KO Esprit II Vantage battery options

[Cliveyp]

I'm running a KO Esprit 2 Vantage with a Spektrum 2.4GHz conversion, and being an oldie I love it. I have no need/want to change it for any other radio in the near future, but it is starting to be let down by its somewhat aging batteries.

It is the version with the soldered-in packs of cells (2x 4xAA packs, permanently connected). There are no contact pads within the battery slots so dropping to individual cells can't happen.

I'm wondering if there are any lipo packs out there that will fit into the old KO arrangement, or am I just best making up my own packs from some AA nimhs?

[Big G]

with some hacking I fitted a plane 3s battery into mine. It was only a 800mah I think, but it still lasted longer than the AA setup. It's frustrating since you can't fit the usual pack in because of the module in the middle. I think I only had it on the 1 side because the trim on the steering side was blocking the lipo. My plan was to fit 1 each side originally.

If that's gone with the 2.4ghz setup you might be able to get it in there.

[Cliveyp]

When you say the 'usual' pack, is that as in the Esprit 3 pack, or a double version of the one you used? Do you have any links in either case? I'll have a look and see if I can work it out......the Spektrum module takes up some of the space in the centr to the top of the battery compartment, but there might be enough room below without the old 40mhz module in between.....

[Big G]

the usual pack where the AA's are like |||||||| which can easily be replaced by a 3s lipo with 2300mah. The lipo I used were some small plane ones with around 10mm height I got off ebay.

[Oscar]

If you don't mind doing a bit of soldering, another option is the route I took. I have used the usual AA size cells but the Li-ion type (do a search for 14500 battery) which are 3.7v each. Of course you only need 3 then instead of 8, but I wired 3 each side in parallel for double the runtime. You may need to buy a specialist charger for these, but the charger was only about £5 if I remember.

[afun1979]

Make up your own packs from some decent AA's
As you said, the only reason you need to change them is that your current ones are so old - stick some new AA's in and use your current charger - job done!

If you do go down the lipo route i'd check out the difference in weight between them and AA's - if there's a lot of difference it will affect the feel and balance, and to me, that's what makes the Vantage soooooo good.

[Cliveyp]

Originally Posted by Oscar

If you don't mind doing a bit of soldering, another option is the route I took. I have used the usual AA size cells but the Li-ion type (do a search for 14500 battery) which are 3.7v each. Of course you only need 3 then instead of 8, but I wired 3 each side in parallel for double the runtime. You may need to buy a specialist charger for these, but the charger was only about £5 if I remember.

I'm liking this option actually. Of I've got it solder up any packs, I might as well use some upgraded cells, so the Li-Ion sounds a good choice. I'll have a look at them.

I presume they don't suffer the same explosive nature as the lipos either?

[Oscar]

mine haven't exploded yet