Lipo questions
 

Im looking to infrequently race again at regional/club level when I get the time and just wondered how many Lipos people use per race day?

Do you use one and just top it up after each race? Do you have two or more that you alternate between to ensure longevity of each pack?

How would a single Lipo pack (prob Trackpower 5000mah odd) stand up to 5 top ups per day?

It would be for use in a 2wd buggy, running brushless (prob 7.5 or 8.5)

Cheers

I use a single lipo pack in each of my cars (4900mah and 4400mah currently) and top up between races exactly as you've described!

Lipo's are fine with that as far as I know, but will go off eventually.

In my SC10 indoors (carpet/jumps) I can do 3 races easily without a charge and a bit of practising with no noticeable performance loss. Can do 2 races at Kiddy in the B44 without any trouble. I didn't risk trying 3 since it was a MAM race.

we have used a single lipo in each car all year and just topped it up straight after every race,never had a problem,and have more than once forgot to top it up and done two full races at nats in 4wd easily,

I use one 5000mAh LiPo, top it up after each round. Obviously, that will need to be replaced faster than in a two-lipo set-up (it will have double the use than two LiPos), but they will still get the same number of cycles each.

LiPos are not affected by being partially charged/topped up continually - thankfully we are past the days of NiCd and NiMH.

I've found in a large event running 6+ heats I can easily recharge the pack I have just used.


At club with 4 heats it can be done with 2 packs, although at times it's tight. now I have 4 packs and it's a breeze :woot:

I've only had one saddle pack all year oj, thats in 2 and 4wd. Balanced all the time and it still has great performance:thumbsup:

How critical is it to use voltage cut off protection when using Lipos? I have an alternative older brushed speedo that doesn't have this, and was wondering if I could still use it. Do the lipos break if completely discharged once, or is it a gradual thing?

As most run 5 mins a lipo is never going to get anyhere near cut-off point.
I used to run a checkpoint 10x1 with lrp q2 and lipo and only ever put 1500mah in after a race.
After fitting a cut off it ran for 25min before stopping! (zx5 4wd btw) Killed the motor though

Basic rule of thumb when an LVC isn't used: When the car slows down AT ALL then stop and charge.

As Col says though, 5 minutes is hardly going to use much of the pack.

The 5 min doesn't apply to me.

I am not a racer, I just keep drivin it until the battery runs out. In the park, street etc.

Does anyone know whether a lipo gets irreversibly broken after just one full discharge, or is it a gradual thing, thanks!

if you do that with a lipo its basicaly bin it when your done, get a lipo cut of there only a few quid.

In which case, yes, get a LiPo cut-off. If you run the cell until it's flat, then you may be able to get it back, but it will have lost a considerable amount of its available capacity (think 80% of what it had before).

And that's if you're lucky!

More likely it won't want to recharge, and it will be a 'bin-it' job.

I use one battery all day an just top it up after every run :)

This is perfectly fine for a lipo :)