Can u pot the vesc ?

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Hummina Shadeeba

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this movie...At minute 54 Justin shows the fully encased batteries and escs he sells

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxB2j-egWcQ


I want glue on two vesc to the bottom of my board with this :
http://www.acc-silicones.com/content/products/se2003.ashx

Or even better would be to use the clear as in the movie but don't know which products he uses

Maybe do a battery pack glued on too. I thought completely potting li-ion cells wouldn't be possible with their expansion but happy to see what he makes.

A bit complicated with the vesc's plug prongs needing to be exposed but still looks doable. Robust. Waterproof (at least the part that's sealable and not needed to be exposed), and a case in itself glued to the board sounds simple and ideal.

I wonder if u need a heat sink still attached to the fets.

I wonder how it would do on the motor

But I don't think silicone will stick to the board and I'll need to find thermally conductive epoxy
 
Thinking on this more yea...if you potted your
VESC probably best to solder on the cables to ports and run them out of the enclosure.... Haven't used VESC yet but just ordered two from Chaka. I would think that would be easier than trying to mold/pot around the ports.
For the batteries it looks like there are some spacers...or at least some material between cells.....maybe heat dispensation as well.........again brilliant movie and great insight into one of the pioneers in this industry/ forum
 
Can't make any advice on this, but just want to put a message about the movie wich is really cool, instructive and inspiring..
 
Yea the movie has a lot more that's interesting. Chaka sent it to me when I asked him about potting.

I'm surprised at the cost he stated for the molds used to pot the esc. Making molds these days using a 3D print as a plug to make a silicone mold is really easy and cheap as was gone over in the "making your own wheels" thread. I'm gunna write him and see what silicone he uses to first paint on (giving the parts room to expand) and then what the resin he pours over.

And then likely can use the same resin to adhere it to the board, possibly pour the mold while it is held in place against the board with a couple wood staples or something mounted partial through the board for it to adhere to. Also likely will need to add a heatsink to the fets.
 
Hummina Shadeeba said:
Yea the movie has a lot more that's interesting. Chaka sent it to me when I asked him about potting.

I'm surprised at the cost he stated for the molds used to pot the esc. Making molds these days using a 3D print as a plug to make a silicone mold is really easy and cheap as was gone over in the "making your own wheels" thread. I'm gunna write him and see what silicone he uses to first paint on (giving the parts room to expand) and then what the resin he pours over.

And then likely can use the same resin to adhere it to the board, possibly pour the mold while it is held in place against the board with a couple wood staples or something mounted partial through the board for it to adhere to. Also likely will need to add a heatsink to the fets.
Click to expand...


I own one of his phaserunners.... If you look at how his mold is made and designed, you understand the cost. Its not just the usual silicone mold, he has to hold multiple parts in place and leave one side unsealed.

All that said, when I made parts, I used mostly Smooth-on stuff. You can pot in polyurathane without an issue too. They sell starter kits that work well.
 
Smooth-on is awesome and I'll search their site some more but i thought I'd need a more thermally conductive resin than their usual stuff and I'd really like to find clear stuff
Don't understand the complication that would require an expensive mold.
Here's how I see it done:
Paint a layer of thermally conductive low duro silicone on and maybe use it to hold the heatsink in place.
Put it in an open bottom and top silicone mold
Sit this mold on a board
Pour
Bammm!
*except for the ports for he receiver and ..whatever else..which could be kept clean with some dummy plugs and Vaseline attached when pouring the mass and then removed to reveal spaces for real plugs

What am I missing?
 
You're going to want to set it up so the heatsink is properly attached to the FETs... and then setup your mold so it pours but doesnt cover the heatsink.

There isnt an epoxy that I know of that you would want to use to cover the FETs... anything close would have so much metallic filler that it wouldnt work to pot electronics.
 
http://www.aeromarineproducts.com/electronic-potting.htm

easy_buster_cropped.jpg


Haha, I can see my house from here! :shock:
 
I'm thinking in the video the potted Batteries..if they were to hit thermal runaway for some reason, while people talk about batteries blowing up, they really don't and just burn super fast, but encased in a hard shell, then they are a bomb!

Maybe that's what your pic is about
 
chaka said:
I think you would need to allow the cells to vent if they were to be potted. However it did not look like Justin provided any venting and they did not blow?

I was just dropping links, personal resources. :mrgreen:
Click to expand...
if the cell is venting, its already crap.
 
I'm definitely potting two vesc when I get them from Jacob. White boards with copper etching, first painted in a soft silicone, then again with more silicone, and then pot it in a simple block shape that just covers it, using a hard material, and then pot it in an 80 duro contoured shape that will match the board's curve, then use the same polyurethane to glue it to the prepped board. I don't have the vescs in hand yet and plan to just run them glued to the board in shrink wrap till I get the programming as best as I can first. But then, while the logging is cool, I'd be happy to cover all the plug holes and never use them.

After just buying 4 of the turnigy nanotec a-spec boat 3s packs ( esc do 12s with the low 100kv) .. I don't think at 2cm fat and Velcro they will fit under my bustin sportster carbon with its drop and dropped trucks. Too low. They look awesome though. Too late as they're on the way from hobbyking but.. While I'll probably just find some 6s packs that are narrow, split them and rewrap..

A li-ion pack made potting the sells in a low duro polyurethane, that would simply stick to the bottom
Of the board would have a lot of advantages. Super cheap as soon as u have the molds done. Flexible (huge advantage), waterproof, svelte, the cells could be sealed from each other, and most cool the compression on the cells could be made by painting a couple layers of rubber to adjust compression befor finally potting it all. And then glue it to the bottom of the slightly preped board with the same material. The deck likely has a polyurethane coating perfect for sticking to
What do u think?
Don't know what connections between cells would be possible. Small wires spot welded seems simple and doable. Allowing flex. I wonder if there was another connection even liquid possible, or at least a paste. Small wires spot welded is all I can think to do. Do packs of 6s and put them in series for ease of charging and balancing. Can't think what would be nicest as far as organizing packs and the balance leads.

With potting all wires can have their rubber housings removed which looks cool and maybe even another material could be used (carbon nanotubes, paste, liquid, some gas? Could be cool. Ok not a gas
 
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