RE: New 1100 mAh A123 available everywhere and no word here!  
View related threads: (in this forum | in all forums)

Tower Hobbies
Enter up to 4 keywords or Tower stock numbers
Logged in as Guest



Users viewing this topic: none
  Printable Version
       

All Forums >> Radios, Batteries, Clubhouse and more >> Batteries & Chargers >> A123Racing Support >> RE: New 1100 mAh A123 available everywhere and no word here!
Page: <<   < prev  1 2 [3] 4 5 6 7   next >   >>  

Login
Message << Older Topic   Newer Topic >>
RE: New 1100 mAh A123 available everywhere and no wor... - 12/1/2007 12:23:23 AM   
dragon_no_fly


 

Posts: 140
Joined: 5/29/2005
From: , USA
Status: offline
Well, all I can say is...............................................I LOVE THESE BATTERIES!!!!!
Thanks A123 Systems!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Below, is why:

I just received in today my brand new Hyperion EOSO610i NET charger and balancing
leads as well as a brand new Pyramid PS-14KX 13.8 VDC power supply that provides
a continuous 12 Amps of power so that I can plug the new Hyperion charger into it
and use A/C power instead of a deep cycle lead acid battery when I am not at the field.
I finished the flight pack and I will post a picture of it tomorrow. I purchased Hyperion's
open-ended balancing leads and it was a real trick to figure out how to "adapt" the Hyperion
open-ended 6S connector to work on a 3S pack, since the adapter's plug end was molded
to fit into the 6S receptacle on the Hyperion multi-cell adapter board. PM me if you get
stuck in this position, I will tell you what the wiring sequence is. I finally figured out the
balancing leads, soldered them up, then I used "beads" of hot glue on each seam where
two cells meet to help hold the pack together and finally after this I used two sheets of
heat shrink wrap from my LHS for making battery packs to really secure the pack together.
Again, this is my very first battery pack, so the level of neatness may not satisfy some flyers,
but the pack is electrically sound so far, has no electrical shorts and is held together quite
well.

The last time this pack was charged fully and used was on Thanksgiving day and I only used
about 4-5 minutes out of the pack after it had been sitting around for three hours on that day.
The pack has not been used since, until today, nor has it been re-charged. After figuring out
the Hyperion charger, which IMHO is extremely easy to use, I was able to setup a memory location
for charging an A123 3S pack of 1,100 mAh capacity at a steady 5 Amps. I hooked the battery
up to the charger and balancer board and then selected this preset and charged/balanced.
I would not have believed it if I had not seen it with my own eyes, but the Hyperion charger
re-charged the pack and balanced it in 3 minutes, 50 seconds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The battery was barely
warm and the charger was room temperature at the end of charge. I then flew my heli for a
full 14 minutes, 45 seconds before the battery "dumped". I went back and re-charged it a
few minutes later after the end of the flight. Again, I have never seen this before in R/C.........
the freakin' A123 battery was re-charged/balanced in 12 minutes, 44 seconds!!!!! At the end
of the charge, the battery was barely warm, while the Hyperion charger was ROOM TEMPERATURE.
Simply put, my heli's power setup is not ideal, a higher K/V motor with a smaller main motor
pinion will draw less Amps than my JustGoFly 300DF main motor with 14 tooth pinion, but
the flight time EXCEEDS the re-charging time and I am re-charging this pack at A123's recom-
mended rate. I am actually thinking about adjusting the charging preset up to 6 Amps, but no
more than this. This will allow, on average, 10 minute re-charges!

If any one thinks that these batteries are "hype" or not the real deal, they are either lying or
they do not know what they are talking about. The power of the heli's setup is AWESOME.
At half throttle, the heli will continue to steadily rise out of sight...yes, keep going beyond two
telephone poles high. In order to maintain a steady hover at 7-8 feet above ground I have to
hold no more than 40-45% throttle stick deflection, anything more and the heli will climb.
The discharge was flat and in the last minute or so, the power dropped a little, then it had its
characteristic "abrupt knee". I am sorry for this long-winded post, but I have never seen
anything like this since I have been in the field of radio control.......




