There are new dangers that hybrid vehicles can bring to the service technician, says Peter Zaidel, a product manager with KPA, the nationwide leader in environmental and safety compliance programs for vehicle and equipment dealers (www.kpaonline.com). Fortunately, manufacturers designed hybrid vehicles not only with an eye on fuel efficiency, but also with strong consideration for the safety of service technicians. He offers some key safety basics to share with service technicians: 1. How to identify a vehicle as a hybrid. Almost all hybrids share these common identifiers. One is hybrid badging on the body of the vehicle, typically the rear right section and under-hood identifiers, including the extra motor and the inverter. Another is the "Ready" indicator inside the vehicle in the ignition area. There is also orange high-voltage power cables. 2. How to determine if the vehicle is really turned off. "This may be the single most important safety factor for service technicians working in a shop where there are hybrid vehicles because the hybrid system is silent when running on battery," points out Zaidel. "Hybrid systems can automatically turn themselves off and on, switching between the high-voltage battery and the gasoline engine, so it is easy for the technician to be unpleasantly surprised that a vehicle thought to be 'off' is in fact 'on.'" He recommends observing these service protocols:
3. How to protect one's self from high voltage. While the amount of voltage and amperage in hybrid vehicles is enough to be fatal if a technician comes in contact with the high-voltage circuits, the high-voltage system does not ground to the body or the chassis, but rather is isolated from the vehicle body completely, Zaidel points out. A technician would have to touch pole-to-pole or become part of the circuit for an injury to occur. As a highly visible safety warning, all high-voltage circuits are encased and heavily insulated, and normally identified by the SAE standard color-coding of bright orange. Never cut into, touch, mangle or otherwise disturb the big orange cables that carry the high voltage from the batteries (in the back) to the controller (in the front), he warns. Always wear class "O" heavy-duty gloves (lineman's gloves) rated to withstand 1,000 volts when disconnecting high-voltage components, such as the battery. These gloves should be maintained in excellent condition and checked prior to each use to ensure there are no leaks, he says. Even a small opening can draw current that is seeking a ground. Always disconnect the high-voltage hybrid battery before doing any major repair work or electrical work, he recommends. Most manufacturers also recommend waiting at least 10 minutes before working on the vehicle after the battery has been isolated or disconnected. The high-voltage capacitors need time to discharge so there is no residual voltage to pose a shock hazard. "Hybrid vehicles may seem similar to gasoline-powered engines, and indeed there is much in common," concludes Zaidel. "But the differences are important ones from a safety perspective, bringing risks of injury and even death to the untrained or careless service technician. "Proper training, adherence to a company's service operations protocols and constant vigilance around these 'silent while on' vehicles will ensure a safe environment." SUBJECT: Hybrid Vehicle Update — Part 1 TOPIC: Color-Coding of Hybrid Vehicle High-Voltage Cables and Connectors OBJECTIVE: The responder shall identify the three possible colors of high-voltage electric cables and connectors within the engine compartment of a gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle. TASK: The rescue team member shall raise the hood of a gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle and be capable of identifying all high-voltage cables and connectors based upon the unique color of the cables and wiring within the engine compartment. The 2007 model year introduced a significant change in one of the essential elements of gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles. From a fire and rescue responder point of view, our experience with hybrids has taught us that these vehicles have high-voltage electrical systems. This includes a high-voltage battery somewhere at the rear of the vehicle, an electric motor somewhere within the engine compartment and a bundle of heavy-duty electrical cables connecting these two together. We also learned right from the introduction of the first hybrid vehicles in the U.S. in 2000 that hybrid vehicle high-voltage electrical cables and connectors were "traffic cone" orange. This was such a great thing. If it was high voltage, it was orange. Well, much of that has changed with the current model year of hybrid vehicles. This University of Extrication column is designed as a pictorial tour of just the engine compartments of specific 2007 model-year gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles. The teaching point will become clear as you view these images. Manufacturers no longer exclusively identify high-voltage hybrid electric cables and connectors by the color orange. It is now possible to have high-voltage wiring color-coded orange, bright blue or even yellow. Some hybrid vehicles use two different colors for their high-voltage electrical system on the same vehicle! All orange cables on a gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle are high voltage. However, not all high-voltage cables on a hybrid are orange! Raise the hood and see for yourself. The bottom line on our safety at hybrid-vehicle incidents rests with responders recognizing that they are dealing with a hybrid vehicle in the first place. Remember that all orange cables on a hybrid vehicle are high voltage, but not all high-voltage cables on a hybrid are orange! |
Why should any brightly colored cables never be touched, cut, or opened on electric vehicles?
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