Lipo Debate....Soft case vs. Hard case in our ECX models

DantheMan

Well-Known Member
Messages
94
Location
Central Florida
I never gave it much thought until just now, and Lipo is new to me for the hobby.(Always was Nicd/Nimh back in my day)
*So...how about we talk about the advantages/disadvantages of both types of Lipos and what ECX models are more susceptable to Lipo damage when running?(I assume that is the purpose of the hard case lipo..battery protection)
-I have both types of Lipo's for my Ruckus 2wd. Seems to me, the soft case is what I prefer, as I can easily identify any problem that may begin to show with the battery.
**Another topic...I find myself NOT using all of the charge in the batteries. With decent batteries 5000mah...more often than not, I am done running before AUTO battery cut-off happens(3.2v/cell)......what's your opinion on this?...is this how you use your LIPOs too?
**I am able to have 10 minutes or so worth of fast fun on a 3s 5000mah with a Castle Creations 4106-4600kv/Mamba X on my 2wd 1/10 Ruckus, unplug battery, let it sit till next day, do the same all over again(still no auto lipo cut-out). When recharging, I can see I am bringing pack back to 12.6v, its balanced within .01v and typically it calculates I AM RECHARGING 4300-4500MAH worth of charge back into the pack.
 
Last edited:
I use hardcase 2S batteries in all my cars. The case is for protection, but the battery is already surrounded by the chassis (either aluminum or plastic) and covered by a body shell so the additional protection of a case on the battery itself is... not so important in these cases.

I honestly can't think of an ECX car that places the battery at a greater risk of impact damage. Seems like you'd have to run the car off a cliff and somehow accelerate into a bed of nails. :)

I have two 4000mAh batteries for play and two 4600mAh for racing. I never reach LVC because the cars slow noticeably and thus are no longer fun to drive. In the racing cars the motor temps are already around 150F/65C after 7 mins (during practice runs) so it's time to take a break. The batteries are down to 7.8-ish V so why not recharge while the motor cools?

Sounds to me like you're getting pretty typical use out of your batteries.
 
I agree with Bee, I street race and use Gen Ace 7200mAh 60C 3S hardcase batterys in my AMP, Ruckus and Torment. What blows me away is you stated you get about 10 minutes of run time. On my ECX's I get around 45 minutes to an hour on a charge. I would have to say you should be getting more then 10 minutes. When I was using 5000mAh 2s batterys I was getting around 20 to 30 minutes run time. Make sure your ESC is setup for LiPo's and voltage shutdown is around 3.4 volts. Also cooling is VERY important.
 
Weave...Please let me clarify!!....My set-up is using a Castle Creations Mamba X, and 4106-4600kv Sensored. (I am dialed in using the software/pc),,,,,I Typically run about 10 minutes on 3s with my set-up. This is with running slightly smaller tires/wheels off from a Traxxas Stampede VXL 2wd.(109mm/4.3" height ....stock gearing, 17t pinion/87t spur). My wife won't let me risk damaging my iphone for an accurate MPH measurement, by velcroing it to the Ruckus, But I am sure its in the mid 40's mph range, as the speed limit posted here is 35mph and the model is easily exceeding that. With Florida weather/temps...Running it up and down the street...jumping through yards....10 minutes is all I can run before temps on the motor "speak its time to take a break". *On 2s power, I can more than double the run time.
**The very same 3s battery pack, the following day...will give me another 10 min or so run with out being recharged.
***read more here...
https://ecxforum.com/threads/beadlocks-for-2wd-castle-creations-4106-4600kv-on-3s.1421/
 
Last edited:
Dan, I run a 4600kv Castle sensored motor also but I don't have to wait for a motor or ESC cool down. My truck has four fans, one which is 12 volt 2x2 and pushes 24.0 cfm of air. I ran my truck for 20 minutes full bore on the street and measured the temp of the motor and ESC the run with a laser thermometer and the motor was 85 degrees and ESC was 82. The big fan runs on it own 3cell air20180110_171524.jpg 20180110_154821.jpg 20180110_190404.jpg plane battery.
 
cc4600a.JPG cc4600b.JPG cc4600c.JPG *I wish I could fit a heatsink/fan for the motor can.
**You can see in these pictures how 3/4 of the motor can is shrouded in plastic.
(I might be able to remove the plastic top bumper/transmission brace and fab something to mount a fan blowing downwards)
 
Last edited:
This is a Castle Creations 4 pole 4106-4600kv with mambax esc. Using the Castle tuning software, it specifically states, NOT to adjust the timing, to use the sensored pre-programmed timing curve. *It states that damage will occur along with excessive heat when using "cheat mode" for adjusting the timing with this 4 pole motor....
 
Exotek makes a fan mount that has multiple mounting positions for the fan relative to the motor. Looks like you could position the fan at an angle just forward of the motor and to blow down at the motor can.
 
View attachment 2800 View attachment 2801 View attachment 2802 *I wish I could fit a heatsink/fan for the motor can.
**You can see in these pictures how 3/4 of the motor can is shrouded in plastic.
(I might be able to remove the plastic top bumper/transmission brace and fab something to mount a fan blowing downwards)
Dan, you won't melt the Gray skid plate on your Amp, Toement or Ruckus the melting point on that skid plate is 210 degrees.
 

Attachments

  • 2422.jpeg
    2422.jpeg
    129 KB · Views: 15
  • 2499.jpeg
    2499.jpeg
    145.1 KB · Views: 15
Thanx for sharing your pictures of the custom fan mount that you did on yours.(It gets me excited to be creative)
I Wasn't concerned about the plastic melting, I was describing how ineffective any natural air flow is with the way its currently configured. (currently very little of the motor can is open to air)
 
Yes, you are right about very little open air space for the motor. I'm always experimenting with cooling. I've had fans on top, on the side, I even had a fan mounted on the clutch cover sucking all the hot air out of the housing. That worked great, it stoped me from melting my spur gear all the time. I don't use that setup anymore as I went to all hard steel gearing.
It's really fun making design changes to trucks/cars. Most of my vehicles have three fans and some four, which run on there own separate 3S battery. So yea, a little ingenuity, common sence and quality workmanship makes it a lot of fun.
Even upgrading is exciting, I'm into speed so I'm always looking in that direction.
I had an old timer tell me "going for speed is the way to go even though you don't want to go fast, but you still have the good stuff, remember it's your finger that's on the trigger, you decide how fast you want to go". Was good advice.
 
I'm pretty new so don't take my say for much but I thought the hardcase was meant to contain the explosion if the battery fails. I read somewhere from someone who had a battery fire while charging it and all the trouble was kept safety at bay.
 

Latest posts

Members online

No members online now.
Back
Top