Last Sunday, I cut a chunk of pink foam insulation to fit a section of pipe-anti-freeze heat tape. The heat tape has a built-in thermostat. However, I found that it is a poor temperature match for EV batteries.
So, last night, I hacked open the built-in thermostat on the heat tape, and spliced the wires to make it "always on". I would then control the heater with an external timer or thermostat.
I used some of the "spare" batteries I had to conduct a test. I set 4 batteries directly on top of the foam with the heat tape carved into it. Spaced over from those just a tad, I set another battery on a scrap chunk of the same thickness of foam, WITHOUT any heat tape running through it. I then put a packing blanket over the top of all those batteries in such a way that they were all covered, but the non-heated battery was also separated from the heated ones.
I plugged in the heater and let it run over night. This morning I checked all the batteries, with the hand test. I put my hands on the sides of a non-heated, non-covered battery. It was pretty cold.
Next, I pulled back the packing blanket on the covered, but non-heated battery, and checked that. It felt the same as the first battery.
Then, I pulled back the blanket on the heated batteries, and slid one over a bit to feel it. It was WARM. Pretty warm near the bottom, and only ever so slightly warm near the top! This was a significant difference in temperature between the heated and non-heated batteries. How far the heat went into the center of the batteries, I can't say.
Even more interesting, was the fact that the heat tape ACTUALLY MELTED ITS WAY FURTHER DOWN INTO THE FOAM!
Not sure what to do about that! Maybe the next version of this needs some aluminum foil on the bottom or some sort of heat spreader!?!?
I'm sure having a thermostat on it would have helped as well, but I wouldn't have gotten as much total energy out either, if it was turning on and off all night!
Any thoughts?
Back view, showing where the heater melted THROUGH the foam.
In this view, you can see how the heat tape melted down below the routered-in path.