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Anyone using LiPos with the Taigen V3 System?

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Anyone using LiPos with the Taigen V3 System?

Old 08-12-2023, 09:19 AM
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Ziptar
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Default Anyone using LiPos with the Taigen V3 System?

I picked up a Taigen M41 Walker Bulldog for $40 locally a couple weeks ago, it worked perfectly but I've plans to upgrade and customize it. So last week I swapped it's old TK-RX13 out with a 2nd hand Taigen V3 setup I bought in the classifieds here (Thanks Again Crius!). I like the V3, it a big [size=13px]improvement[/size] for sure. The original, made in 2011 NiMH battery still charges and works for the most part but it is tired. Running the V3 system, I'm guessing because of the fan, it only lasts 5 minutes or so. I'd rather buy a new LiPo battery to replace it so its the same as all my other batteries. However on their website Taigen only [size=13px]sells[/size] NiMH batteries for [size=13px]their[/size] tanks and I've Googled a bunch but can't find an answer either way.
Advice and feedback if you V3 System be run on LiPo is much appreciated.
Old 08-12-2023, 11:00 AM
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I use a 2s lipo with taigen v3 electronics all the time and I haven't had any problems, but the manufacturer doesn't recommend it so proceed at your own risk. If something does fry the warranty will be void if they learn you were using lipos.
Old 08-12-2023, 11:17 AM
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Thanks Again Sir! Appreciate it.
Old 08-12-2023, 11:42 AM
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Just get yourself a 5000mah nimh battery it will give you hours of run time.
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Old 08-12-2023, 11:45 AM
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If you want to be safe, an in-line fuse would be a good idea, I think I'd start at 10 amp. Maybe someone else can tell us the best fuse to use. I run 30 amp in the 1/6 hetzer, but that's a 6s system.
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Old 08-13-2023, 04:47 AM
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Originally Posted by Crius
I use a 2s lipo with taigen v3 electronics all the time and I haven't had any problems, but the manufacturer doesn't recommend it so proceed at your own risk. If something does fry the warranty will be void if they learn you were using lipos.
This is not true....Taigen has a video about using Lipo in their tanks, they just recommend a lipo LVC alarm.
Old 08-13-2023, 05:30 AM
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Originally Posted by Jeepy2013
This is not true....Taigen has a video about using Lipo in their tanks, they just recommend a lipo LVC alarm.

Wow, that video is eight years old and really surprises me. They don't really say in the video that lipos won't void the warranty, even the title says the video is about lipo safety, not that they recommend them. I specifically remember Erik saying that use of lipos would void the warranty, and he said it right here. Anyone else remember that? Anyway, that's useful info so thanks for bringing it up, Jeepy. Personally, I've been using lipos since before the V3 electronics even came out and never had any trouble, but I always stress the safety rules when anyone asks. I still remember the photo of Chris's shop, totally gutted by the fire. Enough to make a grown man cry, and definitely enough to make me follow the rules and never leave a charging lipo unattended.
Old 08-13-2023, 09:39 PM
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Originally Posted by Crius
I specifically remember Erik saying that use of lipos would void the warranty, and he said it right here. Anyone else remember that? Anyway, that's useful info so thanks for bringing it up, Jeepy. Personally, I've been using lipos since before the V3 electronics even came out and never had any trouble, but I always stress the safety rules when anyone asks. I .
Sir, you remember the oposite. Erik always said Lipos are perfectly normal, but just considering the vast majority of RC tank owners are children or their unexperienced parents, they recommend not using Lipos because special care must be taken, and most people wont ever read the manual.

There in the US there are many lawyers and it seems people love to go to court, so it makes sense to recommend to use more stable batteries like the old nimhs.

