Freezetron

Since selling my 5T and preparing to get back into the brushless and lipo world, I cannot help but sense a feeling of despair, frustration and almost hate in regards to the outlook of the Lipo world for RC usage. It seems all I hear is negative, bad things experiences, horror stories and just flat out negative feelings about almost every single kind and brand Lipo. Almost everyone has got something to complain about one brand of Lipo wether it be from Maxamps, Orion, Dynamite, Turnigy ect..ect...

I've heard everything from lack of customer support all the way up to the sizing of the Lipo's being incorrect and not being able to fit inside vehicles. You've got peeps griping and *****ing about Lipo's that have puffed up for "whatever" apparent reasons and in worse case scenario, leaking or even exploding, taking out expensive Rc hobby equipment with it and leaving people with emptier wallets and upset feelings towards certain lipo makers.

It doesn't help either that THERE IS STILL NO industry wide standard with which to measure Lipo's output correctly and reliably. That leaves so many average Joe's walking into their LHS, forking down God knows how much money on a supposed "good" lipo brand *cough, Maxamps* along with a new and shiny RC vehicle. He gets all excited about trying out this new hobby and preps himself up for his first drive. Only to find that in a puff of smoke, his brushless ESC is gone to the cloud city above because the Lipos were specced different in regards to C ratings from the manufacturer vs another companies. Either way, average Joe is pissed off, money outa pocket and likely never to give the RC hobby another go, as its just too expensive with to many "what ifs" in regards to Lipo usage.

And God forbid if some parents buy their young son a nice Traxxas Slash with the "recommended" Lipo and charger from the LHS. Only a few days later to find little Jimmy rushed to the hospital with chemical burns as result of the particular brand of Lipo being overdischarged as a result of an incorrect setting on the ESC that Jimmy failed to read about in the manual or daddy failed to look into. Seeings how Lipo's chemical makeup is so unforgiving for situations like this, its amazing were not hearing more and more about burnt down houses and chemical/fire burns with kids trying to use and have fun with a very unforgiving type of battery technology. Not to mention the insane prices for supposed "quality" Lipos just makes most people take one look at our hobby and say "Pfff, not for that price"

Is it any wonder why this industry struggles with growth when you have a supposedly "hot" and "popular" battery technology that suffers from:

A: Lack of industry standards for measurement of Lipos output, charge and capacity ratings
B: Inherently dangerous and unforgiving battery chemical design that makes its usage downright scary to basic people who lack knowing the proper handling and usage for Lipos, kids especially included.
C: Insane costs and markups for "quality" Lipos that demand utmost attention at all times to last *cough...SMC*
D: Lower cost and marketed Lipos *Hobbyking* with the gamble of it might work outa the box, or it might not.

Sorry to vent and rant like this. But to me, it sounds like all I hear in all the boards I frequent that sound like Lipo, the battery technology that has changed and revived the RC industry and hobby to new and previously undreamed of hights and technological achievements, has so as brought much confusion, anger, dissapointment, loss and damage to personal property and general discontent in regards the purchasing and usage of Lipo across the board.

I can't help but wonder and worry with the amount of frustration, money loss and general lack of reliable and trustworthy vendors and lipo makers that this battery technology has brought, along with its positives vs Nimh and NiCad battery tech. Is it possible that we may be poised on the verge of the entire RC industry itself, just as its starting to recovery from this recession, come back down in a crashing, flaming heap as a result of all the misinformation, lack of industry standards, dangerous and unforgiving battery make up and general misuse that Lipo battery technology has brought along, despite all its benefits to our hobby?

plasmaedge

I no people allways say "ahh lipos are dangerous" but they are really no more dangerous than any other battery. they have the potential to be but so do nimihs and nicads.

redfisher1974

I think you just worry to much, I never think twice about using lipo.

nomobux

My Feedback: (4)

Your going down the same road as you did with your 5T. The drama is getting really old.

The Mad Modder

I definitely wouldn't worry about them exploding. Only thing about lipos is that they aren't as forgiving as nimh. They don't seem to like the cold very well or long storage.

kaiser01

lipo ruin rc? more like lipo saved rc!

i have no idea what you are talking about, lipo is awesome and very easy to understand.