(in reply to Night_prowler26)
       Post #: 51

RE: New 1100 mAh A123 available everywhere and no wor... - 12/1/2007 6:17:59 PM   
dragon_no_fly


 

Posts: 140
Joined: 5/29/2005
From: , USA
Status: offline
Here are some pictures of the finished pack: (again this is my very first R/C battery pack
that I have made and consists of a 3S or 3 in series of the new A123 1,100 mAh cells
which I got from a Black and Decker VPX tool accessories kit)



Attachments
Click to see fullsize image.
Click for fullsize
Click to see fullsize image.
Click for fullsize
Click to see fullsize image.
Click for fullsize

(in reply to dragon_no_fly)
       Post #: 52

RE: New 1100 mAh A123 available everywhere and no wor... - 12/1/2007 6:28:07 PM   
dragon_no_fly


 

Posts: 140
Joined: 5/29/2005
From: , USA
Status: offline
Conventional wisdom states that for "small models"; that is, models that weigh
around 12-16 ounces, than 2S-3S LiPo are the way to go, but I am finding out
with my heli that this is not so. When I was constructing this pack, I had many
thoughts going through my mind, like....it's a bit too heavy and.....the voltage
will be a bit on the low side....so compared with a good quality 15C 1,320 3S
LiPo, there probably won't be much comparison between the two in regards to
this particular usage context (micro electric helicopter). After flying the helicopter
and then quickly going 2 pinion teeth up, not only can this 1,100 mAh 3S pack
fly it, it flies it REALLY well. It feels as though there is limitless power; that is,
no matter what the heli demands from the power pack, the battery will ALWAYS
be able to provide the current necessary. Needless to say, this is very re-assuring,
not to mention the fact, really awesome. I have just sold my old charger and have
retired ALL of my Ni-XX-based flight packs.....effective immediately. The next
challenge will be a micro electric CP (collective pitch) setup, so I may still need a
3S LiPo, since weight and higher voltage really come into play in those usage
contexts, but I am not at all going to give up on a 3S A123 1,100 mAh pack. If it
works well enough........good bye to LiPos as well.....no, wait a minute, good bye, good
riddance to LiPos!!!!

(in reply to dragon_no_fly)
       Post #: 53

RE: New 1100 mAh A123 available everywhere and no wor... - 12/1/2007 6:33:42 PM   
dragon_no_fly


 

Posts: 140
Joined: 5/29/2005
From: , USA
Status: offline
Oh and another thing, I have (unintentionally SHORTED) the 3S A123 1,100 mAh
battery pack twice when I was constructing it and do you know what has happened?
............NOTHING, not a thing at all. If I did that to my 3S LiPo-based pack, I would
have ran outside and placed it onto concrete and waited for it to swell and possibly
vent/ignite.

(in reply to dragon_no_fly)
       Post #: 54

RE: New 1100 mAh A123 available everywhere and no wor... - 12/4/2007 3:49:54 AM   
plasticman


 

Posts: 275
Joined: 6/8/2005
From: Xenia, OH, USA
Status: offline
I purchased a couple of these VPX packs at Home Depot. Very impressive so far. One thing I found out though, one of the battery tabs fell off quite easily. Looks like they are sonic-welded. Anybody else have this problem?

By-the-way I see that Wal-Mart now carries these packs!

David


_____________________________

Plasticman

(in reply to dragon_no_fly)
       Post #: 55

RE: New 1100 mAh A123 available everywhere and no wo... - 12/7/2007 1:02:23 AM   
n-2-stuff


 

Posts: 3
Joined: 9/26/2006
From: clovis, CA, USA
Status: offline
what is the max amp draw of these little guys?
thanks
scott

< Message edited by n-2-stuff -- 12/7/2007 1:06:47 AM >

(in reply to plasticman)
       Post #: 56

RE: New 1100 mAh A123 available everywhere and no wo... - 12/7/2007 1:30:40 AM   
everydayflyer



Posts: 856
Joined: 8/21/2005
From: Buchanan, GA, USA
Status: offline
I have CBA Discharge grpah up tp 21A in post#1

(in reply to n-2-stuff)
       Post #: 57

RE: New 1100 mAh A123 available everywhere and no wo... - 12/7/2007 3:48:34 AM   
n-2-stuff


 

Posts: 3
Joined: 9/26/2006
From: clovis, CA, USA
Status: offline
thanks everydayflyer
at 21 amps how hard is it pushing the batteries (to hot) (short life)?

thanks for the last reply

scott

(in reply to everydayflyer)
       Post #: 58

RE: New 1100 mAh A123 available everywhere and no wo... - 12/7/2007 1:38:20 PM   
yarom



Posts: 1024
Joined: 6/23/2005
From: Bellevue, WA, USA
Status: offline

Anybody has schematics on how to create battery packs (2 batteries) in terms of power lead and balanced lead?

