Machined AL battery trays
 

Hey, I was on RC-Tech a week ago, and found a guy that made billet battery trays. I pm'd him, asking about making one for my 8ight-T. He never responded, and somehow had his ad deleted. (could have at least responded to my question with a "no")

Does anyone know of another source for something like this?
Thanks

an aluminum tray would be quite heavy.... I would guess Mike could do it, as he has the equipment. Why do you what Aluminum? Mike will custom his plastic trays to any size (including thicker walls if you want).

Other then Mike, I would say find someone with a CNC or milling machine (try a local metal fabricator?) will probably end up being expensive....

Besides looks I don't see any advantages of alu battery trays, oh and it will act as a heatsink for you lipo's. But in a good geared system lipo's shouldn't get hot.

The "heatsink effect" will only work for part of your pack, umless you're running a 2s or 3s. Having one part of a pack cool and the other hot is not good.

As lipos tend to transmit heat reasonably well, I think a heatsink in there would not be a bad idea. Have some cooling fins milled on the sides (make them sharp too in case some a-hole tries to steal your lipo!) I was thinking of folding and welding some al sheet to make a tray, but kydex is soooooo much easier to work with.

Do you really thin the heatsink effect there is that significant? I know that every little bit helps, but is it worth the extra weight? I guess its worth the cool factor tho. I'd be interested in seeing these trays as well tho.

Wow, billet trays? That must create a lot of waste during machining unless he has some special process...

i wouldnt think so, i havent had a lipo get over 120* before

depending on the alloy the aluminum is made from it could be lighter than plastic

Your exactly correct on that. Lots of chips for the recycle bin...

I've done my own roll formed AL trays for my Revo, and even though they turned out decent, I want somthing that has a little more finished look to it.

I know any machinist or even Mike COULD make one - I just figured there would be someone out there making them already. The aluminum will be @ 3X as heavy as the Delrin/Plastic trays, but that only translates into a couple ounces.

Titanium trays with water channels milled in them for water cooling. Now that would be spifftacular! and erroneous all at the same time.

if its machined outa solid aluminum...it aint gonna be cheap. most likely in the 3 digits

This is true. Have them machine the 5 sides and get someone who can tig weld al to put it together. You could have the sides made with pocket cuts on both sides to reduce weight, and properly done wells always look cool to me! Still going to be 100 plus...

2 feet of L angled aluminum later....
Battery tray anyone?

Maybe put something on the bottom to protect it?

The tray on this truck is not Aluminum but almost everything else is. Eritex Inc. did all of the machining. I would send him a pm, he does lots of custom work and is reasonable on his pricing.

http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/showt...=145552&page=5

You can get C-Channel 6061 which would do the trick. Just pick the closest size you need, machine out the excess then add to end pieces the use screws to hold them. Weight could be just as light as delrin and some other plastics.

I bought some C-Channel aluminum about 2 years ago at my former employer which we used on machine we were prototyping at the time. It saved a lot of waste both in material and time.

Eh - been there done that...


Not a bad idea. I'm pursueing this for the look of the machined AL. I could probably chuck up a piece of thicker channel that I have at work, and just do a fly cut on it to give it the machined look. Unfortunately we have quite a bit of slop in one of the ways, and its the long direction - dont know for sure if I have 6+ inches of travel in the good direction.

Understand that problem. I had a manual bridgeport with ridculous slop in both ways, I basically forbid my guys from using it except for rough cutting. Then my CNC had the ways starting to act up. I was trying before I left to get a late model used machine to no avail. As the maintenance department/machine shop, we technically didn't make money and no one wanted to spend money on us. Funny seeing as how we kept the "money makers" running though.

I actually had a deal on two 3-4 year old bridgeport CNC's for around 35k I believe. One for my department and one for one of the production departments. I could not get the powers that be to understand what a steal that was. These would have allowed us to direct download cad files and not have to line by line program.

Aluminum doesn't belong on any RC car besides shelf queens.

This coming from a griz fan....go figgure.

You gonna pull your aluminum side plates off the flux?

When I find the right replacement, yes.

What about al diff cups? Those work better than most other. Will you swap the ones on your flux out for plastic?

Ok, I apparently I worded my statement poorly. Aluminum has its ADVANTAGES in certain parts of RC vehicles, but when you turn it into an aluminum basher *cough Integy whores* and then people bitch about stuff breaking more often and how much more it weighs, I can only roll my eyes.

Sorry, dude... Just my opinion, but Aluminum bashers are awesome!.... Love my 100% ALuminum E-Maxx.. All FLM and UE parts..... There are lots of different grades of aluminum too..

I've been using angle aluminum for quite a while too... I've never even thought about using C-Channel aluminum....Great Idea.. Do they have C-Channel Plastic?

Yes - look at McMaster-Carr, they should have a selection.

Frostbite....:intello:...I'z jist bustin' yer chops neewbie! I'd typically agree with you on the aluminum stuff. My interest in it this time is for looks. I will use plastic on most parts that are susceptible to damage - ie., arms, bulks, etc - of which will possibly break even if it were aluminum.

I know the guy that makes the billit trays let me know send me a pm with your address and ill have him email you

Sent you a pm....