About what I recommend, it is well described here: https://radindustries.wordpress.com/.../03/batteries/

Last edited by Rad_Schuhart; 08-13-2023 at 09:46 PM.
Old 08-14-2023, 12:15 AM
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Some years back a freight aircraft carrying a wooden crate of Li-Pos crashed into the Florida Everglades because the crate had been mishandled from freight warehouse to aircraft and the batteries had caught fire,
The fire in the aircraft hold burned through the control cables and all on board died,
Li-Pos are no longer allowed on commercial aircraft as airfreight.
I use Li-Pos and like Crius I use a battery charging bag and I NEVER leave the battery in the Tank unless I am using it,
I can confirm that Taigen have said using Li-Pos in a Taigen Tank voids the guarantee,It is clearly written on the paperwork that comes with the Tank well it does on Taigen Tanks in the UK.
Old 08-14-2023, 12:39 AM
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Originally Posted by Rad_Schuhart
Sir, you remember the oposite. Erik always said Lipos are perfectly normal, but just considering the vast majority of RC tank owners are children or their unexperienced parents, they recommend not using Lipos because special care must be taken, and most people wont ever read the manual.

There in the US there are many lawyers and it seems people love to go to court, so it makes sense to recommend to use more stable batteries like the old nimhs.

About what I recommend, it is well described here: https://radindustries.wordpress.com/.../03/batteries/
Rad, when Erik was speaking for himself he said he uses lipos all the time, but when he was speaking for Imex he said they were NOT recommended and would void the warranty. I will call Imex today and get a definitive answer.
Old 08-14-2023, 01:33 AM
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Yes, but the reason of writting that in the manual is preventing the unexperienced user from getting and using lipos.

You would be shocked to see how many users do dangerous things with them. I do some custom work for our RC fellas, mostly installing electronics, programming radios and so on, and you couldnt believe the status of many people's lipos. Not only being vastly overdischarged (like 1 volt per cell) but also the amount of times I got toys with lipos with one cell puffed, or even fully rounded battery.

And that, among hobby users and experienced modellers. Now go and figure what would happen among kids. Imex-taigen-torro and all those brands want to prevent those things to happen, hence in the manual they might write that, but what they want to avoid is to be sued because of a domestic fire. I would not recommend a lipo to a guy who does not know what is doing. Even myself, I had two small fires at home because of them, but gladly I managed to kill it before anything happens.

There is no reason a lipo can blow a heng long-taigen electronic, unless you picked one with a too high of a voltage.

But yet again, I found nothing better yhan those Li ions that I talk on my website.
Old 08-14-2023, 01:43 AM
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I'm at work now and using my phone so that's why it says I'm MaxU52, And my previous post were made from the home computer and that's why those posts say that I'm Crius.

Anyway, I think there are 2 separate points in this discussion, The first being is it okay to use lipos? Personally, I use lipos all the time and I definitely recommend them. As long as you follow all the safety rules it's no problem and they're very good batteries that can provide a good deal of power in a much smaller package.

The second point is, what does taigen tanks say? I'm sure they will tell me that they do not recommend lipo batteries and that if you use lipo batteries it will void your warranty. But, I will call them today, just to make sure, and I will post the results here this afternoon.

Like I said, I use lipo batteries all the time and I've never had a single problem, But I still advise caution and tell guys that they need to use them at their own risk. I don't want someone coming back later and saying Hey, you said they were safe and it burned up my tank! Now you have to pay for my tank!! Like Rad said, we are definitely a litigious society so you need to cover your butt at all times.
Old 08-14-2023, 05:15 AM
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I called imex and the girl on the phone didn't know the answer to our question so she's going to check and send me an email later today with an answer to the question, does imex recommend lipos, and if they don't and I use them anyway, will it void my warranty?

I'll post her answer as soon as I get it.
Old 08-14-2023, 08:14 AM
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Just heard back from imex and as I thought, both the imex model company and Taigen tanks do NOT recommend lipo batteries and the use of lipo batteries WILL VOID any warranty.

