I ditched my OEm battery tray and fabricated another, large and low enough to easily hold a group 31, and Being a 400+$ TPPL AGM, that I am trying to maximize the longevity of, I also made a radiant heat barrier.
My Vehicle compartemt allowed me to ventilate it easily to outside the engine bay, but also reject 99%+ of all radiant and convective heating. I left 3/4" air gap all around battery between reflectix insulation and battery wall and top, and insulated underside of battery tray as well.
The airgap around the battery is as I will high amp recharge this battery via alternator, or by plug in power supply, and they will heat up 30F if starting at 50% state of charge or less, so airflow around the battery is important in such usage.
I have K type thermocouples inside my battery enclosure and just outside of it and many other places as well, as guessing is foolish.
On engine shutdown in the engine compartment just next to battery I will see 140F taper to under 100f in about an hour, where inside the insulated battery enclosure gets 1 to 2 f above ambient, in the afternoon, in the morning it stays below ambient, likely as the battery is cold from the night before and 74 Lbs of lead does not change temperature quickly.
I completed a 2600 mile journey 2 weeks ago and the temp sensor inside battery enclosure was basically at outside ambient temperature the whole drive. It never got deep cycled so could never accept higher amperage, and heat from within.
I used 2 layers of reflectix, the silver coated dual layer bubble wrap stuff, It is not electrically conductive, but my terminals are protected from anything being able to short circuit them anyhow.
Nashua Flexfix 555 tape and reflectix work really well together. There is another similar radiant barrier called SmartShield with different thickness options. it also has two versions of the shiny, one aluminum and one plastic, the aluminum one is electrically conductive, obviously not ideal for a battery enclosure.
I am not sure how either would handle the fumes of a charging flooded battery. but the NAshua Flexfix 555 tape tolerates a lot, and can add significant stiffeness and durability to anything which would benefit from a reflective surface. I suspect even flexfix taps on teh battery skin itself would be good for reflecting radiant heat, instead of black, which absorbs, and radiates it much better
.
Interstate's white casings might be beneficial from this perspective. Each 10 degrees C hotter that the electrolyte in a battery becomes, doubles the rate at which it chews up the plates, so preventing heatsoaking of the battery, can be worthwhile pursuit, to some.
My Vehicle compartemt allowed me to ventilate it easily to outside the engine bay, but also reject 99%+ of all radiant and convective heating. I left 3/4" air gap all around battery between reflectix insulation and battery wall and top, and insulated underside of battery tray as well.
The airgap around the battery is as I will high amp recharge this battery via alternator, or by plug in power supply, and they will heat up 30F if starting at 50% state of charge or less, so airflow around the battery is important in such usage.
I have K type thermocouples inside my battery enclosure and just outside of it and many other places as well, as guessing is foolish.
On engine shutdown in the engine compartment just next to battery I will see 140F taper to under 100f in about an hour, where inside the insulated battery enclosure gets 1 to 2 f above ambient, in the afternoon, in the morning it stays below ambient, likely as the battery is cold from the night before and 74 Lbs of lead does not change temperature quickly.
I completed a 2600 mile journey 2 weeks ago and the temp sensor inside battery enclosure was basically at outside ambient temperature the whole drive. It never got deep cycled so could never accept higher amperage, and heat from within.
I used 2 layers of reflectix, the silver coated dual layer bubble wrap stuff, It is not electrically conductive, but my terminals are protected from anything being able to short circuit them anyhow.
Nashua Flexfix 555 tape and reflectix work really well together. There is another similar radiant barrier called SmartShield with different thickness options. it also has two versions of the shiny, one aluminum and one plastic, the aluminum one is electrically conductive, obviously not ideal for a battery enclosure.
I am not sure how either would handle the fumes of a charging flooded battery. but the NAshua Flexfix 555 tape tolerates a lot, and can add significant stiffeness and durability to anything which would benefit from a reflective surface. I suspect even flexfix taps on teh battery skin itself would be good for reflecting radiant heat, instead of black, which absorbs, and radiates it much better
.
Interstate's white casings might be beneficial from this perspective. Each 10 degrees C hotter that the electrolyte in a battery becomes, doubles the rate at which it chews up the plates, so preventing heatsoaking of the battery, can be worthwhile pursuit, to some.
