2991Likes1/12 forum
09-11-2006 | 06:20 AM
Originally Posted by lbckevin
Jeff...
What compound foams are you running at Socal (indoor asphalt) for your 12th scale ?
Kevin
What compound foams are you running at Socal (indoor asphalt) for your 12th scale ?
Kevin
09-11-2006 | 06:26 AM
Uh, yeah, right.
Better spend a little time reading up on them on the model airplane sites guy. They lipo/lion are STILL catching fire on charge cycles, STILL catching fire if the cell is breached in a crash (hence the hard shells for rc cars), etc. And no, NONE of the cells we run (lipo or otherwise) are "RC-specific", we're nowhere NEAR a big enough market to justify developing and marketing a cell. The cell HOLDERS I've seen for cars appear to be "specific"
You are absolutely correct insofar as the lipos aren't SUPPOSED to get hot in either charge or discharge. But they do. And when they get into "runaway", stand back.
There is a reason there is a LOT of money being spent in industry (cell phone, lap-top computing, pda's etc) on trying to find/develop battery technology that has the weight, amp-hour, and no memory characteristics of lipo WITHOUT the fire danger for which they (the industry) are paying out millions in claims. What do you suppose the recalls this last month of laptop batteries is costing Sony? Estimate I saw was something in the middle-$100 millions. They didn't undergo this for their corporate health.
It's comparatively uninformed attitudes (...but they're safe now) among rc car racers that make me hesitant to say lipo's are a good idea in rc car racing. I'm not convinced they're a great idea for rc planes, and the level of care/caution exercised by the average participant is substantially higher than what I've ever seen (in twenty years) among my fellow racers.
There are certainly exceptions either way re: individual racers, and none of this is to say any given battery WILL explode into flames, but the danger IS there and it IS real. The flame these bad boys produce makes "popping" a ni-cad or nimh on the charger look like a ladyfinger.
Scottrik
Better spend a little time reading up on them on the model airplane sites guy. They lipo/lion are STILL catching fire on charge cycles, STILL catching fire if the cell is breached in a crash (hence the hard shells for rc cars), etc. And no, NONE of the cells we run (lipo or otherwise) are "RC-specific", we're nowhere NEAR a big enough market to justify developing and marketing a cell. The cell HOLDERS I've seen for cars appear to be "specific"
You are absolutely correct insofar as the lipos aren't SUPPOSED to get hot in either charge or discharge. But they do. And when they get into "runaway", stand back.
There is a reason there is a LOT of money being spent in industry (cell phone, lap-top computing, pda's etc) on trying to find/develop battery technology that has the weight, amp-hour, and no memory characteristics of lipo WITHOUT the fire danger for which they (the industry) are paying out millions in claims. What do you suppose the recalls this last month of laptop batteries is costing Sony? Estimate I saw was something in the middle-$100 millions. They didn't undergo this for their corporate health.
It's comparatively uninformed attitudes (...but they're safe now) among rc car racers that make me hesitant to say lipo's are a good idea in rc car racing. I'm not convinced they're a great idea for rc planes, and the level of care/caution exercised by the average participant is substantially higher than what I've ever seen (in twenty years) among my fellow racers.
There are certainly exceptions either way re: individual racers, and none of this is to say any given battery WILL explode into flames, but the danger IS there and it IS real. The flame these bad boys produce makes "popping" a ni-cad or nimh on the charger look like a ladyfinger.
Scottrik
09-11-2006 | 08:45 AM
Getting ready for a race I didn't make it to Saturday, I slapped together an old school paint scheme that some of you old farts can appreciate. It's not an exact Al Holbert replica, but an homage to that wicked 956 from the 80s.
I wish I had more bodies to paint... I have a ton of old school race car ideas in my head that I need to put to Lexan.
I wish I had more bodies to paint... I have a ton of old school race car ideas in my head that I need to put to Lexan.
Last edited by purpurite; 09-14-2025 at 03:47 PM.
09-11-2006 | 09:26 AM
Tech Elite
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 2,192
From: San Francisco
Originally Posted by ApexSpeed
Ok, I have enough trouble keeping my car off the walls. I don't need it catching on fire. Seriously, though, I don't see LiPos being mainstreamed into racing anytime soon.
Getting ready for a race I didn't make it to Saturday, I slapped together an old school paint scheme that some of you old farts can appreciate. It's not an exact Al Holbert replica, but an homage to that wicked 956 from the 80s.
