[Tom Norman]

I know that plasma weapons are notoriously unreliable and are prone to overheating or even exploding, but what about their photonic hydrogen fuel cells? Are the fuel cells themselves unstable? Would they be liable to explode if subjected to trauma or extreme heat?

[GeekyGator]

Sure! I have no idea, since its all pseudo-science cool looking words anyways, but Explosions are good in general.


And Yes, I figure if its volatile enough to overheat when fired it could actually go off and whatnot.

[Jeff]

If it got shot itself it would explode. I doubt they are unstable when packed away as the power cells in them would not be activated.

[GeekyGator]

The shells themselves may be, though. I can imagine a shipping container full of Plasma charges getting dropped from a crane accidentally, and exploding.

[VF-7]

I've allways thought that the "fuel cells" where just like lithium-ion batteries, and that they where called "Plasma fuel cells" because of the fact that they where used in plasma weaponary, but not because of the fact that they where actually containing plasma.

Take a look at the Stormblade, where the space created by removing the main generator and capacitors is taken up by photonic fuell cells to power the plasma weaponary.

I think the main hazzard of plasma weapons is due to the un-reliable heat-sinks, ever seen how can a procesor be faster if heatsinks are well placed? well that's because electronic equipment function best when cold, and scince the plasma needs to be contained by magnetic means, it's easy to asume that when not cooled properly, the containment fields can fail and the plasma get loose, burning, shocking or killing the user.

The problem itself is the plasma, not the powersource
(actually, the problem is the containment component, but that's beign redundant in dialogues)

Plasma: Best served cold.

[Jeff]

Thats probly why tanks plasma wont overheat. the tanks have the space to maintain a suitable temperature with which to use plasma alot.

[Max Smirnov]

Hmm, I do not know what the official story is, but the GW people and BL writers usually do not know what they're talking about when it comes to futuristic technologies anyway
So I'll allow myself to speculate on the topic...
Some kind of massive energy would be needed to create a ball of plasma, and contain it. Therefore I would bet on the nuclear fusion as the most likely power source.
So, we could suppose one of two shapes of plasma weapon cells (both mildly radioactive):
1) Deuterium/tritium/helium3 thermonuclear fuel. It cannot seriously explode (though deuterium and tritium burn like normal hydrogen), but would require a miniature thermonuclear reactor within a plasma rifle, which seems unpractical.
2) Some kind of controlled thermonuclear bomb, which releases massive amount of energy when you pull the trigger. It would be practical, since we can keep the weapon relatively light and we also do not have to wait for the power level to build up. But that kind of cell would be HIGHLY explosive if mishandled seriously.

[Tom Norman]

Hmmm, we are talking about over 38,000 years in the future, fellas, so I'm not asking you to rationalise fictional weapons. I just wondered whether you had ever read anything in 40k fiction that supported volatile fuel cells.

[Solarius Scorch]

Originally Posted by Tom Norman

Hmmm, we are talking about over 38,000 years in the future, fellas, so I'm not asking you to rationalise fictional weapons. I just wondered whether you had ever read anything in 40k fiction that supported volatile fuel cells.

Nah... As Smirnov said, they don't have a clue. I just read a story in Let the Galaxy burn! where hellguns fired... shells. ???

[Tom Norman]

Originally Posted by Solarius Scorch

Nah... As Smirnov said, they don't have a clue. I just read a story in Let the Galaxy burn! where hellguns fired... shells. ???

Huh...bizarre isn't it? While reading 'The founding' I remember noting that Dan Abnett seemed to think Autocannons and Heavy Stubbers were the same thing, and that Lasguns could be set to fire a charge powerful enough to blow a chaos Space Marine's head off.

You've got to wonder how these people get into the genre...do they play the game? Did they ever play the game? :