LiPo Battery warmer idea for OW
-
Original idea:
"I'm trying to figure out how I could ride the OW in the cold though. I know Lipo batteries hate being frosty, and I was thinking of slapping one of those weird peltier cooler/heater things and slapping the heater part on the battery box so the battery can stays nice and warm, but I don't know if its smart to do so or if it could pose a fire/melting plastic issue on the XR"So, we've got ourselves another project idea, and thankfully I can test this one without needing a OneWheel. (I'll explain later in a bit.)
For those of you that don't know, LiPo batteries do not preform well when cold, at all. When cold, they loose capacity, have less discharge and recharging a cold battery can cause unification and permanent damage to them. This means your OW's preformance drops significantly in the winter or cold weather.
We can possibly solve this problem by attaching a heater to the battery module/side of the OW. A peltier cooler can be used, as they are cheap and you can just power them off of a battery pack.
Now, how can we test this theory without risking a OW battery?
Buy a battery bank, a brand new one. Charge it up to full capacity then drain it to see how long it lasts until it goes flat. Recharge it, then stick it in a freezer and see how the preformance of thr battery is affected. We can then design a heating solution for our battery, and retest with our battery heater works.
I will have to wait on this project as I have to study for an upcoming test, but when Thanksgiving break comes, I should have the time to work on and test this theory out. If it works, then we can start theorizing and working on an upscale version for an actual OneWheel.
-
I want to buy a OW right now, seeing all of you guys taking them out on the streets and such, but I don't have the spending money right now and the money in my savings only for replacing broken items (i.e, laptop, phone, headphones, things that would need to be replaced ASAP) and I wanna pull money from it but I know I couldn't ever do it ;_;
I'm jealous
-
@loaffette Sorry to hear that :( What sort of budget are you working with or is it kinda tbd still?
-
@loaffette -- Enjoy your friend's Onewheel Pint thoroughly, until such a time comes when you land your own -- with safety gear, too, accessories, and customizations.
-
@lia looking to spend 1500, since that's the amount of money I'm betting on getting for Christmas
-
@s-leon already ordered wrist guards
I'm trying to figure out how I could ride the OW in the cold though. I know Lipo batteries hate being frosty, and I was thinking of slapping one of those weird peltier cooler/heater things and slapping the heater part on the battery box so the battery can stays nice and warm, but I don't know if its smart to do so or if it could pose a fire/melting plastic issue on the XR
-
@loaffette -- May we relocate this discussion? This particular thread is really supposed to be for finding slyly hidden Onewheels. ...If you okay it, Lia will move things.
-
@s-leon Sure! Sorry, I can get a little carried away with ideas sometimes
Edit: Made a new post about it in Mods and DIY
-
@loaffette Just FYI, the OW doesn't use LiPo cells and I wouldn't suggest using them for this application lol. Luckily, the chemistry they do use is relatively safe and a warmer would still be a good idea!
I'm interested to see some ideas. I assume an element pad(s) with relatively low voltage... ?
-
@blkdout well, we run into our first issue, as most of the Peltier cooler/heater modules are about a few dozen (40-60) watts. I know there are smaller ones available but I just need to go digging for them online.
This does bring an issue with trying to power them, but I may have an idea. I also may consult one of the Eelectrical Engineering professors in campus on this idea if need be.
-
@loaffette -- In several Northeast Ohio winters of daily Onewheeling, only once did I get a cold, out-of-temperature error -- and that was on an especially cold day when I stopped awhile for some reason... Start warm, stay moving... A few times I wrapped the battery/footpad in foam insulation -- mostly not, though. And come to think of it, after I removed the battery and BMS from my V1 and Onewheel Plus, I rode with batteries in a backpack. Because ice and snow build up under it, I rode without a fender/battery platform.
-
@s-leon Actually, you give me another idea, but ill have to test it out later when I get an XR