As for the video about lipos, that was made by Erik and I'm fairly certain that if Bill sees it he will have it taken down. Do you guys think I should message them and make them aware of that video?
Old 08-14-2023, 09:52 AM
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Here is my 2c. My son and I have various RC's ranging from Helicopters, Drones, crawlers, Racer/Bashers, these all use Lipo. When it comes to tanks I use Nimh batteries, I don't see the benefit of running Lipo's in them, maybe just me. But I will say I have had to remove a puffed and smoking Lipo from on of the bashers and it needed to be removed quickly. Luckily I did get it out in time before it went POOF. I could not imagine having to get one out of a tank that quickly.

Cheers
Wade
Old 08-14-2023, 10:38 AM
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I use the nimh bats wherever they will fit, but for some tanks, like the PzIII and the StuG there just isn't enough room in there, and that's where lipos come to the rescue.
Old 08-14-2023, 10:48 AM
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Originally Posted by Jeepy2013
This is not true....Taigen has a video about using Lipo in their tanks, they just recommend a lipo LVC alarm.

Yes, it IS true, Taigen Tanks and The Imex Model Company do NOT recommend lipos and use of lipos WILL VOID YOUR WARRANTY.



TAIGEN TANKS QUESTION

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Summer Eliason <[email protected]>

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Hello, Gary, apologies for the delay.
As for your question, we do not recommend using LiPo batteries in our tanks, and doing so would void any warranty. Our tanks do not include a low voltage cutoff or alarm. Any other questions please contact our support team at [email protected]
Thank you.

Summer Eliason
IMEX Model Company, Inc.
15391 Flight Path Dr. Brooksville, FL 34604
(352) 754-8522



The next time you want to come on this forum and call me a liar based on an 8 year old video you might want to check and make sure you know what you're talking about, as in this case you did NOT. As far as I'm concerned, all you did here was make yourself look like an idiot and waste a lot of my time. I'll never again take what you say at face value. If you tell me grass is green and the sky is blue, I'll still step outside and see for myself.

To be fair, where you ticked me off was an immediate and bold statement that what I said is not true. Had you said something like, "Ya know, that might not be entirely accurate, take a look at this video", things would have been different, but to come right out and call me a liar was not cool AT ALL.

Last edited by Crius; 08-14-2023 at 11:01 AM.
Old 08-14-2023, 11:11 AM
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You updated the thread before my reply. Well, it is cool to have an official reply from taigen, but it reminds me for example when I got the turnigy 9xr pro, in the printed manual they stated they were using Ersky software and updating it voids the warranty... But they encourage you to flash the latest version. Yep, in the same manual they encourage you to do it, lol.

And also with pretty much everything you buy and everything you get, if you get for example different bulbs for your car, you might get issues with guarantee.

Anyway, pretty much what I said, there is no reason a lipo can blow any taigen electronic, and the possible issues and what taigen wants to avoid are things like the overdischarge or charging them with the wrong charger.

Gary, the 2S2P li ion packs are small and are bringing me 6 hours of non stop run. I believe that might be enough for most mere mortals. I get bored long before the battery is flat.

Erik indeed was using Lipos. Many dont know it, but he was deep into high tech RC stuff, long range FPV drones and so on. I believe that is what he really loved, the tanks were his job.
Old 08-14-2023, 12:17 PM
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I also use the 2S2P Li-Ion packs and I don't think I've ever drained one during a battle day, but I have multiple packs and typically load one in each tank before a battle. But that being said, I don't use Taigen electronics. The Clarks have a low voltage cutoff.
Old 08-15-2023, 01:45 AM
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Originally Posted by Rad_Schuhart

