|
| Boeing Co. and the Japanese company that makes lithium-ion
| batteries for Boeing's 787 Dreamliner are at odds over what
| should be included in the final package of fixes intended
| to get the jets back in the air, according to government
| and industry officials familiar with the details.
|
| GS Yuasa Corp. has told the Federal Aviation Administration
| that while it supports engineering and design changes
| Boeing has proposed to try to end the six-week-old
| grounding of 787s, it believes the proposed package is
| inadequate to mitigate all potential 787 battery hazards,
| the officials said.
| ...
| Yuasa's primary argument, according to the officials, was
| that its own laboratory tests strongly suggest that an
| external power surge--or another problem originating
| outside the eight cells of the battery--kicked off the
| sequence of events on the 787s that experienced burning
| batteries. Yuasa told the FAA that temperatures and current
| fluctuations recorded on those planes weren't consistent
| with short-circuits originating inside its batteries.
|
| As a result, Yuasa is urging the FAA to require
| installation of a sophisticated voltage regulator intended
| to prevent current from flowing into 787 batteries at the
| first sign of a problem. Boeing's package of proposed
| battery enhancements doesn't add such a feature to existing
| safeguards, people familiar with it say. Boeing is arguing
| that its overall package--which includes sturdier and
| better separated cells and a new fireproof container around
| the batteries--is adequate to prevent any internal or
| external malfunctions from causing fire or smoke.
| ...
| In congressional testimony Wednesday, FAA chief Michael
| Huerta said he expects to receive an internal agency report
| on the proposed fixes next week, but he didn't indicate
| when he expects to act on them.
| ...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323293704578330480004073900.html

--bks