battery orientation

[Brawler006]

I heard that a battery is more efficient when placed vertically as opposed to horizontally. Can anyone verify this?

[KenWittlief]

no, the only restriction I have seen on the battery is that it should not be upside down when charging it

you want the battery as low as possible on your bot, and horizontal, to make your center of gravity low.

[mtaman02]

ok from all the robot i have seen. i would say that if your gonna mount the batter vertically mount it securely. b.c if the bot its something solid it [battery] will move also make the connectors secure remember they are quick disconnects and if it feels any stress like a robot catching the wire etc... it will disconnect and your outta the match. for this security all you need is tie raps or velcro to secure the battery to the chassis and its connector.

If you mount it horizontally you should also secure it and its connetor but its less likely to jump out its position. and also keep an eye on it to make sure its not a defective one and leaks

i dunno know how effcient it would be if you mount it in either direction

[Kevin Sevcik]

I'll toss in my 2 cents and recommend that you route your battery cable and any other wires along your frame or have them covered with lexan or something. One year we had a battery cable that was innocently sticking up in the arm, and an arm that unfolded just above it. Conveniently, one round our arm unfolded, snagged the cable and our robot committed ritual suicide. Lemme tell ya, that was embarassing. Hrm. The was the other year with a hanging bar.. I hope that's not a sign or something.

[KenWittlief]

as for holding the battery down, go out and look at how your battery is held in your car, and do something similar.

the battery is usually the single most heavy thing in your bot - and if you slam a wall, or get bashed, that a LOT of inertia/impact force on whatever is holding it down.

Every year you see bots spew their battery onto the playfield, usually during pratice matches. Those are the lucky ones! if your battery comes lose inside your bot and slams around in there, it can destroy your R/C, victors, Spikes, custom circuit boards, bend pneumatic cylinders... 16 pounds of lead can do a LOT of damage

a solid battey box/cage/holder is absolutely necessary. We always use an alum bar with wingnuts across one side to hold it in.

BTW we learned the hard way - lost an RC last year when the battery moved 1 inch.

[Wetzel]

Originally Posted by Brawler006

I heard that a battery is more efficient when placed vertically as opposed to horizontally. Can anyone verify this?

Now I am not an EE, but I will attempt some thought on this.

Please note that this is all just my thoughts, without any actual learning other then experience and logic behind them.

Electricty is not noticable affected by gravity. (assumption)
So the flow of electrons is not affected by orentation.
However, depending on the construction of the battery internaly, the orentation could change the way the parts interact in the energy exchange. (I've become fuzzy on how batterys specificly work, other then diffrences in materials does something) My car battery prolly wouldn't work very well much longer if upside down. IE a liquid not contacting with poles as much. But as our batterys are solid, or at least have no slosh, then this would not matter.


So I am going to make the conclusion that the orentation of the battery does not matter for the efficently, barring construction.

Wetzel
~~~~~~~~~~~
Hurray for disjointed thought

[Al Skierkiewicz]

The beauty of using an SLA gell cell battery is that the electrolyte stays in contact with the plates no matter which side is up. Charging is another story though, charge the battery upright. The reason is not for electrical problems but it allows the gas produced to collect in the area inside the battery designed for it. If it should need to vent, then the vents are facing upright. Although the spec sheet on the battery doesn't give this info, a sheet on gell cells from a few years back said the battery could be charged in any orientation except upside down.

[Ryan M.]

The orientation of the battery shouldn't make any difference on its performance. Just don't hang it upside down. They may be sealed, but they can still leak. (personal experience here... Of course, I had dropped it...)

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Originally Posted by Texan

The orientation of the battery shouldn't make any difference on its performance. Just don't hang it upside down. They may be sealed, but they can still leak. (personal experience here... Of course, I had dropped it...)

Inquiring minds want to know...what happened?!?