| Lead Acid Battery Temperature [message #239982] |
Fri, 14 February 2014 08:32  |
Ken Burton
Messages: 10030
Registered: January 2004
Location: Hebron, Indiana
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A little background
It has been way below zero here for a few days this year and I thought of my daughter's Honda Fit not starting at 4 AM every morning when she leaves for work. (It did start every day.)
The Honda Fit has a battery about the size that would fit a Coleman lantern. Actually that is an exaggeration but it is very small and rated at 330 CCA. If I remember the size correctly it is 4.5" x 7.5" x 8" tall. That is about the size of a garden tractor battery.
So I go the idea about slipping a silicone heating pad underneath it and plugging it in when the temps are below zero F. Now the question became what size. Well physical size could be anything smaller the 7.5" x 4.5". The make silicone pad battery heaters but they are all for larger batteries. Under the size category I also could not tell how much heat I needed to generate. Then I stumbled across a 100 watt 220 volt silicone heating pad for $11.00 delivered. It also met my physical size requirement. This thing is about 4"x6.5" I calculated that this pad would put out about 25 to 30 watts when plugged into 120 volts.
Well I got the thing a couple of days ago and plugged it in to see what would happen. It is just sitting here in the open 70 degree air. It immediately go too hot to touch and after 5 minuted is was reading 227 degrees F. I realize that I will have a small battery as a heat sink and it should not get that hot when fully installed.
What I do not know is how hot it will get and also how much heat a battery can handle. I have found a few charts but they all talk about performance at temperatures up to 100 F.
How much higher can I go in temperature before destroying a $100 battery?
I think I might go to the airport today and find an old airplane battery. They are small and maybe if I stick it outside on a piece of wood with the pad under it, I could test it to see what happens.
Anyone out there have any experience with LA batteries in high temperature conditions?
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana
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