Sadle-pack Lipo
 

Hello dudes,
A simple question: Does anyonde know about sadle-pack Lipo's ... that are made with a hard casing!
Our Belgian RC-association seems to have decided that Lipo's will be in 2008 allowed as long are the have a hard casing. I know that Sadle-pack Lipo's exist, but have never found any with a hard casing.
I would like such a Lipo for in my X10 Pred.
I allready am the proud owner of two trakPower Lipo's which are simply GREAT, so EASY to use.

Maybe another idea, that just popped up ... maybe it is possible to buy a soft-casing-sadle-lipo and make some hard plastic casings for it?
Is this a crazy idea.
Any thoughts on what I should keep in mind when making this?

thx!

Trakpower are doing one as we speak, Mark Christopher will read this in time, and hopefully give you an idea of timescale.

Dan, do you know if Trakpower will make a saddle pack lipo in a hard case that will fit into the X-6 2/4 cell configuration?

I have no idea, in my mind the technology (2C) means that if a pack is split, it would have to be in half, could be wrong though.

However in my opinion, if you're going to lose the weight of nimh cells, then what you do have you'll want to pack towards the rear i.e. best to run it across the 6 cell at the back. Then if I was going 100% lipo I'd run the speedo where the 2 cells used to be to get that weight in the centre with a recevier (ideally a smaller one) either also in the same space or just to the side and in my case the power cap just to the other to keep a very good balance.

I'd really like to try this (anyone lend me a Lipo sometime???) to see how it goes.

The Trakpower Lipo is a 2S1P-Lipo which means it consists of two elements placed in Serial configuration: one pack connected after the other.
So in my opinion, theoretically it should not be too hard of seperating the twe elements in twe separate casings ... in theorie that is :)

i have been testing some lipo saddles from trakpower, they are still prototype, they are working hard to get them done.
i have tried them in the following, Hotbodies D4, Jconcepts we?, Predator X11, and chris longs X5 ( chris told me the X6 will take the stick pack) they all fitted and with a small amount of work chris felt they would go into his x5. all cars will need a taller battery strap mount as the cells are about 28mm deep
the cells consist of two banks of 3 cells giving 7.4 nominal volts and 4800 mah.
at worksop with a 6.5 bsintered rotor i took 1400 mah out of the pack per run and had amazing punch all the race.
they will be in hard cases with a clever link wire to comply with the new cell rule and a balance port compatable to trakpowers balancer

im not allowed to post pics but if you were at worksop or are at shefield in 2 weeks time come find me and try them for fit in your car

no the big plus point
withoutthe hard case on the pack my D4 was about 10 grams over weight, so the cars will be very near the weight limits, which also increases agility and speed

not as simple you need to get the packs made to the size and allow for capacity

if your at sheffield or worksops next one ill lend you a stick pack and charger for the day

Thanks Mark, next Worksop it will be for me.

But to answer ttboyy2k's question, would it be possible to have the two parts of the saddle pack 2 different sizes i.e. to replicate the 4+2 config of the usual X6 layout? As an aside in an X6 I imagine you'll want it as a stick pack for perfromance of getting the reduced weight further back. I'll report back after next Worksop.

im not 100% sure but id say no as the smaller the cell the lower capacity so it would be like running two 3700 and for 4200

what cars do you have? i only have sticks to lend out

Mark

The saddle cells look good. When Mark has a case we need to have a check against my X-5 and see how they measure.

Id also like to try a stick pack, right down the servo side of the X-5 chassis.. I estimate it is possible.. then all electronics on the other side should balance it out (perhaps some lead too)

Chris

Mark I'll just run it across the back of the X6, see how the balance is comparred to a nimh setup on the usual 4+2 setup.

chris stick pack at worksop? tho im running out of chargers
if your at sheff you can borrow one there take it home and give it back after next worksop

Hey Mark, just bought a Pulsar 3 - capable of charging Lipo ;)

Sounds really cool cant wait to see it if im at a meeting sometime and your there ill hae to come over and have a look ;) It would be cool if lipo are legal next year im just wondering is the stick pack lipo taller than normal nimh's to? How much taller are the lipo's than normal nihm's???

A

stick pack is 23 tall, the 3200 will be 20mm tall and the saddle around 28mm
ill have the bare saddles at sheffield/mirage off road meeting
chris sorted then!!

mate used my b4 at worksop with stick lipo, made a few adjustments to car and he felt it was better that with nimh in it

right just off to lanzarote for a week, give you all a rest !!!

I test-fitted that with my LRP 5000 lipo (same dimensions as the Orion 4800) and it fits perfectly, I just have to find a way to bolt the pack to the chassis.
The balance left-right is perfect without any lead (usually, my car is left-heavy with the Nosram BL) and you shave 120g of the car, how cool is that ? :D
The X-5 is with the XXX4 the best car for going brushless with its layout stick-pack friendly.

The first day the lipos to become race-legal, I will switch and never look back to that crappy and dangerous NiMh voodoo !

Hmmm.
The advantages of LiPo's are numerous, but safety isn't one of them. I've seen more LiPo's explode compared to the standard Sub-C cells. And they explode a lot more violently. I personally have never seen a Sub-C cell "explode". I've seen them fail and melt or vent, but never explode.

I've seen LiPo's explode two times in RC airplanes and two times while charging : it wasn't pretty. The planes desintegrated in mid air in a large ball of fire. The charging cells created an impressive and intense fireball.

Lithium polymer for RC cars is a white elephant. Cylindrical Lithium ion is the future.

Are you having a laugh? NIMH do explode and ALOT more violently than a lipo bursting into flames i've seen little 6v rx packs EXPLODE never mind 7.2v race packs.I'd much rather put out a fire than pull shards of metal from my eyes.NIMH cells go off like a bomb and the trouble with them is alot of the time for no apparent reason.