You’re probably confusing me with @psychotiller, we look a lot alike.
I started doing it that way shortly after I bought @torqueboards 's stupid aluminum enclosure to replace Enertion’s stupid aluminum enclosures and finally decided to make my own fiberglass enclosures some time in 2015. The aluminum boxes rattled apart and dropped pieces all over the street. To this day I can’t mount anything directly to the deck because of PTSD.
I agree about having the enclosure purely be for impact and water protection.
I had an idea for a ultra-strong enclosure that would be mounted with rubber to absorb impacts and could move a couple millimeters without touching the electronics. I thought it would be good for going off curbs and smashing the enclosure but not worrying about the electronics at all.
Working on a 12S4P in a flexible enclosure for the bustin sportster.
In the interest of secure mounting as well as reducing rattles and hollow sounds, I’m going to pot the enclosure to a degree.
I’d be pouring it about 90% of the height of the cells. I estimate I will need about 400ml
Considerations: price, thickness in some areas will be as thin as 3mm, serviceability
I’ve considered something like mold max 40D from smooth on, a relatively firm silicone that would dampen vibrations and make it easy to remove the P groups. It would obviously act as a thermal insulator a bit. Concerned it won’t adhere to the enclosure and would rather just fill the area without actually being attached.
Also found MG chemicals 834fx a flexible epoxy that is thermal conductive and made for this sort of thing. Price goes up… Not sure if I could make the P groups removable
I think a liquid rubber of some kind could do the trick but I’m having trouble finding the right product
Ideally I’d prefer a flexible material that would allow me to pour with 3D printed copies of the cells in place. Then the P groups can just pop into those pockets.
Whether or not that material is connected to the enclosure is what I meant. The cells I would prefer to be reasonably removable. Considering raising them 2mm to let the material go underneath them too.
There are several release agents sold with urethane companies. I’m thinking the urethane would bind to the fiberglass deck and then a 3D printed battery buck could be coated with mold release and removed. P group gets installed and I can finish the wiring
Serious though, with so many enclosures being segmented these days, it’s become pretty much commonplace for me to build into the enclosure.
Cable management gets tricky, and I still haven’t found a method that i’m sold on for making all the connections both easily disconnectable while properly secure at the same time.
My favourite implementation so far has been this kaly build that I did earlier this year
I used gx12 for sensors and gps and mt60 for phases with 3d printed harnesses to ensure they are supported a little past the joint, and bolted together so they can’t vibrate free.
It works fucking brilliantly, but its just a touch bulky for my liking.
This is also a good solution. IMO it’s best if you have either everything built into the deck or everything built into the enclosure and have a panel mount so that you can easily disconnect everything from the enclosure and completely detach it from the board. Then it’s also good if components are built into the enclosure such that they don’t fall out when you flip it over so that you can easily reattach it to the deck.
What I don’t like is if you have to fight the wires when installing the enclosure. This happens when you build into the enclosure but you don’t have the panel mount and you can’t disconnect the phase/sensor wires. It also happens when you build into the deck but you still have the charge port or the start button on the enlcosure.
Yes. This is the way
I see different benefits for each.
Working on stuff built into an enclosure is easier in a small space (no board, trucks wheels GDs etc to lug up onto the workbench).
Waterproofing is maybe easier, as wires through enclosure can be made pretty waterproof (epoxy or panel mount). (Compared to a cover sealing over wires? on stuff that’s fixed to the deck - maybe?).
I wanna see more decks with phase wires and stuff built in, so you don’t need to deal with wires vs enclosure issues. More internal wore routing to sockets at ends of the deck would be cool. .
On my main board I just take off the rear hangar and keep it attached to the enclosure. I’ll panel mount the sensor and MR60 plugs eventually, though I’d like to find a connector that can handle both the phase and sensor wires in one neat plug.
That’s a method… but hardly ideal
I’d no doubt rip a wire out accidentally doing that, or something. I need simplicity.
Edit (I have three boards going currently, one with each of the options Jan noted, and the most recent (build all into enclosure) kinda seems like the simplest to put together and work on…
What I like about building into the deck is that it’s really the simplest to service. You don’t need to disconnect anything and removing/reattaching the enclosure is super easy. It’s like opening your car hood.
Sure, there are challenges. It’s more difficult to put together than if you build into the enclosure. Also waterproofing is a little more troublesome. But once you get it done it’s perfect (unless you need to service the deck ).
Since I constantly tinker with my board internals this is quite a big deal for me.