Quote:
Originally Posted by ctt956
DO NOT use a canned "air" duster to cool it, especially the liquid. Spraying highly flammable liquid that gives off highly flammable fumes onto a burning hot motor near electrical stuff will not end well! Not to mention that the fumes are also highly toxic.  Regular compressed air, as in what you get out of a compressor that's used for riveting/nailing/etc, will cool the motors. If the pressure is high enough, it will be cold enough to cause frostbite. Even if it's not cold, passing the cool air over the CIMs will cool them down. It's like a fan blowing on a heat sink. |
In normal canned air there is no flammable liquid. The cooling effect is simply from the rapid decompression of the highly pressurized air.
The "fumes" are just air.... when you see frost on the item that is being cooled it is a result of the cold object's reaction with the humid room air. You might also see condensed water from the air in a humid environment.
Sometimes manufacturers add something called a bitterant to the air to deter individuals from inhalant abuse. The can will tell you if it contains this material but it is not hazardous and is definitely not flammable. A common bitterant is denatonium... the name is a reference to the denaturing quality of the substance... denaturing is adding something so it cannot be consumed by humans. You can avoid this in canned air if you purchase canned air without a bitterant.
I am concerned that you are spraying something other than "canned air" which is normally used as a duster. Many things are in spray cans.... and you would not want to spray WD40 or some other petroleum based material for this use but canned air would be fine.
You want the rapid decompression to happen as it hits the motor, this super cooled air will cool the motor. Normal compressed air can work... but the cans are usually a much higher pressure and will cool more and you cannot have a compressor in your pit anyway other than the one on your robot or the one you use in conjunction with your robot to fill your pneumatic tanks.