New to Lipo technology
 

I am thinking of using li-po batteries. I have a Team Orion Advantage charger that can charge li-pos.

If I get the Team Orion 3200 lipo, do I still need to buy a balancer?

Can I use my LRP Quantum Competition 2 esc?

Please give all your inputs as I do not know anything about this technology.

I plan to use it on my B4, I do not plan to race, I just want to run for fun.

Thanks.

For fun running. I would probably go with this:

Maxamps 6000mah lipo battery pack 7.4V
Apache or Polyquest balancer (heard this are not bad and only $30)
MRC 989 or other lipo capable charger
Liposack or battery bunker
Mamba Max brushless system
OR
get a voltage cutoff device so the battery doesn't go below I believe 6V?

I looked into this for awhile, and was going to do pretty much what I listed above but couldn't run the batteries in the class I would race them in.

I would go with a brushless unit if you can, you would really enjoy the minimal maintenance and the auto lipo cutoff on it as well. Not bad either for $179 for a complete system.

I know that there have been posts about not needing a balancer, but after looking it up and reading various posts of the pros and cons, the cost of the balancers I was advised on was minimal so I figured it could come in handy.

You should get some REALLY long runtime with the 6000mah. If you do the 8000mah they sell, you only need to raise up the post for the battery strap from what I understand. Guys are doing 20+ minute mains with nitros using T4s and the like with brushless and 8000mah lipos.

If you are worried about the fire hazard thing, you could also look into the apogee packs, the ones that are Limn. they have 3800mah packs for $75 I beleive.

I've heard/read the Orion/Peak packs are some of the most 'stable' available. They are supposed to be the least likely to explode, leak, burn, etc. I don't know about the Quantum 2, but I'd consider the Sphere Competition as it has the built in cut-off so you don't go too low on voltage and brushless will give you longer run-time.

Also, you might as well go for the 4800 pack. With LiPo you should only need 1 pack, so you might as well have the better pack up front for a minimal additional expense.

I just ran my LRP Comp sphere w. Orion 3200 pack last night and I got nearly 20 minutes of flat out run time with a Novak 13.5 brushless. I'm thinking this is a pretty good combo. I went with the sphere comp because the novak esc's didn't have a lipo cutoff. Apparently they are just releasing a new GTB that has lipo cutoff, so you might want to look into that.

i have the max amps 4400 lipos in my bj4 and get about 15 minutes of run time with a mamba max 7700, the max amps lipos are great and the customer service is amazing, the packs dont get hot when running or charging

scott

in short... I really don't think you need a balancer for the Orion 3200.... if there is one that works with it.... then it wouldn't hurt to have it but it's not something you need to constantly worry about.

Does this pack even have taps to use for balancing???? If so, then you can simply use a voltmeter to check the voltage of each cell occasionally. If something gets out of balance then you can manually charge the low cell to bring it up....

So.. no... just buy the pack and have fun

(can't believe that came from me.... craps would be proud I think lol)

Yeah, there is a mini barrell type port for the centre tap between the two cells for balancing on Orion and Peak 3200's. If your charger does single lipo cells, just do them one at a time to balance them if you see them out of balance.

The need for balancing may be overrated. I've got year old 3 cell packs from my planes and they are not out of balance yet. I'm thinking nimh with its shorter lifetime and greater variability between cells suffers more from unequal capacity developing over short use.

Yes... imo balancing is not to be overlooked completely, but it's not something you should have to be obsessed with.

If something is not right with a [ack, then it could be out of balance a little on every use. But when the pack is working as it's supposed to(and you verify that it seems to be staying in balance after a few runs)... balance only needs to be checked occasionally, just to catch a problem.

It's like screening for cancer.... catch it before it does any damage.

Thanks for your help guys. I would probably get the new LRP brushless system with the vector motor.

Thanks again.