The most economical source for A123 cells that I have heard so far, is disassembling Dewalt lithium battery packs for their tools. I think it comes out to about $10 per cell.

Anyone have any better sources?

might contact https://www.tanicpacks.com/ you could become a dealer. any news on ACT gyro?

Ref the gyro, I had ordered five, waiting to hear back or for them to arrive. Great products, but hard to communicate with!

As the consumer, the best price is the Dewalt pack. As a dealer you may be able to do better somewhere else.

I'm not totally up to speed yet on the chemistry inside the A123 cells ... Do they need a different charging regime than Li-Po's or Li-Ion's? FMA Direct and SLK make "adaptors" to charge these cells but what else is needed?

A123 charges to a max voltage of 3.6 per cell, that is the difference. You can also charge these cells at 4C, so in 15 minutes you can bring the pack to 90% of full capacity.

I sniped a DeWalt 36V pack off of eBay for $99.99 so, in that respect, your math is correct. Then I went and got the [link=http://www.slkelectronics.com/lipodapter/index.htm]SLK Electronics 'Dapter[/link] to use so I can properly charge the 7.2V packs I cobbled up. Not including the 'Dapter cost, I figure these 2.2Ah packs made from the A123 cells cost me about $24 each with pigtails and Deans connectors. I also added a balancing plug to work with my Astro Blinky. I'm a happy camper.

Mike,
What are us using the A123 cells in? My son Brian flew his BVM T-33 last week for the first time with the BVM power package. He said it flew very much like when powered with the IC engine.

Hi, Sid. I'm not using them to power electric motor stuff. I'm using them as garden variety flight pack batteries: Separate 7V packs into a SmartFly regulator.

batteryspace.com has some good prices on a123 packs. 1200mah 2 cell for 16$ and 2400 mah 2s2p for 30$. Plus the packs come already assembled which should save you some time. It's the cheapest I have found for built packs. I have not used them just been researching them.

another better source http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...8&ParentCat=85

but not near the Ah capacity of the "real" A123's ...

I agree Mike, I question whether or not these cells are even truly A123 type cells.

I think there's only one source of these official A123 cells: the DeWalt 36V packs- period, dot. Time will tell if they show up elsewhere or in some other form of packaging than that provided by Tanic Packs for almost $60 in a 2S configuration. Until then others can only claim to have batteries "like" the A123/M1 cells.

Well, they are the same type. Just not as made/sold by A123 Systems. The chemistry is LiFePO4, Lithium Iron Phosphate, and it's not unique to A123 Systems. They just seem to have the highest capacity available so far. If you check Eddie's link, there's a link to a so-so data sheet.

A123 Systems call their batteries "Li Ion Nanophosphate" which is more of a branding nomenclature. Don't know if they or somebody else makes the actual batteries. They say they are a "supplier".

Of course you'd have to ask about or do a test of the quality of the Chinese variants.

True but the lead-in on this thread was focused on "real" A123 cells. I've been trying to educate myself on the underlying chemistry on all these Lithium variants that are popping up. There's no question that some make-ups are better suited to some applications than others. The capacity, rate of charge/discharge, and number of cycles makes the A123's a compelling choice not only because of those attributes but because of their pedigree coming from A123 Systems.

The notion of having to look at, assess and - as you suggest - test the quality of Chinese variants is something I don't want to hassle with. Imho, there are too many Chinese variants in the economic thick of things already but that discussion probably belongs in another forum altogether. [>:]

I will be using the 1200mah stick back from battey space in a 60 size profile. It will have all high amp draw digitals but even then they shouldn't even work the battery. I'll let ya'll know if anything strange happens or if i am happy with them.

Sorry, I missed the word "real" in the title and first thread. Since the batteries Hobby City is selling are called "A123" on the data sheet and the chemistry is the same, I thought the comments appropriate since all we're talking about is brand name & source differences, just like Lipo's.

no problem with any(body's) comments - I just get frustrated at times when confronted with all the solutions that have to be looked at before diving off the deep end. [8D]

Try these:

http://www.lifebatt.com/
http://www.lifebatt.com/RAW_CELL_PACKS.pdf

For ~ $100, one 2 cell pack could power both your radio and turbine for around 20 flights.

or these:

http://www.batteryspace.com/index.as...&Category=1072

The dewalt 2300 Mah battery is lighter and more capacity then the 1600 from batteryspace. The 1350 mah pack from batteyspace is only a 3c pack. It is lighter but only 60% of the capacity of the dewalt.

Ahh yes, the worrisome "chinese variants". While I do not have experience with the chinese LiFePO4 cells; I have found the negative comments on the "quality" of the MUCH cheaper chinese components to be a load of bull-pucky.

Basic Macroeconomics folks, you can buy the hyped up expensive brand-names and throw away your money, or you can eliminate the middle men and save big bucks, just have to wait a little longer for shipping.

Sorry, I just don't buy it. The quality is the same, in fact, because the components are the same. It's just that this myth of chinese inadequacy in terms of quality is promoted by the middlemen, who re-label the same product at insane markups.

Lipo batteries have 3 huge weaknesses in my book, the danger factor (I don't want to baby a freakin battery every second of my life, and worry about my plane catching fire. The WEAK current output ratings. The INSANE prices.

Every thing I have bought from hobby city has been equivalent to any other brand names at about 1/4 the cost...NO BRAINER.

They can resist all they want, but the age of the middleman is over in my book.

This hobby should be fun, or why do it. And getting ripped off is never fun.

Cool, so we won't be worrying about you driving the prices up on any of the Lithium-flavored batteries any time soon ... And wrt the Chinese variants, once they're quality is established on a one-for-one product comparison I have no problem buying them.

OK, I just exited negotiations with A123. Even with a commitment for 10,000 cells, it is STILL cheaper to purchase Dewalt packs and make your own. It will be a while before we see the price on these come down!