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Cooling batteries

Cooling batteries

Old 03-30-2005, 02:25 PM
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Cooling batteries

As a newbie, i was wondering:
Do you use sth that is ready for sale at hobbystores or you build your own?
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Old 03-30-2005, 02:39 PM
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A computer fan works good.
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Old 03-30-2005, 02:55 PM
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There's some debate about it, but Fukuyama dosen't reccomend cooling your batteries on a fan at all. It can cause an imbalance in the cells. They should be allowed to cool naturally.
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Old 03-30-2005, 03:25 PM
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Gotta agree - best to let them cool on their own.

The tray you are talking about is probably an equalizing tray - used after the batteries are discharged, it pulls each cell down to .9v "Equalizing" them.
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Old 03-31-2005, 12:30 AM
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I have seen some trays with a 90mm fan and place for two batteries. They told me that is was from Trinity but seemed to be more like ''hobbystore made of'', no brand at all.
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Old 03-31-2005, 12:59 AM
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Hi Capone,

Donīt use fans or any cooling device.
Different batteries need different charging settings and operate best at different temperatures.
For example:
VTEC 3700UP - 20mV - 50°C
GP 3700 - 5mV - ??°C

In Greece, during summer it is inevitable that our batteries will get very hot. Maybe in such case it is usefull to use a fan but not to keep them cool, just to avoid overheating...above 50°C
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Old 03-31-2005, 02:00 AM
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Originally posted by Jon Kerr
There's some debate about it, but Fukuyama dosen't reccomend cooling your batteries on a fan at all. It can cause an imbalance in the cells. They should be allowed to cool naturally.
Yes thats exactly right. Some matchers actually say that you will get a better punch and all sorts af magical things if you dont cool them. I use a fan when discharging (30amps) because i discharge basically straight after the run.-other wise they would over heat
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Old 03-31-2005, 04:45 AM
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Originally posted by John Doucakis
Hi Capone,

Donīt use fans or any cooling device.
Different batteries need different charging settings and operate best at different temperatures.
For example:
VTEC 3700UP - 20mV - 50°C
GP 3700 - 5mV - ??°C

In Greece, during summer it is inevitable that our batteries will get very hot. Maybe in such case it is usefull to use a fan but not to keep them cool, just to avoid overheating...above 50°C
I think i will follow..
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Old 03-31-2005, 10:05 AM
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Default Naturally cool!

Naturallly cool, although you dont want to go over 150F. and if that's the case you may have your delta peak to set to high.
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Old 03-31-2005, 10:09 AM
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Good point charlie. When you're charging, your cells should get to about 130-140F. They shouldn't get too much higher than that after the run either. If they do, you may want to watch the motor as well because you could have some other problems with the drivetrain adding additional strain to the motor and batts.

edit: Also, whatever you do, make sure the cells have cooled for a couple hours minimum before you re charge them again. Just because the surface is cool dosen't mean the chemicals inside are cool as well.
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Old 03-31-2005, 12:46 PM
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Originally posted by Jack2
Yes thats exactly right. Some matchers actually say that you will get a better punch and all sorts af magical things if you dont cool them. I use a fan when discharging (30amps) because i discharge basically straight after the run.-other wise they would over heat
EDIT- i will only use the fan in summer time. thats when they seem get to the point of almost overheating, during winter they stay quite a bit cooler naturally,and when i do use a fan its more just to keep the air flowing, just a little 80mm PC fan on 12v

Last edited by Jack2; 03-31-2005 at 05:27 PM.
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Old 03-31-2005, 05:11 PM
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Very helpful tips (and money-saving!). Thanks guys.
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Old 04-25-2005, 09:06 PM
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hi

dose eny one have a pic of one built
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Old 04-25-2005, 10:02 PM
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Here`s one i`ve built.. (to the right of pic) i mainly use it to cool the motor down after each race , just sit the car on top of it.

The pic to the left is my Discharger

Cheers
Attached Thumbnails Cooling batteries-discharger-battery-fan.jpg  
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Old 04-25-2005, 10:27 PM
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how big is the fan
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