Ttam Says Blarg

You use forms of lipo in everything and it is nothing new. Every thing from laptops to cell phones to any modern electronic device is pretty much lipo. IMHO you get what you pay for. Pay for a cheap pack and you take the risk of it being D.O.A., wrong specs and maybe even blowing up.

Redvanmafia

How would somebody come up with this?, Were you bored one night? If your that scared go to church, or get a new hobby

savagecommander

so dont buy lipos then. if youre going to use something, do your homework on it. lipo technology isnt the ticking time bomb so many ppl make it out to be. maybe it was before, but not now. as far as hobbyking goes, thats pretty much the assumption with cheap anything from china- thats why its cheap.


and thats also why you dont buy your "young son" equipment that has special restrictions untill he's smart enough to understand how they work. i think youre going just a touch overboard.

proanti1

My Feedback: (2)

No one here is really stupid enough to be effected by the things in your post... Its the dumb ass that goes into a hobby shop, then gets ripped off because he is impulsively buying. Its his own damn fault he paid $120. He goes home, throws it in his car without reading the instructions, now he is mad because it will not hold charge anymore. Again, his own fault.

There is no changing LIPO chemistry, if you're scared, buy LIFE. There is an industry standard (battery industry, I believe its an ATSM standard). Voltage, capacity, and discharge rate... which is usually written right on the battery! Maybe some companies (pretty much all) have zero quality control and fluff up their product before sale.. but still, there is a production standard.

LIPO doesn't just explode... hell, they only get hot if you are pulling MASSIVE current... which only experienced modelists with huge bl systems do. All LIPO batteries require the same attention, because they are pretty much the same batteries, SMC will require the same care as the crappy turnegy pack.

I personally believe that LIPO and brushless brought RC out of the pit it has been in for the last 10 years... its destroying beginner and stock racing classes, but at least more people are taking an interest.

Candre23

My Feedback: (8)

If you ignore it, it will go away.

john01374

Freeze - I think you're looking at this the wrong way. LiPo and brushless motors have played a major role in advancement and popularity of electric RC over the past 5 years or so. While it is true that LiPo packs Puff up and occasionally you do get one that catches fire the percentage of LiPo accidents is very low. My personal experience with various battery types is this. I've had a number of NiCd packs literally explode and shoot a cell or multiple cells across the room. It's happened so many times over the past 24 years that I've lost count. As for Nimh the numbers are a little better but not much. I've lost at least 4 packs the same way. I switched to LiPo appox 5 years ago and i've beat on them in every way I can think of and to date I've had one puff up, One sparked and smoked from a puncture and another just quit taking a charge. No fires, no burnt RC's and nothing flying across the room like a sky rocket.

To answer you concerns above

A: This is true. There is no standard and as long as the cells are being made all over the world there most likely never will be.
B: LiPo's are not any more dangerous than NiMh. Learn how to handle them and all will be well. I do agree that kids need to be supervised or their RC should be equipped with a LVA.
C: The packs are insanely priced because WE the consumer allow them to be. We already know a good quality Lipo can be had for $20 so stop buying from the companies that want to sell you the same thing at double, triple or even 5 times the price. You stop buying from these people they will get the message.
D: Buying from Hobby king is not a gamble. I've bought and sold literally hundreds of Zippy and Turnigy packs from them and never had a single failure or complaint. I personally have 20+ LiPo's I run and all are from HK. I've owned a dozen different brands over the past 5 years and it is very true that some are better than others but it's not the HK packs that are the problems or poor performers. The only packs I've ever had that failed all came from the "name brand" suppliers.

My opinion is LiPo is the best thing to happen to RC. I would go so far as to place it above the brushless motor

DaveG55

What drivel...

Khloie & kortney have less drama

It's a freaking luxury hobby, the economy sucks - thst's why it's struggling

redfisher1974

Who is that Dave?

Freezetron

In hindsight, I really need to stop making threads late at night. Having OCD + plus being tired is a bad combo for me and leads to stuff like this which sounds "logical" at the time. Sorry guys.....

kaiser01

lol, then don't think about it.

just learn the rules to lipo (don't analyze them) and have fun!