Erik indeed was using Lipos. Many dont know it, but he was deep into high tech RC stuff, long range FPV drones and so on. I believe that is what he really loved, the tanks were his job.
Hey Rad, You're absolutely right, Erik was definitely into some very sophisticated stuff. Long-range drones, autonomous tanks, and he was also an avid drone Racer with FPV. I first met Erik about 10 years ago and we became friends. We've met in person and we used to communicate one way or another at least a couple times a month. Then one day he told me he had split up with his girlfriend, met a New Girl, was going to leave imex, and the next thing I knew the New Girl is pregnant and Erik is getting married. He told me he was leaving imex for a better job but the people at imex now tell me that he didn't quit, he was fired. Why I don't know, and I don't think I'll ever find out what really happened. He told me they were planning to get some kind of RV and tour the country, and said he would stop by when he swung through Detroit but that was the last I heard from him. I have his personal cell number, as well as his primary email, and I've tried to contact him through both for the last couple months with absolutely no reply. Back in my day we would say he went Hollywood but I guess nowadays I have to say that I was ghosted. Never thought he would do that, but I know from experience that sometimes when a guy gets a New Girl a lot of things change. I just hope he's okay and having a good time.
Old 08-15-2023, 06:24 PM
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Originally Posted by Max-U52
Hey Rad, You're absolutely right, Erik was definitely into some very sophisticated stuff. Long-range drones, autonomous tanks, and he was also an avid drone Racer with FPV. I first met Erik about 10 years ago and we became friends. We've met in person and we used to communicate one way or another at least a couple times a month. Then one day he told me he had split up with his girlfriend, met a New Girl, was going to leave imex, and the next thing I knew the New Girl is pregnant and Erik is getting married. He told me he was leaving imex for a better job but the people at imex now tell me that he didn't quit, he was fired. Why I don't know, and I don't think I'll ever find out what really happened. He told me they were planning to get some kind of RV and tour the country, and said he would stop by when he swung through Detroit but that was the last I heard from him. I have his personal cell number, as well as his primary email, and I've tried to contact him through both for the last couple months with absolutely no reply. Back in my day we would say he went Hollywood but I guess nowadays I have to say that I was ghosted. Never thought he would do that, but I know from experience that sometimes when a guy gets a New Girl a lot of things change. I just hope he's okay and having a good time.
From what you said I wouldn't take it personally. My experience is wife + kids leaves no time for hobby, especially at the beginning. I've lost contact with so many friends when they had kids and only reconnected with a few after there kids were grown and out of the house. A hobby takes a lot of time and money as we all know, starting a family is at least an 18 year commitment from the first child, not saying anything new here as many of you know. Some people manage to keep with it (hobby) while raising a family and that is GREAT for them (one of my cousins was able to do that, with RC airplanes). So if someone you know "tunes out" there may be many reasons why, enjoy the hobby while you can. I'm hoping for retirement in a few years and hopefully will not regret the many projects I bought stuff for years ago then sold because I couldn't see me finishing them in the near future. Hopefully my money will hold out until I "buy the farm", LOL.

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Old 08-27-2023, 10:59 AM
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Wow! I've not been on the computer for a week or so and just now caught up this thread. Thank You for all of your replies, I very much appreciate it! Lots to think about but also made me feel bold enough to try a LiPO in the Taigen and it does work. The Bulldog will be my test bed for mods and other non factory things, adding a fuse as crius suggests and a low voltage alarm / cut off would fit that bill but at the same time a 5000mah nimh battery is cheap and easy...

Tankhobby, I know exactly what you mean as I am the reverse, I'm just now emerging from my getting married and raising a family window. I'm finally able to spend time and money playing with the RC tanks that were so cool that I saw 20 years ago.
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Old 08-27-2023, 04:51 PM
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I know that feeling. My daughter just go married this past summer so no more paying for her living expenses while she's in college. Her hubby is doing that now...
Old 08-28-2023, 01:32 AM
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Originally Posted by tankme
My daughter just got married ...
Ahhh, the good old days, when her new hubby would be giving you about a dozen horses. There's something to be said for tradition.
Old 09-30-2023, 10:27 AM
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On a recent trip to Uganda with a buddy and his family, he was offered 2 cows for his 25 year old daughter. Before you laugh, the offer was absolutely serious.

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