WhiteLX

iTrader: (11)

I was looking for the operational range but couldn't find it. Thanks. From my understanding the LiFe cells don't suffer the same issues with minimum voltage the LiPo cells do?

Rcdad42

To my knowledge, using the battery below the minimum voltage will still damage the LiFe battery.

WhiteLX

iTrader: (11)

I picked up a 3S LiFe pack from HobbyKing that slides right into place of the original tray. There appears to be enough room on the side to run the wiring so the connections will be easily accessed through the battery opening on the side. The only thing is I'll need to add an additional pigtail and connector for powering the radio as the pack comes with heavy gauge wiring and an XT-60 connector. I'll document this in the coming weeks. I'll be opening up the radio to solder in new wiring and remove the old connecting pins in the battery compartment. I shouldn't have to worry about discharging the LiFe pack too much as the minimum voltage is 2.5v per cell (7.5v), which is less than the minimum operating voltage (8v) of the radio.

The goal here is to do away with the troublesome pin connections on the tray. I have both the AA tray and the NiCd pack and both have the same intermittent connection issue. Really sucks losing power for a brief moment while driving.

https://hobbyking.com/en_us/zippy-co...ucts_analytics

kinetisist

iTrader: (31)

The minimum operational voltage is 8v and a 3s life is under that. You need a 3s lipo or a 4s life and just solder a pigtail to the battery plates no need to open up the center plug box if you don’t want to.

WhiteLX

iTrader: (11)

Minimum operating voltage is 8v on the transmitter, minimum safe discharge voltage on a 3S LiFe is 7.5v. The transmitter will cease function before reaching the minimum voltage on the battery, effectively having a low voltage cutoff. A fully charged 3S LiFe is 3.6v per cell, so 10.8v, well within range for the transmitter. A fully charged 4s LiFe would be 14.1v, above the operating range of the transmitter and the safe minimum voltage would be above the 8v of the transmitter meaning you would need to charge it before the transmitter stopped functioning. Not a good choice. Yes, a 3S lipo would potentially be a better choice for higher voltage and larger capacity, but I'd rather not have something quite so volatile in my hand.

kinetisist

iTrader: (31)

not sure who scared you away from lipo batteries but I have been using them for a very long time and only had one smoke on me in an airplane that wasn’t setup for the battery I put into it. NEVER had an issue with any of the 10 or so radios I have run on lipo. Also you can set up your charger to a max voltage charge as to not over voltage won’t occur and you will get better life out of the radio. Lower voltage is a weaker signal.