Heat

[Norm01]

Building my 12v battery pack with a silicone 20w heat pad. I was surprised of the heat it puts out, reaches 160 deg F quickly. What’s the common installation method. I would think these are two hot to mount directly to the battery?

 

[HRTKD]

My pads are 12 watts. I have two on each battery. They heat my batteries slowly.

160°F is outside the acceptable battery operating range. If you were to use those pads, but not directly against the battery it might work.

 

[wme]

A piece of .080 aluminum the size of the battery will help spread the heat. A thermostat on the battery will help control things, But 160 deg is warm, it will depend on the outside temp as how fast the heat bleeds off.

 

[justinm001]

I used ones like below on the bottom of my rack batteries. Also on my old RV tanks. They stay at like 76degrees and aren't hot to the touch. Checked with my FLIR and they did a great job

Facon CW-ST725, 7-1/4"x25" 12V RV Holding Tank Heater Pad, use with Up to 50 Gallons Fresh Water/Grey Water/Black Water Tank, 2Packs Heating Pad with Automatic Thermostat Control https://a.co/d/fN16Ldm

 

[featherlite]

I have two 12v bee hive heater pads. Each pad alone reaches 170 F pretty quickly. The two pads wired in series reach about 95 F. I use an Inkbird temperature controller with two pads wired in series, with the pads setting loosely in the insulated box I made. The pads do not directly touch the surface of the cells. I am happy with how they work.