We have a cool FLIR infrared camera. Here are the board temps after a moderate 3 mile ride in 80 degree (F) weather.
Need to start applying thermal paste when we bolt up our motors. I think we could get some good results with that and cooling fins on our mounts.
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Do you have a VESC? Would be cool to see images of the FETs after some use
Yea. Next time I ride into work I will remove the enclosures and get thermal images over every component.
That’s a really cool idea. I’m willing try it out, just need to find some suitable fins to attach. Any recommendations?
Cooling find will be a little difficult but the thermal past I’ll do today 
How about CPU heatsinks bolted to the motor mounts? There are a ton of different sizes and styles.
Got a box of old computer parts that is just itching to be recycled. 
@chaka Do you have any thermal paste suggestions? Otherwise the CPU stuff seems like it would work OK.
This stuff is pretty good for CPUs. Cooler Master USA brand…
https://jet.com/product/detail/b117836c1b934200a9d9dd8b1e539013?jcmp=pla:ggl:gen_electronics_a3:electronics_accessories_computer_components_computer_system_cooling_parts_a3_other:na:PLA_348103020_24129145860_aud-151015338728:pla-161677923180:na:na:na:2&code=PLA15&ds_c=gen_electronics_a3&ds_cid=&ds_ag=electronics_accessories_computer_components_computer_system_cooling_parts_a3_other&product_id=b117836c1b934200a9d9dd8b1e539013&product_partition_id=161677923180&gclid=CLmOu9yqks4CFRY2gQod3SEJxw&gclsrc=aw.ds
I use Arctic Silver 5 on all my computer builds
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good idea! I have some lying around, gonna try that and test temps before and after,
How abt directed air flow to motors like a scoop?
Air is already hitting the motors full force, an added scoop will probably be more detrimental due to increased air resistance
I dunno … The enclosure could cause an eddy of air keeping the full force from hitting it … Just saying …I wish i had a temp gun to try it lol
do it for science! I’ve been meaning to order an infrared gun
Lol new thread “Cheap Infrared Guns” lol
Picture overload…
Same ride as yesterday. All temps seem to be nominal throughout the board even with sealed enclosures. Using the high-output vesc from @chaka it seems like the heat sinks are doing their job nicely as the mosfets appear to be no hotter than any other part of the VESC.
Until racing becomes a thing, I am not sure we need to worry about forced air cooling.
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Awesome stuff, Jeff!! Thanks for posting! The Flir camera doesn’t lie. It’s very interesting to me to see how much heat is transferred to the hanger of the rear truck! Also the rear wheels are looking pretty hot where they meet the mounts. I don’t know if that level of heat would be a factor for the wheels, but it sure is interesting. This tells me that a dual diagonal setup would be even more efficient at keeping those motors cool.
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Thanks! Yea the truck heat was surprising to me too although it makes sense with the components primarily being aluminum. Belt friction is definitely a large component of the heat generation as well.
what does that FLIR cost?
I know in the carbon bicycle frame industry FLIR is used to image carbon parts to see if there are stress cracks etc.
They use some kind of electrical charge current to illuminate the parts and see changes in continuity.
I guess they do similar in aviation to find if parts are cracked.
Would be handy to see motor mounts crack before they break.
$250
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