Li Po Cells

[losidan]

So who is going to get some then. Lighter and better performance and last longer with less maintenance according to the guff in the mag this month.

Sounds like they are too good to be true.....Anybody had a go with them?

[DCM]

they are ace when you run them I would guess, I am just waiting to see them run compared to an identical car and same weight, I am concerned at the mo that the performance gained is a lot to do with the weight saved.

Also, when LiPo's go breats evelvated, rather than giving warning with plenty of time like NiCd and NiMH a LiPo will smoulder for about a second or so, then burst into flames.

[tony1034]

Kendall Bennett from Amainhobbies.com just recently built a Kyosho ZX-5 with a brushless setup. He ran a few IB3800 packs in the car and then slappedin one of the Team Orion 4800mah LiPo packs. The Team Orion pack is in a case that mimmicks the size of a 6-cell stick pack. BUT, it's less than half the weight. The 6-cell packs are 7.2 volts where as the LiPo is 7.4 volts.

With the lighter pack, he said the car is Ballistic! It's much faster off the line and has much more top speed. It also lasts for well over 20 minutes. He thought it might be too powerful for the track after he ran it outside the shop for a bit on the pavement. He said if he nailed the throttle the car would spin out violently. But then he ran the car on an off-road US style indoor track and said it handled better, jumped better and was quite controllable (after driving it for a few laps and getting used to it). Another benefit was that he didn't break anything all day since the car was so much lighter. His only complaint was the other guys racing were all jealous and wanted one real bad ....LOL

I plan on buying one as soon as he gets them back in stock to run in my ZX-5 with Novak GTB 6.5 setup. At my llocal off-road outdoor track, they have a small turnout with 1/10th scale gas trucks. They just clump all the 1/10th scales together whether it's gas, electric, buggy or truck. Last year my son ran his Matt Francis 2 against the gas trucks. If the mains were longer than 10 minutes, it killed us. This year he's going to run my ZX-5 with the brushless and LiPo. I suspect after he starts handing all the gas trucks there a$$, they'll try to ban him ....HAHAHA I'm hoping everyone goes out and picks up a ZX-5 or another 4WD electric.

Tony P.

[stulec52]

One of guys at my club just had this conversation direct with Orion ( USA)
Basically the biggest thing over Ni-Mhs ( which no one else seems to be even talking about) is that for a full days racing, you can charge 3 packs at home and then that's all you have to take to the track !! no more chargers, power supplies, 12 volt car batteries etc.
And to top that off, you could charge them 3 weeks before an event, leave them sitting and never have to re-peak !! they just hold the same amount of charge in them.
Crazy !!
add to that, higher voltages, longer runtime, less weight, no prizes for guessing what I'll be running this Summer.

[stefke]

As long as LiPo batteries suffer from spontanious combustion, they're not ready for general use. I've seen one explode on my local flying field. It's not pretty. I've seen pictures of guys whose house burnt down because their LiPo batteries decided to spontaniously combust with no apparent reason.

[G30RGE]

Some interesting points - and like the rest i am watching to see what happens. There seems no doubt that the future is brushless and LiPo

Interestingly, I was talking with Phil Haines today (Pro-Trak) and he has been testing with LiPo for some time now and is getting some good results. Obviously, Phil's main aim is for Pro-Trak to be able to handle LiPo (which it does now) but he has been running LiPo at the club and they look good. Compared to Orion, Phil has had some 2100mah packs made and they are performing very well.