This is a bit late of a suggestion, but why not just cool the batteries with the outside air? A small undercar "scoop" would surely draw way more air over the battery than you could ever hope to achieve with small fans, especially at higher speeds. You could have an electronic "throttle" to prevent unnecessary drag when the battery is already at a comfortable temperature and to prevent overcooling during winter.
Better battery cooling.
Ok, Arizona summer's here and it's reaking havoc on my poor batteries. I've been keeping the car as cool as I can stand to keep it, but while it's sitting there it get hot again. A windshield cover and car cover have helped some, but still haven't prevented the car in to going in to thermal cut back several times already. So I've had a few ideas which might help some. The question is does anyone know the specifics on the battery cooling fan? I looked at it once and noticed it was a panaflo fan, but can't remember if it was a 120 mm size fan or what and also is it the low or high rpm model. If it is the quiet one I'm thinking replacing it with the faster one would help some potentially.
Any thoughts?
Any thoughts?
61 - 80 of 91 Posts
Foxpaw
The problem with a scoop under the car is that the air would need to be fed into the battery air inlet which is inside the car. You tell me how to run that without making a hole in the floor, and you will be 100% correct. :wink:
Another test last evening showed battery temps maxing out at 102, with just the front blower turned on. No A/C. This blower is pushing outside air into the car. It was about 70 ambient when I did the experiment.
I am going to block the driver foot vent, and tape up all the joints so I get no leakage. Then we will see what happens with full blower output going to the battery inlet.
Need to get to Home Depot and get some 2-3" flex duct to make a more permanent duct. :wink:
The problem with a scoop under the car is that the air would need to be fed into the battery air inlet which is inside the car. You tell me how to run that without making a hole in the floor, and you will be 100% correct. :wink:
Another test last evening showed battery temps maxing out at 102, with just the front blower turned on. No A/C. This blower is pushing outside air into the car. It was about 70 ambient when I did the experiment.
I am going to block the driver foot vent, and tape up all the joints so I get no leakage. Then we will see what happens with full blower output going to the battery inlet.
Need to get to Home Depot and get some 2-3" flex duct to make a more permanent duct. :wink:
I've never looked inside the battery area. Could there be someway to exhaust the compartment out rather than force air in? A 92mm Vantec tornado can move 119 CFM. Suppose one or two were mounted in a home made vent that exhausted the battery compartment.
http://www.vantecusa.com/p_td_8038h.html
http://www.vantecusa.com/p_td_8038h.html
You'll need to look to understand the difficulty in what you propose. Yes there is room for improvement, but not much space to do it in. 
See the pic's:
http://www.insightcentral.net/forum/vie ... php?t=3413
the IMA pack and its exhaust fan is on the right under the 2 "silver" boxes (MCM & BCM)
and a reversed cut open view here:
http://www.insightcentral.net/encyclope ... ttery.html
See the pic's:
http://www.insightcentral.net/forum/vie ... php?t=3413
the IMA pack and its exhaust fan is on the right under the 2 "silver" boxes (MCM & BCM)
and a reversed cut open view here:
http://www.insightcentral.net/encyclope ... ttery.html
Summer is among Us
So I live in a very very hot place similar to Arizona. I would like to know if this is the newest or best place to post about keeping the batteries cool in the summer. Also I have a 2005 civic and have not found/ any good places to blog such as here. Any input, links etc would be appreciated it. Thanks
2005Civic
So I live in a very very hot place similar to Arizona. I would like to know if this is the newest or best place to post about keeping the batteries cool in the summer. Also I have a 2005 civic and have not found/ any good places to blog such as here. Any input, links etc would be appreciated it. Thanks
2005Civic
Wow, a 9 year old thread. It's really interesting to see what people were talking about so early on.
You're certainly welcome to post about your Civic here, although it would probably technically belong in the "Other hybrids" section, which admittedly doesn't get much traffic.
Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a big forum for the HCH.
As far as cooling the HCH battery.. No mods have been done. I think Honda was stupid for putting the intake vent above the passenger seats like they did. With the sun shining, that's probably the hottest spot in the cabin!
