You would think Boeing would know better

[BobK]

Lithium Batteries Central to Boeing's 787 Woes

It's not like there has not been any press about the dangers of Li Ion batteries...

You would think Boeing would have the expertise and motivation to handle them correctly, but apparently not.

Bob

 

[Raven Luni]

Is that the one with no hydraulics? I've never go in one of those - a big enough EMP or solar flare and youre dead

 

[BobK]

Yep.

Bob

 

[cjdelphi]

There has to be hydraulics, there's no way they'd rely on servo's and other motors to do the job? ...

if you're right, i'm not going on one.....

 

[(*steve*)]

Yep, there's hydraulics

The major advantages are composite structures and (I think) electrically driven hydraulic pumps rather than bleed air driven pumps.

 

[BobK]

Well, that is a relief.

But I still wonder about what they have done wrong with the LI Ion batteries. My guess is that it is actaully a software problem. Here is why.

The batteries have a problem if you charge or discharge them too fast. Charging is a no-brainer -- you can limit the charging current easily with hardware.

Discharging, on the other hand can be tricky. Suppose you detect that too much current is being drawn. What do you do? You can't just shut them down if they are needed for hydraulic pumps. So I am guessing that there is complex software to determine what happens in the case of a fault. And complex software has bugs.

Bob

 

[(*steve*)]

The great thing about this is that if you're interested you'll eventually be able to read about *exactly* what went wrong.

I'll certainly be on the lookout for the final report(s)