Running LED's from LIPO - NON-RC

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REVO-5309

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so I'm testing out some leds on lipo for dad as he goes camping a fair bit, he usually has the 4x4 with the camper trailer and has the 2nd battery in the car which he runs lights off. i suggested to him the other day to use lipos to run some portable lighting.

so i started off testing with a 3s turnigy 1400mah battery. results are decent so far. I'm still in the process of draining the battery.

so dad has a couple of strips with around 20-40 LED's on them and we tested the 3s on that but didnt check to see how long it lasted, we guessed around 1-2hrs.

so far I'm testing using 3 led lights, started at 12.6v and I'm currently at 11.33v after 11hrs and 15min. I'm guessing a good point to stop would be around 10.5v before damage starts happening to the lipo.

so i was thinking would he be able to use a 4s 8000mah battery with a regulator to drop it back down to 12 or so volts and get a heap more time on the big strips? I'm thinking the 4s 8000mah battery as there the largest i can find on HK and there only $30-40 which is pretty cheap. is there also something we can wire up so it cuts out at a safe voltage?

ps he has a dimmer on these led strips so over powering them i dont think will do them harm? he will just have to turn them down...? i do realize that on the 4s they get hot, will hooking up more lights reduce the power and reduce the temp?
 
If theyre 12V LEDs then I would run them on 3S not 4S but either way a 5000+mAh lipo is big and heavy....are you going to have room to mount an extra lipo that big in whatever this kit is that has all the LEDs? If yes then thats cool but just want to make sure you had given consideration to that aspect.

You can pick up this 3S 8000mah pack for about $45 + S&H
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__16225__ZIPPY_Flightmax_8000mAh_3S1P_30C.html
For the money though Id pick up 2 of these at $21 ea. + S&H and either run them in parallel for 10KmAh or just use them one at a time since 5000mAh lipo should power LEDs are a long time before having to switch packs
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...lightmax_5000mah_3S1P_20C_Lipoly_Battery.html

The only thing hooking up more lights is going to do is drain the lipo faster. If anything your gonna increase the heat if the LEDs are all concentrated close together. As for draining your LiPo its completely safe to discharge it down to 3V per cell without damaging it. Damage doesn't start to occurring until somewhere between 2.6 and 2.8V per cell depending on who you talk to. If you wanna play it safe you can stop at 3.2V/C.

As for a cut off, well I'm not sure about an actual cutoff but you can get low voltage warning alarms that hook into the balance plug and produces a very loud alarm. Some of them do it at 3.2V/C and some are 3.3V/C but if you want to spend a couple extra bucks you can find LVAs that you can set what V/C you want it to alarm at. This is an example of a mod that I did to my 9X Heli TX so I can tell when my LiPo for it is getting low....you get to hear how loud it is for a brief sec when i first plug it in if your curious.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mgiA87fXak"]Flysky FS-TH9X (Turnigy 9X) LVC Alarm mod - YouTube[/ame]
You can buy the LVC alarms off of eBay for really cheap...
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=low+voltage+lipo+alarm&_sacat=0&_from=R40

I hope that helps you.

---------- Post added at 12:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:57 AM ----------

Ok, so I just realized that your title says NON-RC so I'm now assuming you meant a 1:1 4X4 with camper Etc.....If that the case Id order 2 of those 5000mAh lipos and run them in parallel and see how long they last....If they last long enough then fine...no need to do anything. Otherwise Id just keep buying those lipos and adding them in parallel until you have enough mAh to last as long as you want it to.
 
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