Active Motor Cooling

[bronsonj]

I did see some used stock-sized tires locally on craigslist. $25 for 4, sounds like that may help some.

[yurtle]

Do they include rims? If so, it's a quick swap before and after the parade. If not, a little more involved.

[scottyb]

This is actually a problem I see a lot. Guys tell me I want the fastest cart in the neighborhood. And I think okay, no problem... then they say that once a year they want to take 4 big men hunting tin the hills of where-ever!? Now we got a problem... same as the annual parade scenario. I tell these guys you have to build for the hunt or the parade or the beach sand or that is where it's going to fail. Period
In your case the tires could make a big (25%) difference. Get some stock take-offs from the local shop? Or borrow them off your wife's cart And install a motor temp gauge.

[Goliath]

Could you get longer bolts for the four sets of two bolts on the outside of the motor, and fab some heat sinks?

You can get small plates of aluminum off fleabay, and fab several large heat sinks, depending on space around the motor.

It wouldn't cost much at all, and, you could even add some peltiers to add active cooling, if you've got the battery capacity.

[WalterM6]

If so, it'll take something more like wrapping a towel around it with water constantly dripping on the towel (evaporative cooling) to get rid of the heat being generated at walking speeds.

We used to do that with X-Ray Tube Housings.

[cgtech]

Those little "to-220” heatsinks is like throwing a cup of water on a house fire. Thought of getting a small radiator "helper fan" like 10" from the auto parts store and sticking it under there?

[radioman]

Get some big bags of Ice and pack around the motor.

[Rooster59]

I got a 4" diameter cooling fan from Amazon that puts out about 160-200 cfm for less than $20. It is mounted in the engine bay for cool, fresh air into the engine compartment. A couple of these close to and facing the motor with the bagwell removed might be a big help.

[orangeman6]

Originally Posted by bronsonj

ScottyB: I haven't considered a different motor for the parade. I didn't really want to spend $600 or so for the one day. That may be a better option as it could prevent other problems, but I just don't see that being doable at this point.

Yurtle: I did get two fans, planning on putting each on their own thermal switch, but thinking back those fans put out 20 CFM each and that's probably not going to be enough.

JohnnieB: Yes it's the same cart. I was worried as the parade route is going to be longer so I ordered another set of Volt packs to double my capacity. But that is the same cart. The parade doesn't have any walkers, so it's faster than 4mph, but certainly less than 12mph. I'm not a good estimator of slow speeds but I would say the speeds fluctuate mainly between a jog to a mild run with occasional stops. So heat dissipation may be 5 x 100w bulbs instead of 6x. Regardless those fans are not going to be enough...

Bronson, hard to stomach for one day a year, but you need emp’s switchable motor. I know you chimed in on my thread about finding a new motor and mentioned your parade. I hope you find a solution that makes sense.

[cgtech]

Originally Posted by Rooster59

I got a 4" diameter cooling fan from Amazon that puts out about 160-200 cfm for less than $20. It is mounted in the engine bay for cool, fresh air into the engine compartment. A couple of these close to and facing the motor with the bagwell removed might be a big help.

LOL, with our powers combined...... Get a extra bagwell cover, cut holes in it for fans and mount whatever fans you choose in the extra cover. Then the extra cooling doesn't look horribly ghetto, is easily placed right near the heat source, and can easily be reomved when not needed.