Tbone Revo

iTrader: (2)

I am going to start running lipos in my buggy and truggy. I have heard different opinions from people and different rules for lipos. What do I need to know? What brands seem to work well? Thanks for the help guys.

UltegraSTI

iTrader: (20)

are you really trying to get under the skin of guys who prefer noise makers? its ok, i would try this over in the 1/8 scale electric conversations in 'elec offroad'

R

Integra

iTrader: (8)

Tbone Revo.....receiver lipo or actual lipo conversion for the whole truck ?

helibrian

Are you talking about as a receiver pack, or have your kyoshos been converted to electric? If you're thinking about using one as a receiver pack, personally, I wouldn't bother. A good quality, high capacity, NiMH pack has never disappointed me. I'm sure there are some lipo nuts that could find some sideways logic in using one as a rx pack though. If your vehicles have been converted, as ultegrasti was trying to say, you're in the wrong forum.

BTW, nice avatar

helibrian

Damnit! Skunked again! I gotta stop messing around and type faster.

Integra

iTrader: (8)

sideways logic.........Not having to charge at all through out the day is reason enough right there.

Tbone Revo

iTrader: (2)

Yes reciever lipos. Had to many problems with batteries going out half way through a race. I have had 1400 packs all the way up to 2700 packs and I just dont trust them anymore. Plus I would like to cut down on the weight some too. Thaks for the avatar comment, it was hard to get the wife to pose for that pic

helibrian

Well, I run a 2650 NiMH pack in just about everything and if I'm just bashing I can go 4 days without recharging. I suppose if you had some sort of ultra high draw servos or something it might be warranted. Would I drop a load of $ on lipos to replace my trouble free, no worries, NiMH packs? Nope. Don't get me wrong, I do use lipos where the use of them is beneficial or warranted. But I wouldn't go out and spend 8000 bucks on a 50 cal. that may or may not explode in my face if I don't baby it, and then pay extra for golden bullets to hunt ducks with just because I can shoot all day without re-loading. A $200 shotgun will usually do the trick. That "golly I just don't wanna charge my pack or change it cuz it's too much work", thing kinda makes you wonder if "golly I just don't wanna re-fuel because I'll hafta bend over" is next. To each his own I guess.

helibrian

....ppppphhhhhhhtttttt

PTP Racing

iTrader: (2)

I recently swapped my nimh pack for lipo to save some weight. Since I was going for a weight reduction I didnt want to run a regulator. Using a regulator is recommended but not necessary in all cases.

I assume you already know you will need a charger capable of charging lipos but it is also advised to get one with balance capabilities. Lipo packs dont have to be balanced but I hear it will increase their life.

I have been using a lipo TX pack for the past couple years without balancing and it was never a problem. However now that I have decided to go lipo for my RX I went ahead and got a charger that balances the cells. The difference being the TX only uses a small amount of constant power but a RX will use a much higher inconsistent amount.

Other than that the only other thing you need to be made aware of is the fact you cannot run a lipo dead. If you fully discharge it you may as well throw it in the trash because it will most likely be ruined. I have read not to run a pack under its rated voltage meaning at 7.4v it is necessary to recharge a RX pack and at 11.1 for a TX pack.

They say a lipo pack will actually perform about 15% better than its MAH rating because of the voltage. I have the Losi 2000mah lipo RX pack and I figure it ought to last near 2 full hours on a charge safely. Its nice knowing I can go club racing and not worry about recharging or at a big race I could probably do a couple bump ups without any worry about the pack going dead.

bgbelden

iTrader: (8)

When my boys Rx pack went dead (NiMh 1600) during the A-main of the S.I.C i switched to the Losi 2000 Lipo for piece of mind that i can finish the main. I don't mind losing, i'm well practiced at it but i don't like losing because of my gear.

Reevo

iTrader: (4)

I'd say if you're doing 30-45min mains then yes get lipo...If you're doing club racing and 10-15min mains then something like a 1600nimh is fine. I run 1600 packs for my 15min mains and they're great.

Euro Stealth

iTrader: (5)

I think this guy is pretty set on Lipos. I am gathering by his post, that he is wanting to know what all he HAS to do, in order for the lipos to work properly and safely. As would I, so I have no help to add to this thread, I would like to know what is NEEDED to run RX lipo packs.

helibrian

I'm blown away at how little run time some people seem to be getting with NiMHs. Anyway, here are a couple of comments that I posted a while back on lipos that the OP may or may not find informative.

http://www.rctech.net/forum/nitro-of...ml#post4851420

http://www.rctech.net/forum/electric...ml#post4854046

I tried lipo for rx when I ran nitro TC but the only benefit I found, was weight which was minimal, and did me no good because whenever I did anything to reduce weight, I just wound up adding chassis weights because of the "heaviest car in the field=minimum weight" rule, so I wound up going back to NiMH. And I never had even the slightest problem finishing a race because of it. And before someone says "a buggy/truggy is more demanding" read my other post. I can easily go 4 days @2 hours a day actual runtime, in a 13 lb. savage with a 333 oz.in. steering servo without a re-charge on NiMH.
I dunno...maybe I just somehow wound up with exceptional packs.

Tbone Revo

iTrader: (2)

You are correct my friend. I have an ice charger and I know I need a regulator to keep it at 6.0 volts. What I am looking for is brands that seem to last and more or less what to do to keep it from blowing up. I seem to have trouble with batteries false peaking and in 30-45min mains they go dead half way through. I do have one other question though, with the balancer, is that something that plugs into the charger also or is it built into the battery and works on its own?