Ttam Says Blarg

Who is that Dave?
[/quote]
Little girls that have more money than they know what to do with.....

redfisher1974

I dont have that problem!

TIGER76

Cant see the break through of lipos and BL systems have hurt the rc industry if anything its pushed it forward just look at the breakthroughs on rc speed records for a start[X(][X(]
As for the batteries well i treat them all the same..with RESPECT, i never leave any battery charging alone
For brushless well i remember the start of the BL when we had to buy low turn motors to get the speed we wanted and having to cut comms every few runs was annoying as hell so BL opens up a whole new world to older users and new guys in rc less maintaince and better power.
On the battery front i do agree lipos can be dangerous weve all seen the overcharging videos on utube etc but if you not charging them in a lipo sack and leaving them unattended the worst will happen in the end.
We seen some great new ideals come into rc over the past 5 years and i hope for many more to come[8D]

Now get out there and drive and enjoy

@ freeze aint ya missing that warbled tone of the killer T yet?

Freezetron

I will miss that, but I won't miss worrying about pissing someone off with it either or having expensive repairs/maintenance. It was fun to finally try and experience after three years of thinking about it and I don't regret it. But it just wasn't for me in the end. Live, try and learn.

4goodbuys2

I'm waiting on the price to come down and by then the lipo's will be more refined until then I'm fine with 7 cell nimh in my vxl. I know a few people who use lipo and like it though.

Ellis420

Im fairly new to the hobby, but i went to lipo soon as i had an electric. i dont own anything else.

i havent had problems, i have 4 soft packs that have dents and such and no problems yet.. maybe 30-40 charges each. 2 new hard case packs that have 3 or so charges, love them. i paid 16$ per 5000mah 20c 2s (soft, 4 of them) and like 19$ per 4000mah 2s 30-40c hardcase. so just about 100$, add on charger and supply, thats at 170$. lhs that is what you pay to get 2 batterys for a 1/8 to even run. if you do it right, its great.

although i do worry when i charge them inside, but i keep them infront of me while i watch tv.

in total ive spent just over 1000$ on rc stuff, and i expect i could get over half of it back easy. thats a low ammount to many people, but ive got 2 vehicles i can bash for 2 hours long, or i can run the slash alone all day on them, about 5hours tracktime for 6 batteries or 7 just bashing slowly. not bad, i believe i would pay alot more for nitro.

i suspect boats would last a good long time on lipo also.

if you order lipos it really opens the door to more people to get into the hobby for less, since alot of people are scared of the price tag or just cant afford it.

cika

My Feedback: (35)

 I agree that lipos are dangerous! But I have only had two batteries explode like a M-80s on me and throw hot melted plastic and hot red shreds of metal all over the place. That was believe it or not Nimh packs!  And before anyone jumps to conclusins here.. I know what Im doing! lol..I was charging a 3900 GP pack at 4 amps(i know this is a little high) and one cell popped very loudly and sent smoke shooting out of the cell. I ran to see the damage and found the cell fat and split right down the middle and a big burn mark on my desk. Second battery that exploded was a 3800 EP battery in my E Maxx. I was running two packs with the Novak 14.4 esc and it literally blew up like a bomb. The other pack was fine but reaching temps of 180 degrees! This battery blew up with a real bang! It threw metal and plastic everywhere. Scolding hot screen looking marieral on fire every where. Blew a hole in the chassie of the truck and melted a good bit of the body. LOTS OF FIRE. Scary. I have owned about 8 different Nimh packs and 12 lipos. These where the only packs that Ive ever had any troubles with. Not saying lipos cant explode in a big ball of flames, but anything is dangerous if its not closely watched and cared for correctly, and it can result in trouble.  No matter what battery you use, if directions arent followed it can be bad. If little "Jimmy goes home with a Nimh/Nicd charger and wants to hurry up the charge and sets the Amps to "5A" and trys to charge his 1500mAh RTR battery he got it will have the same problem. BOOM 

Old Sloppy

Lipo's are not a problem.
Some of the stories you read are not the truth.
and some of the stories are based on stupid acts that endanger folks.
Harry [8D]

losifiend

LiPos are safer than the battery in your car. Lead acid batteries release potentially explosive gasses whether in storage or while charging.


LiPos don't.