Did you know that an improperly charging golf cart can lead to asphyxiation, explosion, fire, and even death? I didn't either, until one of the residents in my building insisted on charging his in our shared garage, with improper (read NO) ventilation.
I walked into our shared garage in my mixed use apartment and condo building one evening, to take my dog outside. I noticed an odor of something like overheated plastic, and I heard a thrumming sound over by the garage door. It was storming like crazy outside that night, and I heard a high pitched whine just barely audible above the sound of thunder.
I walked over to check it out, and I found a golf cart plugged into a hydrogen battery, overcharging and having set off some sort of alarm on the gauge measuring the charge. The keys were inside the golf cart, and the cart was turned on--battery only, WHILE charging.
I found out later that my neighbor had left his golf cart on and charging in our barely ventilated garage while he went on a weekend long vacation, leaving us to slowly asphyxiate or deal with any potential fires or explosions which might occur from his plugged in, turned on golf cart.
Now, I have a decent knowledge of basic chemistry, dear reader, so I could see the writing on the wall. I knew what whispy gases like hydrogen sulfide could do, and how they would behave, once released, so I simply unplugged the hydrogen battery from the wall, and I let the neighbor know that this was a dangerous practice, and that while it might seem like not the biggest deal, it could seriously harm all of us.
Think I'm kidding? Being dramatic? Being over the top? I'm probably just being a nosey Karen, right?
Think again...
From an article in the Palm Beach County Post:
"DeRita recently appeared before a meeting of the Alliance of Delray Residential Associations to stress how unsafe it is to walk away and charge a golf cart in a closed garage.
Golf carts need to be charged in the open or in a well-ventilated area, he said.
With hydrogen present, a problem could develop, he noted, by even touching the garage door switch or garage door light -- all of which work off electricity. DeRita said golf cart batteries need to be periodically filled with distilled water because water evaporates. If water level drops too low, hydrogen is emitted. The units before 2018 do not have safety mechanisms that shut off the charging if water levels are too low."
DeRita appears to have been talking about lead acid batteries, which are often the batteries that are built into golf carts, but to compound that issue, often times hydrogen portable batteries are used to charge those lead acid batteries, adding to the danger. Hydrogen batteries, in the case of golf carts at least, are external batteries which need to be plugged into a wall outlet and then plugged into the golf cart that needs to be charged.
You can see why this might lead to golf cart owners assuming that charging their carts in the garage is just fine and dandy, but it's not. This presents, as DeRita touches on above, many potential dangers that should not be ignored. Read on for more information on how and why golf carts should be stored and charged safely in OPEN areas like car ports or special charging garages, and NEVER in a residential garage.
“We are talking about a double whammy here,” said Assistant Palm Beach County Fire Marshal David DeRita. “If it doesn’t suffocate you, it can kill you through a fire.”
Safety fact sheet re hydrogen batteries, golf carts, and proper charging:
Hydrogen batteries (and even acid batteries) that require charging should always be charged in open areas, never in garages (citation).
Hydrogen Batteries
Safely Charging Your Motorized Device:
*See this website for information on what happens while a battery using VOCs aka combustible gas: click here.*
Places like golf villas, golf resorts, golf courses, mechanic’s shops, UPS, United States Post Offices, Costco, Home Depot, and Lowes utilize safe battery charging rooms or safe battery charging garages, with:
no enclosure,
and with two or more garage door entrances/exits
which are kept open during and directly after charging of said devices.
Which have high powered, industrial fans (not just vents in a closed garage), which move air outward and keep gas from building up in an enclosed space
IMPORTANT: Before We Move On:
Even deep cycle batteries and lead acid batteries should never be charged in an enclosed area (citation).
Lead Acid Batteries
The dangers of a lead acid battery are most serious for pregnant people, fetuses, children, and animals
lead acid battery properties
lead acid batteries and hydrogen batteries have similar properties, and neither are safe to charge in an enclosed area for any amount of time)
contain a positive charge of lead oxide at one pole,
and contain a negative charge of sulphuric acid at the other.
*Sulfuric acid is deadly and dangerous, and it CAN escape the battery for a number of reasons.*
The negatively charged sulfuric acid at the negative pole of the battery contains:
sulfur
and hydrogen sulfide,
which can both be released into the air as hydrogen sulfide while charging.
Hydrogen Sulfide Gas:
***A Note About Hydrogen Sulfide Gas***⬇️
*Hydrogen gas, like radon and, to an extent, CO2, is what is known as a whispy gas, which can get into small spaces and crevices and linger, long after any charging is done, and while it is heavier than oxygen, but still light and whispy—citation.
*Hydrogen Sulfide Gas Properties and Risks:*
Only 4-18% concentration of hydrogen sulfide in the air is dangerous/deadly
11x more concentrated (read: more deadly) than CO2
isn’t always picked up by carbon monoxide detectors (because they are not built to detect hydrogen sulfide gas).
Hydrogen sulfide detectors are at least hundreds of dollars per unit.
pushes oxygen out of enclosed spaces
Hydrogen sulfide gas causes suffocation
Hydrogen sulfide is poisonous
Hydrogen sulfide gas poisoning, or conditions which cause asphyxiation from lack of oxygen in humans and animals can happen when:
hydrogen concentrations reach between 4-18%,
Hydrogen gas can buildup extremely quickly from battery charging in an enclosed area
By the time you notice symptoms of hydrogen sulfide gas poisoning, it will be too late (citation)
Irreversible damage will likely have already occurred to your heart and cardiovascular system by the time you notice symptoms
occurs so quickly that many people do not have a chance to escape from their homes before an explosion happens, a fire starts, or poisoning or asphyxiation occur
Starts occurring when a battery is around 95% charged, so unsupervised charging is absolutely deadly
Hydrogen gas is extremely explosive.
Pushes oxygen out
Concentrations grow quickly
Leads to an explosive atmosphere
Symptoms of hydrogen sulfide gas poisoning:
Effects range from mild:
headaches,
to eye irritation,
To Very Serious:
unconsciousness,
and death.
Can smell like rotten eggs (it IS the same thing as sewer gas, after all, which is created when human waste breaks down in sewers and there’s no release for the hydrogen sulfide gas)
Once you smell it, it may be too late
If you notice a rotten egg smell, and then that smell abates without ventilation, that doesn’t mean there is no more hydrogen sulfide gas. It could mean that there is so much gas that your sense of smell is being affected.
Recommendations: watch the following video from Palm Beach County Fire and Rescue on the dangers of golf cart charging in enclosed or semi-enclosed spaces:
Click here to watch the video
Sources:
Osha: click here to see the OSHA training website about hydrogen sulfide and other explosive gases.
WWAY (Florida) News: click here
Stack Exchange: The Danger Of Charging A Deep Cycle Battery Indoors: click here
The dangers of charging a lead acid battery at all in an enclosed space: click here
Sealed lead-acid batteries and hydrogen charging vs gel charging: click here
Battery University: How Overcharging A Lead Acid Battery Can Lead To Danger: click here
Hydrogen Sulfide Gas Wikipedia Page: click here
Blackline Safety: click here
ABC Action News: Family nearly killed by golf cart: video: watch here
- Battery acid on garage floor (for lead acid batteries): read here
- Firehouse.com: read here
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