Gel battery spacing

[Ostinato]

I am putting on a new set of six gel batteries for my house bank. Their dimensions are different from my old batteries and I could get all six into a space that previously contained only four. However they would be very tight and air circulation would be limited. (The own configuration actually had six sealed lead acid batteries in this space too but I do not put air of stock in their work.)

How much space do I need between gels to minimize over heating? Could I compensate by putting in a muffin fan?


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[TurninTurtle]

Depends on the current demand.

Low current demand will mean little heating and thus little cooling needed.

High current demand and with inadequate cooling you can bake a cake over the batteries (just before they explode)

A fan to circulate air will help with cooling.
Do you need it? Don't know.
If you need it will it be enough? Don't know.

An expert could tell you exactly what cooling/spacing/fans you might need if you know the max amp load and list the number of batteries and their type.

I know the basics of how to test... and I tend to opt for more cooling than I need. (I have some batteries in extreme demand service, but not gel cells)

More battery capacity means more current before things get hot... So just adding more batteries you are cutting the need for cooling.

Look at the spacing of batteries in a golf cart. The spacing is to let the batteries cool under worst case expected conditions. They have a substantial load when there's a couple of "rotund" golfers on board and going up a hill.

[a64pilot]

My charger will display my battery temps, out of curiosity I've watched as my 660 AH bank is being charged with 185 amps of charger.
Temp rise seems to be about 2 F, but less than 4.
I figure 185 amps is my worst case, I'll never have that much of a draw and rarely do I charge at that rate either.

If Gels are similar to my AGM bank, I wouldn't worry about it, but what will be your high amp draw, sustained? If 10 amps or so, I don't think you have to be real concerned. Plastic battery cases don't shed heat well anyway