cushioning for battery - how much / what to use?

[callagga]

Just got a new Ping battery - just thinking about doing a better job with it when I mount it into the plastic lockable carrier behind my seat.

How much cushioning type material (e.g. how thick) and what type? e.g. how about something like a 2cm thick foam like you get in a sleeping mattress, or perhaps it should even more stiffer than this?

 

[ebent]

I used a piece from an old wet suit. About a quarter inch thick. Known as neoprene. Sometimes mouse pads are made from neoprene. Good luck.

 

[cwah]

Do you mean something like this?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEOPRENE-sponge-self-adhesive-foam-strip-all-sizes-10-m-/110847995024?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&var=&hash=item5f7b8776fd#ht_2265wt_689

 

[callagga]

@cwah - wasn't thinking of that but it's another idea - I was just thinking more of something I could wrap around the battery pack. @ebent replay was kind of what I was after, like using something like mouse mat material, but a bit larger to fit around the battery when I wrap it up...

 

[cwah]

Why neoprene and not simple foam wrap?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/180782058064?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649#ht_2822wt_689

That would be much cheaper.

 

[ebent]

For me,neoprene is the least money. I found an old wetsuit, size jumbo, for free. I like the way it works. But any foam that will not break down will work.

 

[dogman dan]

I've always built my pings a 5 sided hardshell, with the bms relocated to the open side. I've tended to carry the pings on their side, on rear racks.

The first one I made from a large aluminum cookie sheet. The second one was made from the large plastic lid from a storage tote. The idea is to cut and fold the material, and tape it into a very tight fitting hardshell box. Then to snug up the hardshell into the metal boxes I use, I cut up slices of foam anti fatigue or playground mats. In the end, I have a hard box, some stiff foam shims, then another hard box.

This method has survived everything. Multiple over the bars crashes, plus a few rack boo boos where the box latch or the whole rack let go. In one case, the box failed and the ping flew over my shoulder to land in the dirt about 10 feet in front of me. The second hardshell saved it from any damage. 8)

 

[ebent]

Me too dogman. I have boxes in series made from starboard. When I built the boxes I allowed room for the neoprene. When the lid shuts it slightly compresses the neoprene. Snug as a bug.

 

[dogman dan]

Forgot to mention my other favorite battery, inner box, material. Coroplast, like political signs are made from. I just find em blown into vacant land, or collect those missed by the party when the election is over. I use coroplast boxes when carrying lipo in a bag.

 

[ebent]

Me also. My batteries are wraped, glued and taped with coroplast. The neoprene is the cushion between the box and coroplast.

 

[John in CR]

Callaga already has a protective outer shell, his plastic box. Now he needs something to keep it from banging around in the box. What to use will depend on the shape of his box, how much space there is, and whether he needs to also strap it down within the box.

Callaga, the key is that the battery must be firmly secured. If bumps in the road allow it to bang around in there then the install is inadequate. My answer to your question is that it depends, and we need pics of both to better give advice.

FWIW, I've carried batteries inside a rear cargo box common on delivery motos and scooters. After some initial tries I ended to having to reinforce the bottom of the box with plywood inside the box and rigidly attached the box with bolts through the plywood and plastic to the bike frame. Then inside I had to use nylon strapping to hold the battery pack firmly in place along with some foam rubber cushioning and colorplast to spread the force of the straps across the entire battery. That was on a hardtail capable of high speed, so I have to get pretty extreme to hold my big battery packs rigidly in place.

John

 

[lostrack]

I used carpet underlay / grip mat. It's used to being compressed loads and springing back, and was free.

Then I wrapped half of the box in a cut-up Lipo guard.

Batts are very tight and will not shuffle around

 

[Brentis]

The only acceptable materials for cushioning a battery are available @ the $1 store.
Duct Tape & a foam bath mat.
View attachment 2



Remarkably durable for me as complete battery protection for 3000+ kms.
2 crashes included.

Duct Tape = faster. Its proven

 

[Phoebus]

Duck not duct! Duck tape is horrible for use in sealing ducts.

http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/myths/duct_tape.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/02/magazine/the-way-we-live-now-3-02-03-on-language-why-a-duck.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

I use the same - packing foam (I don't know where to find this) or whatever other foam I have (neoprene, yoga mat...), then a ton of duck tape.

 

[REdiculous]

Duck is a brand, and they have a duct tape line. Other companies also make duct tape. Other companies cannot make Duck tape. :wink:

 

[callagga]

If bumps in the road allow it to bang around in there then the install is inadequate. My answer to your question is that it depends, and we need pics of both to better give advice.

I've actually got this one (i.e. re box at the back - it's not my bike here...)

I was just thinking about wrapping it in the cushioning material (not at the top for the BMS & heat) then strapping down in the box with elastic cord (like a bungee), although thinking about this now I'm not sure how I would make sure the cord didn't rub against the BMS board...

