keep your batteries warm in the cold

[Shell Shock]

Originally Posted by Scouser

hrm okay how about run a length of wire with deans connectors on both ends, one into the gun one to the battery, rather than keeping the battery inside your bdus, keep it in a small mag pouch on your vest. get a length of tubing like from an old camel back to give the wire itself a little more insulation from the cold.

keep the battery wrapped up in the mag pouch, kept centered by wadded cloth, with a couple of heat packs between the outer layer of the cloth and the inner wall of the bdu pouch. run the wire, paralel to say a sling? a 1pt sling would be best, so you can have the mag pouch high and just a bit centered on your chest, without getting in the way of shouldering your weapon.

battery stays warm, but rather than having to be inside your bdus its in an easy access pouch so you can pull it out and get rid of it if it starts shorting

might be too much of a pain but meh its an idea, likely a bit safer at least than what shellshock intended

nice XP go figure i think of the most harmful way XP i have a lipo bag, if i were to do this, but have the battery in a lipo bag... still risky?

[DarkAngel]

Still risky,the bag still gets hot, it just doesnt combust.

Putting the batt in a mag pouch will still cause the batt to get cold, your mag pouches wont retain any heat. And you still have the issue of tethering yourself to the gun.

[coach]

Originally Posted by Grrxmaster

I just came up with this one off the top of my head, so don't flame me too bad if it's completely foolish but for those who cannot fit warmers in their stocks, and assuming the battery goes into the stock, could warmers be attached to the outside?

it could work if you insulate the stock over the warmers, but consider this. it you tape the warmers to the stock, heat will more likely escape the exposed side faster then penetrating the stock and warming the air inside to then warm the battery. the best way to transfer heat would be direct contact with the battery. air in an insulator.

Originally Posted by Shell Shock

nice XP go figure i think of the most harmful way XP i have a lipo bag, if i were to do this, but have the battery in a lipo bag... still risky?

if the lipo was to ever catch fire, you'd still have a fire in the battery bag inside your BDU's! Next...


goto the dollar store and get an insulated lunch bag. doesn't have to be great. cut it up and make a pouch out of it a little bigger than your battery. if you're good at sewing you can design it with a flap and a over lapping hole to pass the wires through. otherwise just tape it up with good ol' duct tape while making it pretty and manly. lol insert battery. activate warmers and insert. seal it with wires hanging out. tape to stock and connect wires.

[Cobrajr122]

Quick disconnects, a fuse, and long enough cable, but not long enough to start to kill DC.... I see no issues with this.

[FACE]

But what if your battery is a crane battery for an ICS that uses contacts?

[Cobrajr122]

It should disconnect between the stock and the rifles body. If it does not, you should make it do that.

[Dingo]

Well what I do is put my spare batteries in a wool sock with 2 handwarmers in there. Then just put it in my EMT pouch. And also I dont know if this has been said, but if you drop your gun or trip and fall you will rip the wire out. Sorry if someone said that already.

[Cokeman]

Originally Posted by coachster

it could work if you insulate the stock over the warmers, but consider this. it you tape the warmers to the stock, heat will more likely escape the exposed side faster then penetrating the stock and warming the air inside to then warm the battery. the best way to transfer heat would be direct contact with the battery. air in an insulator.

Assuming that you were to install the warmers and insulation indoors. Then the battery would be initially at room temperature (nice and warm). When you are outside, you won't care about the heat that is being transferred from the warmer to the battery (because the battery is already warm). What you are concerned about is the heat loss through the insulation. Coachster is correct, installing the warmers on the outside of the stock will not keep the batteries above freezing as long as if the warmers were installed inside the stock (assuming the same insulation thickness). The reason is that with the warmers on the outside, there is more surface area for heat loss. Also, if the warmers are inside the stock, there is the extra insulation of the plastic stock.

P.S. Heat transfer is always going to occur across a temperature difference. If you just wrap the battery with insulation, the heat loss will come from your battery - and over time, it will cool down to the outside temperature. By placing a warmer inside the insulation, the heat loss will come mainly from the warmer, not your battery (note: your battery will also get warmer, storing heat that will be released when the temperature of the warmer drops below that of the battery), thereby extending the time in which the batter remains above freezing.

OK - I'll stop rambling now.

[DarkAngel]

Yea but cobra, even with quick disconnects, sometimes it takes just the ignition to get it going. Disconnecting wont stop the chemical reaction inside batts once they have started. Lipos for example will continue to combust till the fuel is consumed.

Nicads can also do alot of damage if the plug isnt pulled fast enough, they take longer to start up, but they still will continue to combust after the battery has ignited.

[ThunderCactus]

Haven't had issues with LiPo's in the cold, but it's an expensive alternative and requires reading and knowledge of how to use them lol

I think you guys are going too far into the safety side of things. He has an excellent idea with running a long cable with deans to the battery. Even if the deans gets disconnected, snow is really non-conductive for the most part.
Heater packs outside the stock are a really good idea.
Having the battery in your pocket also works well.
Stock mag pouch with heater and battery is probably the best idea.

Either way, if you have deans connectors on the cable, and have good soldering and electrical wiring skills, the chances of actually having a battery fire are pretty slim, even if your using LiPo.

However I will mention, you need to use quality wiring with a hard exterior. That soft exterior crap gets stripped WAY too easily, and the longer your cable, the more resistance you'll have, and the lower the current going to your gun will be.
4ft of crap 18g wire = audibly lower ROF

[DarkAngel]

Im not worried about the wiring shorting due to snow, Im more worried about him tripping, and yanking the wires and the switch assembly along with it.

[Armed Infidel]

Originally Posted by DarkAngel

I have a few concerns.
1) if you drop the gun, you trip or fall etc, you could yank out the wiring in your gun by accident, damaging the contacts and switch assembly in your gearbox.
2) your tethered to the gun
3) If your battery gets a short, you cannot ditch your battery/gun in the case that it catches fire or starts to combust. For example, if suddenly your battery starts to combust, you would have to rip off your gloves, rip off your jacket, all while panicing due to your body being on fire.
4) This is doubly so for lipo setups.

My suggestion is to stick with hot packs or something else. Ive seen enough batteries go up on the field to know that while the chances are fairly remote, the chances arnt THAT miniscule.

As for your P90 battery size issue, either do the JBatt mod, buttstock extender, or simply go lipo.

Ditto for my 2 cents..I'll stick with the wrapping my batteries in the hand warming packs. Although i gotta say Shell...as a first pass I think it's brilliant out of the box thinking....

[Shell Shock]

thanks man. yah.. tripping seems to me my main concern as well. i failed to take into consideration ice. oh well. thanks for all your input. especially the ones who said it was a bad idea! you possible saved my gearbox

[The Chad]

escort AEG?

[ThunderCactus]

Originally Posted by DarkAngel

Im not worried about the wiring shorting due to snow, Im more worried about him tripping, and yanking the wires and the switch assembly along with it.

Solution; deans connectors.