Battery warmer part 1

[jrmcd1957]

IT seems to be like my dogs pet warmer mat they sell at pet smart.

[BenjaminNelson]

I went to install the warmer in my car, only to find out that it trips my GFI!

I tested the warmer out on standard outlets, with a Kill-a-watt to test the draw. It worked fine there.

I will have to pull the warmer apart and double-check my wiring to see why the GFI is activated.

[theflashnoob]

when are you gonna make part 2

[BungaEBiker]

OOOoo good idea. A lot of people who I have spoken to (debated) regarding the viability of an electric car here in Canada have mentioned the effects of cold temps on batteries. This is a good, most importantly, cheap way to address cold temps and batteries. Great Job.

[BenjaminNelson]

Just think of it as a block heater for your electric car.

[SirTragain]

Do you have it hooked into the cars battery pack with a thermal controller or toggled on/off switch or is it only A/C activated?

[BenjaminNelson]

It is an AC heat element.

It will run through a thermostat to the AC input of the car.

The car's AC charging port goes to a regular electric outlet I installed in the back of the car.

That way, while the car is charging, it can also run AC power to a heater or anything else AC. Imagine "pre-cooling" in the summer!

I could also hook up the heater to a seperate power line with a timer, and have it run for a certain amount of time every day.

[SirTragain]

But you could also use an AC inverter off of the Aux Batt or DC/DC converter so it can be run even if it is not being charged.

I know it would probably reduce range if drawn from the pack but I wonder if it could actually aid range should the car not get an opportunity charge or even help the batteries last long during these winter months.

Just thinking aloud,

[rillip3]

Ignoring the efficiency argument, the battery generates heat under use naturally. Once the battery is to temperature, there is no need to try and heat it further. The only time this would be useful is if you cannot plug it in at your destination. Preheating the battery using the battery in that situation ("warming up the car") might smooth out the performance while driving at the expense of some range. But you would still turn the heater off once it was up to temp.

[SirTragain]

Nice job Ben; how many watts is that pulling?

Dan-

[BenjaminNelson]

130 watts