serious doubt. i don’t think a battery ever exceeds 40*C given how usage. Unless of course you are pulling battery amps close the max battery amps output.
I prefer a battery that overheats a bit than a battery that shorts and catches fire or starts rusting. Mine is fully wrapped in kapton, never had an issue.
i insert the jst and surround it with silicone or hot glue… this way it won’t unplug due to vibration and it increases the waterproofness.
We are not skating underwater lol, but in the case where you ride in a deep puddle or you accidentally ride into the ocean, you have a better chance of saving yourself some trouble.
For free-hanging or board-mounted connectors I do that too (with hot glue). But then I slide on heat shrink. When the tubing shrinks down it squeezes the hot glue into every nook and cranny and completely fills in the space in the tubing, forming a solid block.
Serviceable? Not a chance. But bombproof and watertight. Fantastic for small PCBs too.
Don’t do this with RTV anyone. It needs exposure to atmospheric moisture to cure.
This is an odd ball that I have looked from both perspectives. During Autumn and spring, temperature drops to point where lot of range is lost to cold and some sortof heat insulation on battery would be nice. During hot summers most of the batteries are warm and offer full potential. Question is weather we reach point where, due to heat, lack of cooling would be an issue. (Problem that tesla vehicles face where they run coolant/warming agent through system to maintain perfect temperature in batteries)
I Would avoid hot glue as total fool proof water insulator. When cooled down it isn’t elastic enough to maintain full water resistance in changing temperatures. On day to day basis I use it for the same reason. It’s stupidly easy to remove from connections on the prototype phase. However not to say it’s completely useless. As you mentioned adding it to connected connector prevents connectors from accidentally disconnecting from vibration.
The route I went is enclosure lids held by screws and a generous amount of silicone, every time you open you have to cut it, clean everything and apply again. For wires the only solution in no wires going through the enclosure, only connectors glue really well and fully covered with silicone from the inside
Back in the day when I used to race RC cars we used a product called “Parafilm” you can stretch it and wrap it around electronics such as receivers and ESCs and it worked remarkably well at keeping out water and fuel.
I found another similar product recently when I was installing an external WiFi antenna on my house. This stuff is thicker and more robust and it is called “Self-Fusing Silicone Sealing Tape”. The brand I purchased is “proxicast” and it stretches quite a bit and then only sticks to itself but not other surfaces. It is typically used where two cable connectors are joined and are going to be exposed to the outside elements. I am thinking this would woprk well for getting a good seal on cable entry points to the enclosure.
On my boards I used closed cell neoprene gaskets and have not had any issues with water ingress but I only occasionally ride through puddles and never intentionally ride when it is raining.
The adhesive lined heat shrink is the bomb for water proofing.
I’ve made a few silicone/fabric bags that all the electrical components and batteries went in. It could be sealed then opened again for battery swapping. It was not esk8 related project. A bit of a pain in the ass to make but worked well in our tests.
Lately I have moved on from “waterproof” and started doing “water resistant” only, mostly because it’s far more serviceable.
Also, once I discovered butyl tape, my water resist game went up tenfold… That stuff is the be-all and end-all of enclosure water resist game.
Also, having no holes other than a sealed (from the inside) charge port helps immensely. Epoxy all Amass XT- and MR- connectors male end through the enclosure, and no leaks.
Never run wires or cabling through the enclosure, and do not use cable glands or similar items. Don’t run wires over the edge of the enclosure either.
This is my newest “best way” to make stuff work in any environment, dust, water, brine, whatever.
Harder to waterproof, connectors are “easy”. Also with cables, if you don’t make sure it’s water proof on the other end, for example, inside the motor, water will enter the enclosure from inside the wires over the months and years
Interested to learn otherwise, but I find it difficult to believe enough water will travel the 6" -12" from motor to VESC, between the copper strands and insulation, to cause problems inside the enclosure. Especially if your wiring orientation isn’t a downward angle from motor to enclosure (i.e. the common vertical wiring from motor). And if this is a real concern, a dab of silicone sealant / potting compound at the VESC end should close up a possible opening, assuming abrasion doesn’t cause a break somewhere else.
If we’re just talking inside a loose jacket, totally plausible.
Has anyone had this happen to them?
Edit:
May be worth considering wet rated wire, i.e. MTW wire