 

[Phoebus]

Duck is a brand, and they have a duct tape line. Other companies also make duct tape. Other companies cannot make Duck tape. :wink:

"The original name of the cloth-backed, waterproof adhesive product was duck tape, developed for the United States Army by the Permacel division of Johnson & Johnson to keep moisture out of ammunition cases. The earliest civilian use I can find is in an advertisement by Gimbels department store in June 1942 (antedating the O.E.D. entry by three decades -- nobody but nobody beats this column), which substitutes our product for the ''ladder tape'' that usually holds together Venetian blinds. For $2.99, Gimbels -- now defunct -- would provide blinds ''in cream with cream tape or in white with duck tape.''

Interestingly, at the bottom of the ad that ran six months after Pearl Harbor is this wartime pitch: ''Get them for the dimout!'' Dimouts were near-blackouts to protect cities in case of air raids; the tape was advertised for defense against World War II bombing raids, just as it is promoted on the eve of gulf war II for protection against gas or germ warfare.

In 1945, a government surplus property ad in The Times offered 44,108 yards of ''cotton duck tape.'' The first citation I can find for the alternative spelling is in 1970, when the Larry Plotnik Company of Chelsea, Mass., went bust and had to unload 14,000 rolls of what it advertised as duct tape. Three years later, The Times reported that to combat the infiltration of cold air, a contractor placed ''duct tape -- a fiber tape used to seal the joints in heating ducts -- over the openings.''"

Also... Duck tape is not recommended for use on ducts...

 

[dogman dan]

Latches on boxes can fail, so I still recomend a second more or less hardshell case tightly fitted to the pack. But for sure, don't let it rattle around. What you actually use to prevent the rattle depends entirely on what is free on the roadside.

 

[JennyB]

Duck is a brand, and they have a duct tape line. Other companies also make duct tape. Other companies cannot make Duck tape. :wink:

"The original name of the cloth-backed, waterproof adhesive product was duck tape, developed for the United States Army by the Permacel division of Johnson & Johnson to keep moisture out of ammunition cases. The earliest civilian use I can find is in an advertisement by Gimbels department store in June 1942 (antedating the O.E.D. entry by three decades -- nobody but nobody beats this column), which substitutes our product for the ''ladder tape'' that usually holds together Venetian blinds. For $2.99, Gimbels -- now defunct -- would provide blinds ''in cream with cream tape or in white with duck tape.''

Interestingly, at the bottom of the ad that ran six months after Pearl Harbor is this wartime pitch: ''Get them for the dimout!'' Dimouts were near-blackouts to protect cities in case of air raids; the tape was advertised for defense against World War II bombing raids, just as it is promoted on the eve of gulf war II for protection against gas or germ warfare.

In 1945, a government surplus property ad in The Times offered 44,108 yards of ''cotton duck tape.'' The first citation I can find for the alternative spelling is in 1970, when the Larry Plotnik Company of Chelsea, Mass., went bust and had to unload 14,000 rolls of what it advertised as duct tape. Three years later, The Times reported that to combat the infiltration of cold air, a contractor placed ''duct tape -- a fiber tape used to seal the joints in heating ducts -- over the openings.''"

Also... Duck tape is not recommended for use on ducts...

Ahh... Cotton duck, as in canvas - so named (presumably) for its water-repelling properties.
Another little mystery solved!

I always wondered who would want to tape ducks!

 

[Phoebus]

If bumps in the road allow it to bang around in there then the install is inadequate. My answer to your question is that it depends, and we need pics of both to better give advice.

I've actually got this one (i.e. re box at the back - it's not my bike here...)

I was just thinking about wrapping it in the cushioning material (not at the top for the BMS & heat) then strapping down in the box with elastic cord (like a bungee), although thinking about this now I'm not sure how I would make sure the cord didn't rub against the BMS board...

I also use nylon strapping in conjunction with fasteners (avail on Amazon for very cheap in bulk) to keep my batteries 100% stable on the road. Would suggest this over bungees, as nylon strapping won't allow it to move at all.

 

[El_Steak]

I use these mats. You can cut them up any shape you want and they are dirt cheap.

 

[dogman dan]

Same thing I use a lot. They make great rear fenders when attached to a rear rack too. Mine were truly dirt cheap, found on the roadside.

The other easy to find and super cheap material is yoga mats bought at the thrift store. Closed cell foam about 1/4 thick.

 

[Kingfish]

I have used high-density closed-cell foam in the past, however it compresses after a period of time. Believe it or not, bubble-wrap works pretty well, although is not a good long-term solution. Gel-pads are likely the best bet; flexible, though not compressible like air. Combine that with a soft durometer rubber and that should work fine for most road vibration.

~KF

 

[callagga]

I also use nylon strapping in conjunction with fasteners (avail on Amazon for very cheap in bulk)

@Phoebus - do you have a link to these to just what you use?

 

[Phoebus]

Not quite as cheap as I'd remembered : (

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001QL79JC/ref=oh_o01_s00_i03_details

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001M52CXU/ref=oh_o01_s00_i01_details