Battery Musing: Do custom or double-wrapped batteries get hotter?

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Mooch

Electron Wrangler
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  • May 13, 2015
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    A fun way to customize your setup is to cover a battery with a sheet of paper with a great design on it under a clear wrap. Does this, or double-wrapping to make the wrap more durable, cause the battery to run hotter?

    Let's find out.

    I discharged at Samsung 25R5 battery at 20A down to 2.8V using different setups. Here are the maximum temperatures reached for each setup...

    - No wrap = 76°C

    - Single IMRBatteries wrap = 78°C

    - Double IMRBatteries wrap = 79°C

    - Single IMRBatteries wrap over sheet of 20lb bond paper = 79°C

    Bottom Line: The three wrapped setups reach essentially the same temperature so there's no need to worry about batteries getting too hot if you use custom or doubled wraps.

    Additional Information: Why such a small change in temperature when using wraps? One reason is that they are very thin. The other reason is that the wraps allow the battery to better radiate heat away. How so? Bare metal is a truly lousy radiator of heat, i.e., its "emissivity" is quite low. By adding a wrap we increase the emissivity of the battery significantly. This allows more heat, in the form of infrared energy, to be radiated out and the battery cools a bit better. It's why heat sinks are often painted or anodized black. Even though the paint adds what is essentially a layer of insulation to the heat sink, the black paint has a very high emissivity and makes it easier for the heat sink to radiate heat.
     

    Chemical Bromance

    Like a Ninja!
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    May 24, 2016
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    Fantasy Island
    A fun way to customize your setup is to cover a battery with a sheet of paper with a great design on it under a clear wrap. Does this, or double-wrapping to make the wrap more durable, cause the battery to run hotter?

    Let's find out.

    I discharged at Samsung 25R5 battery at 20A down to 2.8V using different setups. Here are the maximum temperatures reached for each setup...

    - No wrap = 76°C

    - Single IMRBatteries wrap = 78°C

    - Double IMRBatteries wrap = 79°C

    - Single IMRBatteries wrap over sheet of 20lb bond paper = 79°C

    Bottom Line: The three wrapped setups reach essentially the same temperature so there's no need to worry about batteries getting too hot if you use custom or doubled wraps.

    Additional Information: Why such a small change in temperature when using wraps? One reason is that they are very thin. The other reason is that the wraps allow the battery to better radiate heat away. How so? Bare metal is a truly lousy radiator of heat, i.e., its "emissivity" is quite low. By adding a wrap we increase the emissivity of the battery significantly. This allows more heat, in the form of infrared energy, to be radiated out and the battery cools a bit better. It's why heat sinks are often painted or anodized black. Even though the paint adds what is essentially a layer of insulation to the heat sink, the black paint has a very high emissivity and makes it easier for the heat sink to radiate heat.
    Thank you! I was wondering that for a bit. Started designing my own labels and wasn't too sure if it would insulate the batts too much.

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