Hey guys, I work in the oil and gas industry piloting and working on ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicles) AKA remotely controlled submarines. We use oil to fill some electrical housings which is positively compensated with oil compensators. The oil protects the housings since its a liquid and can’t be compressed like a 1 atmosphere housing. In addition the oil dissipates heat.
My question is has anyone ever tried to fill a housing with oil and place a VESC in it to see how the vesc performs? I’m just being curious.
I recall a discussion recently about doing this. I think in the end it was decided that without a pump to move the oil and an active radiator (perhaps fan cooled fins?) the oil would just heat up to the point where it became detrimental to the vesc, because of how small the enclosure is.
Perhaps someone with more experience could chime in.
I got a notification for a linked post. I took Flipsky SECS 6.6 with the aluminium case and filled it with oil. It works at 36V as expected from learning about it for pc cooling. I haven’t been able to do any running tests because it leaks from places I still have to seal with automotive RTV. I realize doing this may become problematic if resoldering the DRV8301 or MOSFETs for repairs. I should have also added an auto drain bolt for easy oil maintenance.
I still have to test this on a alternator I converted for a future build for a chibi kart with skateboard parts.
Submarine, eh? That’ll be the name we are going to use from now on when someone comes with a VESC oil container for Esk8 applications using oil to fill electrical housings. New jargon boys: the Submarine…