After reading all of the info about how hot these resistors get when they are being used to compensate for Brake Lights / turn signals, I tried googling for some solutions like a thermal wrap or something. But the resistors need to be air cooled. So wrapping them in some sort of heat wrap is no good.
I decided to make a cage for them which consists of some 3D printed parts and some cheap wire mesh that I bought on Amazon. It basically puts a cylindrical mesh cage around the resistor and allows air to cool them, but it prevents them from making contact with anything around them. I will say it's a bit bulky, but I think it will work well. Currently, I have no plans to make any of these to sell. But if I do, I will have a much better design than what it is now. hahaha.
I will post some pics tomorrow when I can take a couple of the finished product and the pieces.
I might re-design these a bit to use ONLY 3D printed pieces to maybe simplify the design and assembly a bit. But I'm not sure yet. I'm using PETG which prints at 235*C and is quite resistant to heat. It's attached to the wire sections of the resistor and doesn't touch the metal anywhere. So it should be fine. If I end up re-designing, I'll just keep posting updates in this thread.
Pics will come soon...
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Topic starter
Posted : August 18, 2022 9:32 pm
And after taking the pics, the finished product looks like some sort of improvised munition bomb from the movies. hahaha. I really need to re-think my design in case I'm ever at a car meet so that the bomb squad doesn't show up. hahaha.
Anyway, here are pics of the components and the finished product.
If you're looking to make one for yourself, you can probably rig something similar. The 3D printed pieces aren't necessary. It's just what I did. That wire mesh sheet was sold in a pack for cheap on Amazon and is just 1mm thick.
Get your Short Antennas, Decals, and all sorts of goodies at:
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Topic starter
Posted : August 19, 2022 8:44 am
3
Perhaps mounting the resister to a piece of aluminum will help disapait the heat better
Posted : August 20, 2022 6:58 am
Perhaps mounting the resister to a piece of aluminum will help disapait the heat better
That would be the ideal solution. But I already attached the short wires to my tail light harnesses. I'm over-engineering a solution to a problem that I caused. hahaha
Also, I'd like to be able to keep the light harness as detachable as possible so I can remove the tail lights and keep all the stuff together.
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Topic starter
Posted : August 22, 2022 8:56 am
1
OK. Almost complete. This is the next prototype / Alpha version.
Here are some pics of the latest version:
I will be doing a couple minor tweaks to the areas that snap together as well as devising a piece to keep the resistor centered within the cage. But I'd say it's really close. Everything snaps together and does not require glue or tape at all. It prints without supports and has a nice texture finish on the "mesh" areas.
Get your Short Antennas, Decals, and all sorts of goodies at:
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Topic starter
Posted : August 22, 2022 3:31 pm
Dang L.T. You have got some really nice toys in your workshop (and obviously you have great skills to know how to use them)!
Posted : August 25, 2022 9:18 am
1
Thanks! The 3D printing and CAD designing has been a learning journey that I'm still on, but I have made some good progress in that area. That Prusa MK3s is a great entry/mid level 3D printer for anyone that's interested in getting into the hobby. Prusa does a black friday sale every year. So if anyone's looking for one, I'd wait until then to place an order.
I use Fusion360 to do the CAD work. My biggest issue preventing me from some projects is that my build area is just too small. And I don't have a big enough area to dedicate to all the maker stuff.
Back on topic, I did complete my 3rd design and it goes together a bit easier, but could still be refined some. It looks nearly identical to the one pictured so I'm not really taking anymore pics of them. I also haven't decided if I'm going to keep these in place on the harness or not. So all of that work may have been for nothing. hahahah.
Get your Short Antennas, Decals, and all sorts of goodies at:
https://takubanmotorsports.com
Topic starter
Posted : August 25, 2022 1:24 pm
1