I agree on the wire statement this raises some interesting points:
We are so used to soldering 4mm 'corally' tubes to cells that the problems with wires or integrated tubes are being overlooked.
Wires are a pain.. they might chaff or their insulation melt if the pack is short circuited. The wires cannot be replaced easily on assembled hard packs. Tamiya type connectors cannot be used so either Deans or tubes have to be attached. Deans are probably better than using tubes which stand a greater chance of being short circuited (even if correctly dressed in heatshrink tube).
Integrated 4mm tubes seem to be causing problems already, most likely not to their design but because the male parts wear out and this leads to a high resistance joint which causes heat build up and localised melting of the case around the female tube. I have heard lots of reports of this across the RC forums; again, you cant easily repair this.
Of course batteries made from NiMH cells and their soldered / open frame construction have many disadvantages, but I think we are only just starting to understand the problems we face with Lithium polymer pack construction for RC cars.
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