Hi everyone,
I've just received my new A123 cells from Steven at Robotic Power Solutions (
http://www.battlepack.com/A123.asp). These are NOT the DeWalt cardboard wrapped cells that we are all used to. There cells are reported to be (and appear to be) of a higher quality build, and are tightly wrapped in a green plastic sleeve.
In the near term I will be complaring the "old" cells (new cardbaord sleeved cells) with the "new" cells (new green plastic sleeved cells), so we will get an apples-to-apples comparison. These cells have the same specs. from A123 Systems as the "old" cells do; however, I'm hoping/expecting to find lower IR readings and lower substandard cell frequency (i.e., cells that can't be charged, cells that can't be charged to their full voltage of 3.6v, cells that have a complete internal circuit break, etc.) in these "new" cells.
I will be reporting my personal findings as well as informing you of stats that I've been able to gather.
**Disclaimer** My testing may be more limited than some of you, as I don't have an Eagle Tree setup on my heli or the like. That said, I will be reported ALL of my observable and measurable findings in an unbiased fashion. Again, I have no affiliation with Robotic Power Solutions. I'm just an end user, much like the rest of you...and, much the rest of you, I too have encountered ALL of the "defects" I've listed above in A123 cells that I've previously purchased - all of which have been the "old" cardboard sleeve type cells. If those of you equiped with Eagle Tree setups, or other measuring devices, would be interested in adding your measurable data of these "new" A123 cells to my posting, please feel free to do so.