Air Flow in the Current Enginer Kit

The air intake is on the charger side of the system. The exhaust is on the converter side.

A couple of us who live in hotter environments are trying to determine a way of getting more cooling through the system. I am personally interested in cooling the traction battery more efficiently as well. As it stands, it doesn't take much time for it to exceed 114 degrees F, at which point (I believe) the system discourages EV mode.

 

The link to the Enginer web site can't be viewed......

 

The fan will also run when commanded by a CAN message, either via bidirectional scantool (Techstream, AutoEnginuity) or a board along the lines of what kietyyyy developed for Plug-in Supply. I'm hoping that we'll be able to figure this one out with pEEf's ScanGauge replacement.

 

Since you purchased a system, you can email Jack and request "User" status to access the forum.

 

My Enginer Kit was installed Jan. 24, 2011, and has the two Real Force batteries. My vehicle is a 2004 Prius. I count three fans on the converter (one going out the blue tube on the left) and one fan blowing out the charger to the right. All my fans blow out of the kit.
I wanted to keep the cargo floor intact, so I put a couple of metal pieces on the underside of the left side of the cargo floor cover to hold the right side of the cover of the storage compartment which now has the blue tube in it instead of the bin. Then on the right side of the flap of the cargo floor cover I cut a hole about 3 1/2 inches wide by 6 inches tall, leaving about 1 inch on top to the hinge, on the right and bottom to the edge of the cover. I then used caulk to attach 1/4 inch hardware cloth over the hole, so stuff doesn't fall through.
I believe this will allow cooled cabin air to flow into the Enginer Kit and be drawn out by the three converter fans during use of the Kit. The hot air will go out the 6 or 8 air exit holes that are in the Prius (one hole has the blue tube inserted into it). This should work better if I allow outside air into the cabin when the AC is on. During charging, the hole I cut lets the hot air coming out of the charger flow up and into the cabin, and out the windows if they are down during charging.
I plan to drill a few more holes into the bottom of the Enginer Kit box, just rear of the charger, to allow more air into the kit from the hole I cut. This is because on my install, the spare tire blocks most of the pre-drilled air holes (on the bottom of the kit between the charger and the converter) which air from my hole would use to flow into the kit.
If anybody reading this sees a problem with what I have done, I would appreciate comment.
PS. When Jack installed my kit, he wanted to reverse the air flow from one of the two fans on top of the converter, so one would blow air into the kit. I told him to please not do this, as I think my solution is better for me, as it allows me to store cargo where I want and provides an outlet for hot charging air. As I see it, reversing one fan would just recirculate hot air in and out of the kit, getting hotter as the kit is used. If the lid to the left storage bin is removed so it is open to cabin air , then Jack's idea would make sense - but I wouldn't be able to pile stuff in that area. As it is in my Prius, during hot weather I will have to keep my air hole clear of cargo.

 

Standing at the back of the car, the hole I cut is on the right. The left edge of the hole is above the right edge of the Enginer box. When the charger is on, I can look through the hole and see the two charger lights. The charger fan pushes air out the right side of the Enginer box, directly under the hole I cut.

I believe the grill and hole on the right side of the converter and the left side of the charger do not have fans, but exist to allow the cool air in from the air holes drilled in the bottom of the Enginer box between these two components. Normally the charger and the converter are not on at the same time. All fans push air out in my system, as far as I can tell. Craig

 

I put the hole on the right because without it, the heat from the charger would have nowhere to go, and would build up. The first charger I got had its fan reversed, sending hot air into the Enginer box. Halfway through the first charge, it burned up and stopped working.

On the left side there is a way for the hot air to escape the car, and this is the vent only panel on the left side of the car. This has the blue tube in one air exit. The other seven vents are free to exit more air. This vent system is for letting air out of the car when you slam a door closed, or for letting air out of the car when outside air is brought in the front. But for this to work to cool the Enginer box, I figured there needed to be a clear way for colder cabin air to get into the box, pulled in by the three converter fans. That clear way is the hole I made. As I see it, when driving with the Enginer System working, colder cabin air will be pulled down my hole, into the Enginer box through the charger openings and the vent holes on the bottom of the box, become heated by the converter, and blown into the former bin area and out of the car through the car's vent system. It should work better if I cause the air conditioning system to bring in outside air, rather than just recirculate the air.

 

Yesterday I removed my converter and took off the cover. I found that there are two fans, one at each end, both directing air towards the left side. That means there are a total of four fans to remove heat from the converter when it heats above a set point. Two in the converter and two above the converter.

 

I have an 05 prius with a enginer 4kw kit installed this week and we drilled a hole in the cooling duct for the traction battery and ran a pipe from the right side fan of enginer case into traction duct work it significantly lowered temp inside of case.

 

Working on a mod to install a row of very low power fans on top of case in a row bringing air into kit. cutting cargo deck of prius and making a grill out of speaker mesh and support so cargo area is usable but also to bring air in from cabin of prius. As soon as we cut lid of enginer case and build the fan frame I will post pictures should significantly cool kit. also looking into powering the fans via a solar panel do not know how feasible this will be but would be nice to cool fans without drawing power while car is parked.