Fresh air to ... the battery ?

[euromodder]

Looking under the hood of my Volvo V50, I noticed there's a small air duct in the hood's sound-proofing that force-feeds fresh air from behind the grill to the largely enclosed battery.

For me, it's the first time I've seen anything like this on any car.

Why would Volvo do that ?

If I block the grill, that'll also bock the air to the battery.
What effects are to be expected ?

[Weather Spotter]

It is there to keep the battery cooled. If it is mostly enclosed than most of the heat from charging or discharging is contained (not good) and can cause the battery to over heat. I would still let some air flow into that area (it will also help keep other under the hood electronics cool).

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by Weather Spotter

It is there to keep the battery cooled. If it is mostly enclosed than most of the heat from charging or discharging is contained (not good) and can cause the battery to over heat.

If I remove the enclosure along with the airduct, the battery will be in the hot engine compartment - like most other car batteries.

I would still let some air flow into that area (it will also help keep other under the hood electronics cool).

It goes only to the battery as far as I can see.
Where it goes after that, I still have to find out, but by the looks of it, it's not going to other electronics. Probably just spills out at the rear / bottom of the battery.

[Weather Spotter]

yes it likely just spills out into the engine compartment, but it is good to have some cooling in there. Under hood temps are a key factor in how long electric components last.

As for the battery enclosure, the designers must have decided that it needed shielding from the under hood temps, that's why they put it in an enclosure. Heat kills batteries (speeds up the chemical break down process) this is not a big deal with lead acid
batteries but it still is a factor.

Can you post some pictures of the current set up and of you planed mods (tape some cardboard up)?

[busypaws]

Move the battery to the back seat like I did. More room to work on engine. More weight out of the front allowing 155/80/r13 wheels. Also cooler battery.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by busypaws

Move the battery to the back seat like I did.

That's not really an option ...
But the spare wheel well is empty now.
Mmmmmmm

[Frank Lee]

It's not for heat/cooling. Batteries emit gasses thus need to be vented.

[tollo]

Cool battery makes better FE and longer battery life.

When battery get hot the voltage of the battery goes down and battery gets overcharged. (I might say that overcharging is just boiling water) Cool battery has higher voltage and alternator won't overcharge it.

I haven't been any kind of Volvo fan but past year have been different. Volvo has done many basic and reasonable things for better FE and reliability and this is one more thing to list.

[Old Tele man]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

It's not for heat/cooling. Batteries emit gasses thus need to be vented.

...yep, HYDROGEN (ala' "Hindenberg") gas...which might be an idea to the HHO generation advocates.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by tollo

Cool battery makes better FE and longer battery life.

The battery has been in there for almost 5 years.
I've only used the preheating maybe 1 or 2 times.
In winter it starts easily without using preheat, even though the car is not kept in a garage.

When battery get hot the voltage of the battery goes down and battery gets overcharged. (I might say that overcharging is just boiling water) Cool battery has higher voltage and alternator won't overcharge it.

I could monitor the voltage using the Scangauge and see if there's any difference.

Originally Posted by Old Tele man

...yep, HYDROGEN (ala' "Hindenberg") gas...which might be an idea to the HHO generation advocates.

Fortunately - or unfortunately depending on your PoV - a car battery won't produce nearly enough hydrogen to have an effect on FE.

But in an open engine compartment, battery ventilation surely would be better than in an enclosure ?