Eye contact: Irrigate thoroughly with water for at least 15 minutes.
Ingestion: Wash out mouth thoroughly with water and give plenty of
water to drink.
Fire-fighting measures
Cool down the battery with copious amounts of cold water.
Transponder with lithium battery:
• Immerse the transponder in the sea for 24 hours or permanent
• If this method is impossible, the transponder can be cooled down by use of a fire hose
•
Separate transponder lithium battery:
• Immerse the battery in the sea for 24 hours or permanent
• If this method is impossible, the battery can be cooled down by use of a fire hose
Cooling down the battery with copious amount of cold water is the only way to
reduce/stop the internal chemical reactions, or to limit the fire/explosions to as few
battery cells as possible. The chemical reactions/fire will continue without additional
supply of oxygen, so extinguisher like Lith-X will not work properly.
Applying water directly onto a battery may develop hydrogen gas, due to the possible
electrolysis if the battery terminals are exposed to water. Mixed with air, this gas is very
inflammable/explosive. However, if the water cooling takes place out on deck, or in a
storeroom with good ventilation, there will never be enough hydrogen gas to exceed the
lower explosive limit of hydrogen in air (about 4%).
WARNING
Remove transponders with lithium battery and separate transponder
lithium batteries in case of an external fire if possible
Handling and storage
All personnel that handle transponders must know the transponder’s status:
Functioning - Failing - Unknown
A Transponder with unknown status must be handled as a transponder that is failing.
Recovering a functioning transponder
All transponders recovered from the sea, should be placed in a safe place out on deck
and controlled for minimum 2 hours:
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