Potting battery packs

[2WD fun]

So, I've been thinking about potting my battery pack (14s7p) for structural support and waterproofing. It's hard to find any resources on this though, so I'm looking for some input.

I'm currently looking at the smooth-on Vytaflex 60 Urethane rubber to pot my battery pack. It has the hardness of 60A which is about the same hardness the rubber on the tires of your car. In my opinion this seems optimal as it is hard, but still able to flex along with the batteries as they warm up or cool down. This is just from my gut feeling though, so I would appreciate input on what hardness (and material) is optimal.

Anyone here potted their batteries? What's your experience and what material did you use?


Link to the vytaflex 60: https://www.smooth-on.com/products/vytaflex-60/

 

[amberwolf]

urethane should be ok based on this
https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=106525&p=1696353&hilit=%2Apot%2A#p1696353
(lfp definitely knows batteries)

hardness I don't know what would be best.

decades ago when i worked at honeywell cfsg we had terrible problems with potting inside md80 fma incandescent alphanumeric display holders
https://www.hilmerby.com/md80/md_fma.html
they'd been fine for ages, then the vendor changed potting materials (or maybe we changed vendors, can't remember) and suddenly we got hundreds of them with shattered diodes during burn-in.

mechanical engineers went thru bunches of potting materials to find one that would work; apparently somehow no one knew what was used before the change so they had to start from scratch to figure it out, and had to come up with something dense enough to not allow vibratory movement but also with the same thermal expansion coefficient as the diodes inside the case and the case itself, so it wouldn't crush or crack them or let them be loose and vibrate to fracture. no idea what they actually settled on, but I must've run a couple of hundred burn-in tests for them in the process.

So, I've been thinking about potting my battery pack (14s7p) for structural support and waterproofing. It's hard to find any resources on this though, so I'm looking for some input.

I'm currently looking at the smooth-on Vytaflex 60 Urethane rubber to pot my battery pack. It has the hardness of 60A which is about the same hardness the rubber on the tires of your car. In my opinion this seems optimal as it is hard, but still able to flex along with the batteries as they warm up or cool down. This is just from my gut feeling though, so I would appreciate input on what hardness (and material) is optimal.

Anyone here potted their batteries? What's your experience and what material did you use?


Link to the vytaflex 60: https://www.smooth-on.com/products/vytaflex-60/

 

[goatman]

i did 1 plasti dipped with some garbage cells with straws for air passages
https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=103879&p=1664013&hilit=plasti+dip+battery#p1518334
i wouldnt do the core again because it took too much time
the battery ends work well though, all my batteries are plasti dipped on the end

 

[CONSIDERABLE SHOUTING]

I know there is someone in the ES Facebook page that pots his packs and has posted tons of pictures of them- He doesn't reveal what mixture he uses, but gave some hints to make something similar (since he has a business of his own). I know for a fact, he fully pots the whole damn thing and states it's far better for safety and protection of the cells.