I think the best thing you could do is run a duct from one of the air vents to the battery air intake, and crank the A/C all the time.
You're certainly welcome to post about your Civic here, although it would probably technically belong in the "Other hybrids" section, which admittedly doesn't get much traffic.
Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a big forum for the HCH.
As far as cooling the HCH battery.. No mods have been done. I think Honda was stupid for putting the intake vent above the passenger seats like they did. With the sun shining, that's probably the hottest spot in the cabin!
I think the best thing you could do is run a duct from one of the air vents to the battery air intake, and crank the A/C all the time.
Not quiteAs far as cooling the HCH battery.. No mods have been done.
My HCH1 fan board allows you to run the fan all the time when the ign is on or when grid charging.
Ahh. For some reason I wasn't thinking of it as product separate from grid charging. Good point. Running the fan all the time would definitely be pertinent.Not quite
I can't believe Honda uses vehicle speed to control the fan first, and IPU temps second. Do people really care about noise that much??? I'm pretty sure that given the choice, people would bear some fan noise if it saved them $2000 down the road... but I digress.
Matt from HybridRevolt had a way of keeping the fan on all the time. Just put a jumper wire over the relay for the LOW fan to keep it on all the time.
Now that summer is here in AZ... I'm going to start thinking about cooling the pack again.
Now that summer is here in AZ... I'm going to start thinking about cooling the pack again.
Matt from HybridRevolt had a way of keeping the fan on all the time. Just put a jumper wire over the relay for the LOW fan to keep it on all the time.
Now that summer is here in AZ... I'm going to start thinking about cooling the pack again.
Do you know if Matt can provide some pictures as to how or where to do that or provide a link or something? I think this sounds like one of the best ideas ive heard.
With the G1 Insight you can jumper connections to get the fan to run.
You cannot do that with the HCH1 as the fan is PWM controlled and needs a driver signal.
i.e. some little circuit to provide the PWM signal.
You cannot do that with the HCH1 as the fan is PWM controlled and needs a driver signal.
i.e. some little circuit to provide the PWM signal.
Yes, there is a thread that he posted pics and how to's. I'll have to look for it (unless Matt reads this and beats me to it...) There are so many pages to so many threads now, I just forget to bookmark all of the important ones since there are so many important ones...
@retepsnikrep
Pulse Width Modulation? Ive done that once but not to sure I have time or resources to look into.With the G1 Insight you can jumper connections to get the fan to run.
You cannot do that with the HCH1 as the fan is PWM controlled and needs a driver signal.
i.e. some little circuit to provide the PWM signal.
Yes, there is a thread that he posted pics and how to's. I'll have to look for it (unless Matt reads this and beats me to it...) There are so many pages to so many threads now, I just forget to bookmark all of the important ones since there are so many important ones...
I can probably just email matt for pointers on civic hybrids..
Typically PWM driven fans use an open-collector input for the PWM; you should be able to just disconnect the PWM line and have it go full speed.
If you still have the photos of this dash vent mod I would love to see them
Im running a fan into the intake behind the seat. I moved the grate shiel away (plastic thing) and the crack my windows open just checked the temp and it was at 114F thats pretty good as compared to before. While i was checking i put a towel over back window im guessing that will help even more. Its 97 outside in the shade. My next mod is to run a radiator and two high volume pc fans with a water pump circulating through the radiator and some how transfering the water heat to ac evaporator lines. Im thinking coiling a copper tube around ac freon pipe going into evaporator and insulating around it. Im still thinking out the details
Its been over 105 here in Vegas for almost a month. We had over 115 a few days ago and my IMA totally shut off along with my AC, which made the drive home awful. I need a way to cool the battery better. I have my windows tinted with the best stuff. I think the venting of the AC into the intake behind passenger seat would be the best. Maybe adding another fan in the line to help push more air through would help also.
Insight Battery pack turbo cooler - MIMA Honda Insight Modified Integrated Motor AssistIf you still have the photos of this dash vent mod I would love to see them
I think it was a dryer tube (the collapsanle tube stuff) taped to right passenger side vent and to intake air behind passenger seat.
61 - 80 of 91 Posts
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