Lilredmachine

To be frank, testing of Lifepo4 cells on RC-Monster has found them pretty wanting for performance, even with nimh as a benchmark. One a123 pack dropped to 2v per cell under a medium load that saw a cheap lipo run 3.2v.

I'd stick to lipo, danger is all around you anyway, you just have to think about what you are doing. If you walk across the road without looking, you are more likely to get hit by a car, if you mistreat a lipo, you are more likely to have a fire.

Fairly simple.

smittyjames

Also in the video, where's the car? I know how hard it is to get a burning lipo out of a heli. I can't imagine how it could be any easier to git it out of a car unless when he crashed he didn't have it secured properly and it ejected which resulted in damage causing the fire..

electricrc68

well i saw reviews like some of them were good, and there were others that said "i ordered four and one came swelled up" "i ordered a ton of these and they were all swelled up" "after the first run it swelled up" "after 10 runs it just swelled up"

Zor

I would think this is just a typing error ???

Zor

electricrc68

lol 45000 mah for 25 bucks. that would be awesome!

nute12

My Feedback: (14)

the a123 batteries with nano have a better discharge rate. Better anode i guess is the deal. A123 is a cell builders brand name ,sizes are what they build. I bought a set for my G/S extra, rated at 2300 mah 6.6 volt 30C. lifePO is not capable of that. its way over kill for my use but i have em now. i could never see needing over 10 amps. and then for maybe only a 1/4 a second.
If you want good performance out of li-fe packs a GOOD balance charger is a must. When they go flat its not much warning either, battery plot looks like it just falls off a cliff.
Testing with a volt meter tells you nothing as to how many mAh's are left in the batt. batt discharge voltage stays that flat. Cycle your life when you first get it just to confirm its capacity. run a few flights with it and record the time of use mA back in after each flight . This will give you a idea of how much batt life you have.
Like i said when these puppies run dead it is all at once, barely any warning and its lights out.

electricrc68

yeah im thinking of staying with nimh for now. im still not too sure about lifepo4.

nute12

My Feedback: (14)

best bang for buck for your use IMO would be lipo. yes they do catch fire, yes you need to balance charge for best results.


yes charging indoors is not a great idea, and it must be supervised the whole time. (dont take long tho you can charge em at such a high rate) I use em in my foamy planes. Charge em in a old crock pot with a ceramic lid. 5 years and never a problem. I seen it before in this post and will repeat it as i agree 100% 99% of all these lipo fires are created on purpose. a old cell someone wants to see burn cause they heard it was spectacular. Look at the amout of lipos in use.....how many actual failures are there? (other than people not treating them correctly)
A hard case so you dont puncture em and yer set to go. I store my lipos in that crock pot also there are a few saftey concerns sure. but it gets blown WAAYYY out of proportion.

electricrc68

idk. they still scare me. im staying NIMH.

ElectricGuy007

I got tired of seeing smoking lipo's at the track. Worst smell in the world...[&o]
And when they go they can burn for several minutes. what's worse is seeing people
accidently charging a lipo on a NIMH setting...it happens all the time.
I dont think you can send a puffed lipo back to the company either.
At least I wouldnt, that just wouldnt be right, it could actually let loose in the mail truck.
Then you'd be in deep doo,doo.[&:]

electricrc68

yep. and the other thing is when a lipo blows, your rc car is going to blow if you keep it in there for too long. so thats why im staying with nimh. or i could try lifepo4, but im not really confident with lifepo4's either.

shenlonco

My Feedback: (2)

Well that's how much they are at hobbyking!

shenlonco

My Feedback: (2)

Give em a try i think they only puff when you abuse them by using them in a too hight of a amp draw system or discharging them way to low.

What are you thinking of using them in what's the RC set up motor esc?

electricrc68

well im going to be buying a ez-run BL setup.

nute12

My Feedback: (14)

If thats what you are comfortable with, by all means run it. Didnt mean for it to sound like lipos were the end-all in batts. i have nothing against nimh. used for years with great results. Still use them for my ignitions and smaller planes.

the idea iwas trying to get across is you plan the batt setup so you run under its rated load, not at or just over it. Running max draw constantly is where the problems arise.
The lipo reccomendation was simply the best way i see to achieve this. has a much greater power density.
on your rc car this should be much easier to achieve as the weight penalties are not near as bad as they are on aircraft. Not saying to run your car at the 60-70% power level, set the batts up so you can run max amps to your car with a reserve. use about 80% of the USABLE power in the batt and recharge. I only use 50-60%. Keep in the middle of the usable batt power and you will never have a problem.

shenlonco

My Feedback: (2)

The lifepo4 should run that combo with ease.

electricrc68

okay. im still nervous about lifepo4 though lol. im going to stay with NIMH for now.

Da Vinci

My Feedback: (4)

If you want a good priced US dealer for A123's look at this site: http://epbuddy.com/index.php?main_pa...khp7lsfdndqo21

RC-Hedgie

I have been in the hobby for about 8 years now and used NiMH and LiPO. For me LiPO is a no brainer once you understand them.

Get a decent balance charger
Get a LiPO storage bag or ammo can. I have both.
Balance your battery to the ESC to the motor. (make sure the battery has a bigger Amperage than the ECS which is bigger than the motor.)
Do Not store them fully charged

For me the power capacity, long run times, constant voltage and light weight of a LiPO is worth the risk. I mean I use gasoline (petrol) in my 1:1 car and lawn mower which is way more dangerous IMO.

I have had one NiMH fail, probably due to abuse using it in a brushless setup, It was soo hot I could hardly touch it when the run finished. it blew up when I chraged it.
By matching my rig, my LiPO's stay cool.

As a wrap up yes LiPo's can be dangerous, but then again any high power battery can be dangerous.... read up on them, get the right kit and don't abuse them.

Take care and enjoy.......