Heater for lithium batteries

[bruce davis]

Has any one tried Frost tex tape to heat Lithium batterie it will only get to 38 deg C and can be over laped on itself it is self-regulating it uses 3 watts of 120 v power per ft.

 

[Supervstech]

Has any one tried Frost tex tape to heat Lithium batterie it will only get to 38 deg C and can be over laped on itself it is self-regulating it uses 3 watts of 120 v power per ft.

The issue there is fire.
38C is HOT for lithium... the stuff for gutters? Or on a snow melt system?

 

[HRTKD]

Has any one tried Frost tex tape to heat Lithium batterie it will only get to 38 deg C and can be over laped on itself it is self-regulating it uses 3 watts of 120 v power per ft.

I wouldn't use a tape and would be leery of anything that gets that hot (100° F). Low and slow, just like smoking a brisket.

Note that it is "Frostex", not "Frost Tex".

Here is a data sheet for that product:

https://raychem.nvent.com/sites/g/files/hdkjer246/files/acquiadam/2020-12/Raychem-DS-H57419-FrostexPipeFreezeProtection-EN.pdf

It's odd that the data sheet doesn't specify the max temperature.

 

[chrisw5]

I was going to try the Vivosun seedling mat. Used to start garden seeds, it comes with thermostat that can be set from 40 to 105 F.

If it doesn’t work out I can always use for my garden.

 

[Horsefly]

The silicone heat pads I use are spec'd for a max heat of 60°C, but I can't imagine them getting that hot, especially if you have a thermostat controlling the power, so that the heat is turned off once the cells get reasonably above freezing. Like @HRTKD said, low and slow is the name of the game.

I've posted some graphs of my heater testing elsewhere in the forum, but below is one that makes my point. The green line is showing when the heater is on. The blue line is on the aluminum plate right below the cells, and the heater is taped to the bottom of the plate. The red line is the temperature at the top of the cells. The thermostat is tied to this top-of-cell temp, and turns the heater on if the temp drops to 50°F, and turns back off when it gets to 60°F.

The point here is that the heater warms the aluminum plate very quickly at first, but then slows down and stays about 10°F above the temperature of the cells. When the heater turns off, the heater plate temp drops very quickly. Use low wattage - my heater is 24W - which makes it so it takes 3 hours to warm the cells from 50°F to 60°F.