(in reply to n-2-stuff)
       Post #: 59

RE: New 1100 mAh A123 available everywhere and no wo... - 12/7/2007 3:04:57 PM   
A123 Racing


 

Posts: 101
Joined: 8/25/2006
From: Hopkinton, MA, USA
Status: offline
Hello Yarom,

You can follow the link below to our developer kit instructions page. This gives simple instructions on parallel and series wiring of packs.

http://www.a123racing.com/Instructions/PT400111.pdf

Hope this helps,


Power . Safety . Life

Brian



(in reply to yarom)
       Post #: 60

RE: New 1100 mAh A123 available everywhere and no wo... - 12/8/2007 12:34:18 AM   
everydayflyer



Posts: 856
Joined: 8/21/2005
From: Buchanan, GA, USA
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: n-2-stuff

thanks everydayflyer
at 21 amps how hard is it pushing the batteries (to hot) (short life)?

thanks for the last reply

scott


Not sure how to answer. Text on graph clearly states I started a cooling fan when cells reached 120F. IMO at 21A cont. without any form of cooling they will exceed 140F and their life will be seriously shortened.

21A C would provide an approx. 2 1/2 min. flight or run. Flown in an aircraft for 6-8 min. with normal air flow they barely get warm.

Charles

(in reply to n-2-stuff)
       Post #: 61

RE: New 1100 mAh A123 available everywhere and no wo... - 12/8/2007 6:09:02 PM   
n-2-stuff


 

Posts: 3
Joined: 9/26/2006
From: clovis, CA, USA
Status: offline
hi charles
i fly various electric r/c. it looks like these are out for the fast planes (pylon) but should work great in alot of others.
thanks for all your hard work and replies.
scott

< Message edited by n-2-stuff -- 12/8/2007 6:47:13 PM >

(in reply to everydayflyer)
       Post #: 62

RE: New 1100 mAh A123 available everywhere and no wo... - 12/9/2007 5:12:56 PM   
everydayflyer



Posts: 856
Joined: 8/21/2005
From: Buchanan, GA, USA
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: yarom


Anybody has schematics on how to create battery packs (2 batteries) in terms of power lead and balanced lead?



Great interactive series , parallel plus balnacing leads.

http://scriptasylum.com/rc_speed/_lipo.html


Charles

(in reply to yarom)
       Post #: 63

RE: New 1100 mAh A123 available everywhere and no wo... - 12/9/2007 6:48:21 PM   
dragon_no_fly


 

Posts: 140
Joined: 5/29/2005
From: , USA
Status: offline
So far, really good results with these new batteries. The new A123 3S 1,100 mAh pack is holding up.
I have just started to charge the new pack on my Hyperion charger which I mentioned above
in this thread at 6.0 Amps. Real-world charging figures on a run-down pack; that is, a pack
whose cells are about 2.750 Volts per cell are full re-charges in 10 minutes, 30-50 seconds and
the battery pack is at or below 90 degrees F. Again, your mileage will vary depending upon the
application you will use them (new A123 cells in), but for me and my current application as I
mentioned before, my run time exceeds the re-charging phase by like 4 minutes. I am quickly
finding out with these batteries that (in theory), I can fly all day long and the batteries in my
Futaba transmitter are running down and need re-charging before long. If I were to go to a
field with the new setup, I would literally have to carry an extra set of 2,500 mAh AA NiMH
batteries that I use in my tranny, since they would run down before anything else!; (assuming
of course I did not crash or some other event that would cause me to head back home). Right
now, I only have the one pack, but all I need to do is to head back to Home Depot and pick up
another Black and Decker VPX 2S pack for like $19.97, since I already own a spare 1,100 mAh
cell and all the other materials to make a pack from scratch. With two packs, there will always
be a battery available....anytime, since re-charging times are faster than run times. You may
have heard about the flat discharge curves on these batteries, but I can tell you from personal
experience now that it is TRUE. I will have to implement a timer with an audible warning within
90-95% percent of the run time, since there is little to no warning that the battery is about to
dump. That's how flat the discharge curve is! Simply put, no battery in R/C can provide the
amount of discharge for a given size/weight as these new A123 cells do WITH a 10 minute re-
charging time. These batteries, although not perfect (nothing really ever is, especially
technical things), are revolutionary and were the batteries I had been waiting for; a flight pack
that could be safely re-charged at the flying field in less than 15 minutes...





(in reply to everydayflyer)