Buying LiPo Cells

[shep1001]

Hello All


Returning to racing after a couple of years away spent working harder than playing.

Things have moved on! 2.4ghz radio and LiPo cells are now the std from what I read. I have my speedo sorted, should have a new charger in a week or so to charge cells on and can live with my old KO Esprite radio gear until I decide if I am staying with racing or selling up.

I want to buy some LiPo cells (how many sets?) but I am unsure of what to buy. I understand the basics of the cell specs but with such a variation in spec avaliable I don't know which to buy. Cost is not an issue.

I will be racing 4wd off road and have always used cells from Orion or LRP in the past in NiMh form. Both manufactures sell Lipo cells in stick configuration at 5400/5900 mAh for about £90.

So in your wisdom what should I do? any advice welcom

[Dudders]

Hi,

I was in the same boat as you a few weeks ago, but I was coming back from 17 years!

5900's at C40 or C50 will be fine, I've gone for LRP's as it was a name I knew from previous.

Good luck!

[RogerM]

2 packs of cells is enough so don't get carried away. I am going to be using Orion cells next year and I believe they are significantly cheaprer than LRP, will have to check with your prefered shop of course.

Anything over 4200 35c will be fine, so basically any race cell on sale today. Remember the homologation list gets updated in January ... don't risk buying something that isn't on the list under the belief it's a "dead cert' " ... loads of people got caught out this year with one brand that was popular but never homologated!!!!

I think the CAT SX is the only 4wd competition car that uses stick pack cells so you might want to go saddles, quite a few 2wd options are moving to saddles too so if I were you I'd buy saddles and be done with it as they can be placed end to end to fit where sticks would anyway!

All that said I'd also look at LiFe as they will give a much smoother power delivery than LiPo.

I spent a few years away racing nitro and when I got back was really struggling with how bruttal the power delivery was in 1/10th these days, hence why I am going for LiFe next season to calm things down. Careful selection of motors and ESC helps here too of course, Speed Passion or Orion motors with Speed Passion / HobbyWing or Tekin ESC is the way forward IMHO.

[millzy]

Originally Posted by RogerM

2 packs of cells is enough so don't get carried away. I am going to be using Orion cells next year and I believe they are significantly cheaprer than LRP, will have to check with your prefered shop of course.

Anything over 4200 35c will be fine, so basically any race cell on sale today. Remember the homologation list gets updated in January ... don't risk buying something that isn't on the list under the belief it's a "dead cert' " ... loads of people got caught out this year with one brand that was popular but never homologated!!!!

.

List dose get updated in Jan by my understanding is that the cells on the list are not legal until April that year

can be found in the EB rules


2.8 Subject to 2.1 & 2.7 (above), the new battery will be included on the
homologation list for the following year, and can be legally used at BRCA sanctioned
events from the 1st April of that following year. It follows that any new battery
becoming available during a calendar year can only be used from the 1st April in the
subsequent year. i.e. No new batteries will be homologated during the calendar year
or racing season. This does not include 1S Batteries for 2010, which can be added
until 1st. April 2010.

[Chequered Flag Racing]

BRCA current battery and motor lists can be found at http://brca.org/?q=content/homologation-lists/1402 . Battery list is usually update from mid January with new batteries allowed for BRCA santioned events from the 1st April that year. You can of course use them at club level etc providing the club doesn't mind. They can also be used as practice packs at BRCA sanctioned events but not raced with until the 1st April.

[RogerM]

Indeed that is all true, however how many BRCA events are there normally between the list coming out and 1st April? Not many. Most clubs / winter series organisers usually advise if they are sticking to the previous years list or allowing the new cells immediately.

If you want to be 100% safe before April 1st then by cells from the 2010 list.