LifePo Batteries?

[godale03]

Anybody head of these? They say they are as good as LiPo but safer? What type of charger would you need to charge them? Thanks guys.

Tom

 

[slowngreen]

have you seen the price tag? i wouldnt get them personally. lipo is NOT that dangerous bro, its something that people have blown out of proportion. As long as you take a little care and really thats not much at all then you will be safe with lipo's. If you are unsure about them then just get a lipo sack or a metal box of any kind to store them in but thats about it.

 

[alpinehyperlite]

Not worth it IMO. Especialy at twice the price of lipo

 

[Amoeba]

One of the advantages of LifePo is the ability to use them in place of LiPo without needing a regulator, much lower self-discharge, and they're much more tolerant of higher charge rates and over/undercharging. You can charge an LifePo4 A123 battery at 10amps so your recharge times are super short. So while they are somewhat heavier than LiPo, they are much safer to use and more tolerant overall.

There's a couple of new 6v LifePo A123 hump packs coming out for receiver duty which are *awesome*.

Bear in mind that LifePO4 and LifePo4 A123 are two different types of LifePO battery technologies. The regular Po4's have smaller C ratings (3-5ish) whereas the A123 types can handle huge power outputs in the 40C range. Ideally you'd want LifePo4 for things like radio transmitter batteries and the A123 types for servos or other high-ouput needs.

 

[hamz9561]

Are these the new Lithium-Manganese packs that I've been reading about?

 

[sweetdiesel]

Are these the new Lithium-Manganese packs that I've been reading about?

Nope, the LiMn packs have been around for awhile...made by Apogee.




Here's a good sales pitch for A123 packs.

http://www.rcmodelreviews.com/baffledbybatteries4.shtml

I have a friend that gave me a couple packs to try out. I haven't done anything with them yet but I plan on testing them in an 1/8 scale app to see if they live up to the hype.

 

[godale03]

have you seen the price tag? i wouldnt get them personally. lipo is NOT that dangerous bro, its something that people have blown out of proportion. As long as you take a little care and really thats not much at all then you will be safe with lipo's. If you are unsure about them then just get a lipo sack or a metal box of any kind to store them in but thats about it.

I have never used lipo before at all. And to be honest am scared to death. My wife bought me a trakpower lipo for Xmas and I took it back. I barely have time to take care of my NiMh packs much less the extreme care I have heard lipo packs require. I have read about Lipo but never anything that has "Calmed" my nerves. I can't have anything that could spontaiously combust in my house. That is what scares me the most the instability I have read about. I am ready to dump the NiMh but I just don't want anything I have to store in a metal can. Know what I mean?

 

[alpinehyperlite]

I store mine sitting on a desk. Have been doing that for over a year. No problems. I have had one pack swell on me.... but it was my own fault. Lipo is easy. The only real difference is to balance your cells.

 

[godale03]

I store mine sitting on a desk. Have been doing that for over a year. No problems. I have had one pack swell on me.... but it was my own fault. Lipo is easy. The only real difference is to balance your cells.

I feel like such an idiot. I am definitely not Adam Drake when it comes to RC, but I like to think of myself as knowledgable about the subject. But when it comes to Lipo I am in the dark completely. I have read all I can find on the subject too. All I have read is that they are unstable, very picky, and there is a fine line between swelling a pack and keeping it safe. I have learned alot from people around me, and since my LHS closed down don't have anybody to talk to in person about the subject any more. See if I had someone that could actually show me how to take care of a lipo and give me a solid set of guidelines to follow I would probably already be running lipo. I have really tried to educate myself on this particular subject but am not making myself feel comfortable enough to make the jump. I would love to though. I don't even know if what I have will even handle lipo... I mean my speed controls, motors and the like. I hope I am making some since here. I am not one to just buy something and "learn the hard way". Know what I mean?

 

[alpinehyperlite]

if you can connect a plug, you can manage to run lipo. Connect a charger, and connect a balancer. 2 plugs. Unless you have an all in one unit, then it is just one plug..... not what everyone makes them out to be. Lipo's are awsome. What ESC's are you running?

 

[godale03]

if you can connect a plug, you can manage to run lipo. Connect a charger, and connect a balancer. 2 plugs. Unless you have an all in one unit, then it is just one plug..... not what everyone makes them out to be. Lipo's are awsome. What ESC's are you running?

What is a balancer? There are more than one plug comming from a Lipo? I don't even know if my chargers will charge lipo's.

My ESC's are all Novak GTB's and one Novak Havok 3S

My chargers are an MRC 989 and a Team Checkpoint Charger

 

[alpinehyperlite]

A balancer is a piece of circutry that enables a charger to equilize the voltage that is stored in each battery, so they are "balanced" and are able to maintin equil current while charging, and discharging.













Wow, did that just come from me?

 

[RC Addict]

No way. Good job, trooper!

 

[Amoeba]

A balancer is a piece of circutry that enables a charger to equilize the voltage that is stored in each battery, so they are "balanced" and are able to maintin equil current while charging, and discharging.

Who are you and what are you doing using alpine's computer?

 

[godale03]

A balancer is a piece of circutry that enables a charger to equilize the voltage that is stored in each battery, so they are "balanced" and are able to maintin equil current while charging, and discharging.












Wow, did that just come from me?

Thank you. Will my electroncs support this? Besides a Balancer what equipment is needed to run lipos?

 

[hamz9561]

All that is needed is an ESC that has a low voltage cut-off to prevent over discharging the pack. I just converted to LiPo earlier this year. The only piece of advice that I can give you that hasn't already been discussed is to make sure that you unplug the pack from the charger when the charge cycle is over to help prevent swelling. If you're concerned about safety while charging, either get the hard case style or a charging bag. You'll need these if you use the packs at a track for racing. As a matter of fact, most of the guys that race at the LHS track here are using LiPos. They haven't had any problems.