Fire on dive boat Conception in CA

[ericinmich]

USB charging takes longer than the wall plug. So, if you plug in after a night dive and they don't allow overnight charging, your batteries are still empty by your morning dive.

This isn't exactly correct unless I don't understand what you mean by the wall plug (they all get plugged in to something). There are 3 levels of USB charging per their standard (maybe more, or more coming). The higher rate ones provide 3 or 4 times as more power than the first gen chargers and their is handshaking between the device and charger to set the level.

 

[wgw04024]

I think what that person is saying, is when you plug into a 'wall plug' directly, it charges alot faster. I would say in general, I have had the same experiences, as opposed to plugging the usb plug directly into the usb plug of a laptop.

 

[infieldg]

The charging station could be on a timer that had to be reset every say 30 minutes. If no one was around to perform a reset, it would turn itself off.

Might that create a more dangerous surge every time someone turned it back on tho I wonder?

Genuine question - all I know about electricity is that wires are full of conductive smoke and stop working when all the smokes has leaked out.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I think the biggest AHA moment to come out of all of this is the realization that when the main and emergency exit put you in the same place, it's as if you only had one exit. So to Frank's point about this specific boat (and something I thought about early on) . . .

If you were looking straight down at the boat from a drone, the width is 25 feet. The width of the galley/salon is about 19 feet. So you've got a roughly 3-foot outside deck on each side of the galley/salon. (So you can fully walk around/circle the entire exterior of the galley/salon.) The bunkroom is directly below the galley/salon, but is the full width of the boat.

If you reference the bunk diagram, the escape hatch is directly over single bunks 10U/27U, which are in the middle of the vessel and which bring you up in the galley. If the escape hatch was moved (actually have two of them) and they were over 22U and 5U, they would each be on the outer edges of the outside wall of the galley and would bring you up in that narrow side passageway OUTSIDE the galley/salon.

Since the hatch would now be on an exposed-to-weather-water deck, you'd need to seal it somewhat, but it seems like a relatively easy solution to me.

Actually, having escape hatches on the cabin side walk way is a great idea. I’ve fit many of those types of hatches on sailboats up on the fore decks that lead into the front staterooms directly behind the chain locker. They make several commercially available types in heavy duty plastic or the more commercial types that lock down from inside or out made from cast aluminum. They are available in many shapes and sizes. The ones for decks sit almost flush so they’re not a tripping hazard. I’ve built my own too that involve a below surface trough with a combing so that the water that does run in pours into a channel that drains out a through hull right out the side of the boat. There is a weatherstripping that keeps it from leaking. Those type are completely flush with the deck and are intended for regular use like for fenders or dock lines etc. but they would also work for emergency escape hatches. The nice thing about your idea is that it can be implemented right now without major retrofitting of stairways etc. and it also gives rescuers access to the bunkroom from outside. The only thing I would do different would be to install four not two

 

[Jonn]

I’m not going to defend it, but if a boat made a bunch of onerous rules about charging things I would be charging my phone and stuff off of another battery pack in my bunk. It would inevitably be some sketchy thing from China and would obviously pack several times as much energy as the phone itself. I’m literally typing this message right now on my phone while plugged into just such a contraption! In this modern age we all carry powerful batteries everywhere we go. Enforcement of rules against this sort of thing on paying customers would be impractical.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I’m not going to defend it, but if a boat made a bunch of onerous rules about charging things I would be charging my phone and stuff off of another battery pack in my bunk. It would inevitably be some sketchy thing from China and would obviously pack several times as much energy as the phone itself. I’m literally typing this message right now on my phone while plugged into just such a contraption! In this modern age we all carry powerful batteries everywhere we go. Enforcement of rules against this sort of thing on paying customers would be impractical.

Impractical and inconvenient yes, but until they figure out the safety thing better with those batteries and chargers people might have to put up with a few new rules. Look at what we have to do now at airports after 9-11

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

The charging station is back where the smoking ares is, 20’ behind the stern.

 

[Manatee Diver]

Why not just have a standing rule that NOTHING get’s plugged in at night period. Put a locked cover on every outlet with a padlock so the entitled prince or princess can’t get up at night and sneak a charge in on their ever so important device.
The 24 hr watch should keep an eye on this anyway.

We are talking about a dive boat with 30+ people on it. You have dive computers, cameras, and lights that all need to be charged and ready for the morning's dives. Just saying "No charging overnight" is poor customer service. Doubly so on some of the overseas liveaboards where the fee is $4k+ per person.

You are better off simply having an overnight charging area built using fire proof materials, and possible even an automatic fire sprinkler system, in the same place that you place the night watch (the dive deck or near there would be the most logical area).

 

[Steelyeyes]

Charging station could be all metal, including some side dividers that make most of a box. A drop down lid and front panel triggered by a flame detector or easily melted link could fall and basically cut off most of the available air to the fire and also sound an alarm. Just a thought.

Vent ducts for commercial cooking equipment (griddles, grills, deep fat fryers) have vents that close and a dry chemical fire extinguishing agent triggered by similar things. I just don't think that the dry chem agent would work in this case.

 

[Manatee Diver]

Vent ducts for commercial cooking equipment (griddles, grills, deep fat fryers) have vents that close and a dry chemical fire extinguishing agent triggered by similar things. I just don't think that the dry chem agent would work in this case.

As long as we aren't talking about a huge amount of batteries going up (and we aren't really) any normal fire suppression element will work. At least according to the OSHA paperwork at one of my previous jobs. We were told that it has to be a very large concentration of lithium batteries (like the pack for an electric car) before the only fire fighting option is simply to stop/slow the spread.