Plugging DD Air Cooling Holes

[themadhatter106]

So I would like to drill air cooling holes in my hub motor in addition to running ferrous fluid however, I ride in the winter time and I don't want all of the sand and salt coming into my motor.

I found that hole plugs for electrical enclosures could seal up the holes, some plugs claim to be liquid tight.

I'm thinking for this I would want few larger holes rather than a bunch of small holes.

I bought some plugs on ebay to try out.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-25-Black...943601?hash=item4aeb75c431:g:h8MAAOSw3ydVlgoO


Has anyone else tried sealing up the holes?

 

[Punx0r]

They stand a reasonable chance of being splash proof with the addition of a bead of liquid sealant.

 

[amberwolf]

I just taped up some on a motor cover I used for experiments here, with clear packing tape, and it worked well enough during the testing, with heat and with rain. Would probably have to be cleaned off and replaced after a while, but I dunno exactly how long.

 

[dogman dan]

Aluminum foil heater duct tape works well too. It's "hot" tape. And very waterproof.

 

[spinningmagnets]

If you are willing to dis-assemble the motor to drill the sideplates, it's not much more work to put three small diameter holes around the periphery of the ventilation holes. If they were tapped with threads, then each ventilation hole could be covered by a round aluminum disc, and external screws (three per disc), could hold each disc over its respective ventilation hole.

High temp silicone sealant could provide additional adhesive, and thread-locker fluid could retain the screws. If one of each discs screw-set did actually vibrate out, each disc would still be held on by silicone and two screws.

 

[marty]

Caplugs offers a complete standard line of product protection components including plastic caps and plugs and custom engineered solutions.
Caplugs

 

[dogman dan]

I never meant to knock the plugs idea. There are also similar rubber plugs that look like a grommet without a hole. Actually, I think they are grommets, that allow you to cut a custom size hole.

I have couple motors I drilled with just a few tiny holes. Why'd I do that? It wasn't for cooling. But it prevents any chance of vapor condensing inside till the motor is full of water. The holes let the motor breathe, but are too small to let a large grain of sand in. I did this to off road bikes I ride when it's wet and muddy. I end up hosing down the bike a lot.

An unexpected benefit is that when the motor gets pretty hot, I can smell it if I stop for a second. So I can sort of monitor temperature too.

 

[themadhatter106]

I actually like the idea of tape. I don't have to worry about the plug sticking too far into the hole and snagging a phase/hall wire. Only problem might be how it holds up to the barrage of salty water.

 

[amberwolf]

Just check it and replace it every so often. (that's what I did in the summer heat)