I wish I had more bodies to paint... I have a ton of old school race car ideas in my head that I need to put to Lexan.
Getting ready for a race I didn't make it to Saturday, I slapped together an old school paint scheme that some of you old farts can appreciate. It's not an exact Al Holbert replica, but an homage to that wicked 956 from the 80s.
I wish I had more bodies to paint... I have a ton of old school race car ideas in my head that I need to put to Lexan.
Since you want more bodies to paint I can send you all of mine and you can homage yer ass off!
Seriously, that's beautiful. Simple, clean, and nostalgic.
09-11-2006 | 09:43 AM
Originally Posted by odpurple
Funny you guys should mention it, I just drove a lipo 1/12th car today. It was a 12L4 with a 10 turn in it. Sorry I don't know much about lipos so I can't tell you what type and how many cells, but the owner said it was 7.4 volts. The car was so fast it was almost undrivable. Everyone who drove it was grinning ear to ear it was so much fun. 
I think it needed some throttle or esc adjustments because just touching the throttle would cause the car to leap forward, slow corners required careful modulation to negotiate them. You could hit the straight and with less than half throttle go faster than anything else on the track, then half way down punch it and it would spin the tires until the shut off point. It was so much fun i almost peed my pants
I think it needed some throttle or esc adjustments because just touching the throttle would cause the car to leap forward, slow corners required careful modulation to negotiate them. You could hit the straight and with less than half throttle go faster than anything else on the track, then half way down punch it and it would spin the tires until the shut off point. It was so much fun i almost peed my pants For others who are curious, it was linger's 12L4, and IIRC it was a 2s2p 2.0ah 20C kokam. WAAAAYYYY too much motor/battery for that track, but definately a kick to drive, no battery fade, and tons of runtime. I think we stopped after 10 minutes when the speed control started thermaling
-James
09-11-2006 | 11:23 AM
Tech Addict
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 746
From: OC
Just a curious question has anyone tried mounting two smaller Li-Po battery packs in tandem say two 1500 20C packs in tandom to make a 3000Mah 20C Li-Po saddle pack?
I have had requests from some for a saddle pack Li-Po and it appear that this maybe an answer and we will be testing this however just checking to see what those that run 1:12 scale think about it.
I have had requests from some for a saddle pack Li-Po and it appear that this maybe an answer and we will be testing this however just checking to see what those that run 1:12 scale think about it.
09-11-2006 | 11:52 AM
Originally Posted by MrBlack
Just a curious question has anyone tried mounting two smaller Li-Po battery packs in tandem say two 1500 20C packs in tandom to make a 3000Mah 20C Li-Po saddle pack?
I have had requests from some for a saddle pack Li-Po and it appear that this maybe an answer and we will be testing this however just checking to see what those that run 1:12 scale think about it.
I have had requests from some for a saddle pack Li-Po and it appear that this maybe an answer and we will be testing this however just checking to see what those that run 1:12 scale think about it.
You could possibly make a 2S4P with the .91 Ah cells to make a 3.64Ah saddle pack that would fit nicely into anything.
I wish you could have seen and drove that 1/12 scale. It was unbelieveable.
09-11-2006 | 01:56 PM
Lipo Saddle Packs
Originally Posted by MrBlack
Just a curious question has anyone tried mounting two smaller Li-Po battery packs in tandem say two 1500 20C packs in tandom to make a 3000Mah 20C Li-Po saddle pack?
I have had requests from some for a saddle pack Li-Po and it appear that this maybe an answer and we will be testing this however just checking to see what those that run 1:12 scale think about it.
I have had requests from some for a saddle pack Li-Po and it appear that this maybe an answer and we will be testing this however just checking to see what those that run 1:12 scale think about it.
09-11-2006 | 02:17 PM
Maybe I am crazy, but isn't this going backwards with the higher voltage. I mean the cars are damn fast with 4.8 volts. Pushing 7.4+ volts through the car make it crazy fast.... wear more and break more. Didnt 1/10 pan die off becuase only a very few drivers could accurately control the missles as they were 6 or so years ago ?
Last edited by TimPotter; 09-11-2006 at 06:03 PM.
09-11-2006 | 03:57 PM
Originally Posted by TimPotter
Maybe I am crazy, but isn't this going backwards with the higher voltage. I mean the cars are damn fast with 4.8 volts. Pushing 7.4+ volts through the car make it crazy fast.... wear more and break more. Didnt 1/10 pan does off becuase only a very few drivers could accurately control the missles as they were 6 or so years ago ?
