Battery upgrade choice questions
- Thread starter Jmiller83
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xlDooM
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1. The lipo battery itself ($15-$60 depending on type and brand)
2. A suitable charger for lipo batteries ($40-$120 depending on features and power)
3. A low voltage alarm (<$5)
4. A set of connectors to solder on to the battery or the ESC, and the charge lead of your charger (if required).
If you don't own a soldering iron, you might want to either involve your local hobby shop for sorting out the connectors, buy a battery and charger with EC3 leads (this limits you pretty much to Horizon brands and you'll pay somewhat extra), or get conversion leads (but these are often quite dodgy).
2. A suitable charger for lipo batteries ($40-$120 depending on features and power)
3. A low voltage alarm (<$5)
4. A set of connectors to solder on to the battery or the ESC, and the charge lead of your charger (if required).
If you don't own a soldering iron, you might want to either involve your local hobby shop for sorting out the connectors, buy a battery and charger with EC3 leads (this limits you pretty much to Horizon brands and you'll pay somewhat extra), or get conversion leads (but these are often quite dodgy).
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Not true. While they may cost a little extra, I have never had issues with Venom's connectors. If you want to use a battery for multiple applications and you haven't swapped everything to the same connector, it's the best way to go!
@Jmiller83, welcome to the site!
slowmethinks
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Venom 100%. I've toasted three batteries (my fault) and they have a full replacement warranty, no questions asked. And these were my $65 3S 5000mAh batteries.
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- Lexington, KY
I'd agree with @xlDooM for the simple fact that I myself don't like the idea of having to use adapters. While they probably work fine I'd rather just use one type of connector across all my RC's - doesn't matter if it's Deans, EC3's or XT-90's just so long as it's the same across all my batteries and ESC's.
In my opinion it not only removes the need for adapters it's cleaner and easier.
In my opinion it not only removes the need for adapters it's cleaner and easier.
Please dont forget the lipo charge bag (s) for safer charging and storage. The most conscientious of us still have bad days and its not worth it to risk a fire.
Edit: go ahead and do a quick search for "lipo fire" on youtube. Youll be amazed and hopefully learn something before you're the one uploading fire vids.
Edit: go ahead and do a quick search for "lipo fire" on youtube. Youll be amazed and hopefully learn something before you're the one uploading fire vids.
i_r_beej
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I'll add support for Venom and their connector system. I have a couple of batteries and have been using them for a few months now with NO issues.
I know this is an issue that is hotly debated, but I want to add a tiny voice of reason. LiPo batteries are not to be feared and they are NOT highly volatile and ready to blow up at a moments notice. Of course battery resellers have to cover their butts (lawsuits) but the primary issue with LiPo battery failure is improper charging followed by improper discharging (meaning placing too high a load on the battery; over-discharging) which damages the battery. Storing LiPos at a 60% of capacity is quite safe. Look at all the stores that store hundreds of LiPos in normal conditions. They aren't stored out of sight in concrete bunkers.
HOWEVER, all that said, you should treat LiPos differently than NiMh batteries. Pay attention when charging, match the battery to your intended use, and be careful that you don't physically damage them. The chemicals in the pack will react violently (catch fire) when exposed to the air.
Sure, you can Google "lipo fire" and find all sorts of horror stories, just like you can for "car wreck," "motorcycle crash," and "vasectomy gone wrong."
Cheers!
I know this is an issue that is hotly debated, but I want to add a tiny voice of reason. LiPo batteries are not to be feared and they are NOT highly volatile and ready to blow up at a moments notice. Of course battery resellers have to cover their butts (lawsuits) but the primary issue with LiPo battery failure is improper charging followed by improper discharging (meaning placing too high a load on the battery; over-discharging) which damages the battery. Storing LiPos at a 60% of capacity is quite safe. Look at all the stores that store hundreds of LiPos in normal conditions. They aren't stored out of sight in concrete bunkers.
HOWEVER, all that said, you should treat LiPos differently than NiMh batteries. Pay attention when charging, match the battery to your intended use, and be careful that you don't physically damage them. The chemicals in the pack will react violently (catch fire) when exposed to the air.
Sure, you can Google "lipo fire" and find all sorts of horror stories, just like you can for "car wreck," "motorcycle crash," and "vasectomy gone wrong."
Cheers!
Real_sparky
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I am a fan of EC3's and EC5's, they give a good connection and lots of surface area, but i can solder its not hard to learn to do. Hot iron and tin everything is the key. Youtube has some great videos.
Have seen Deans type connectors desolder themselves. Having said that they were used in the wrong application, car was running 6s on the grass and doing speed runs, he didn't think it was an issue. Everything else was cool, but the deans were the bottleneck, got hot with the resistance, go figure, couldn't handle the 100 amps the car was trying to pull.
Most connectors will do the job, given that they are rated for the application you are using them for.
Lipos can be safe given you treat them right. From my heli days was always told to only run the packs down to 20% and storage charge when not in use and ALWAYS balance charge. Most fires come from not hooking up the balance leads. When i stopped flying, all the packs i forgot to storage charge are now all puffy. All the packs i did, are still fine and have been using in the cars. Now if i can only find a use for these 6s packs
I charge just before using the packs now, batteries always seem to have that bit of extra pep straight off the charger.
Something else i invested in was good charger (revlectrix PL6 1000w and 1200w power supply) means you can really sink amps into the lipo quickly if the internal resistance of the battery is low enough. It calculates IR and shows what % of the pack at the start of the charge cycle and while charging. I charge my packs quickly 20 minutes or so. Then storage charge when i get home. But most low budget chargers won't have this option. Doesn't mean they aren't good they will still do the job. I also AWLAYS keep an eye on the packs while charging, looking at IR's of each cell and voltages.
Lipo alarm i find is a must even if your ESC has lipo cut off. I think the cut off on car ESC's is way to low. 3.5v on my older packs usually leaves 20% in them, and 3.6v on my newer packs seems to be the sweet spot for me. The voltage bounces usually to around 3.75v which is roughly 20%. Only the high quality ESC's can be programmed for what i think is a suitable cut off. Most out of the box settings for cut off, in my opinion are way too low, but that's just my opinion, dont take it as gospel.
Sorry for the long post, just my thoughts on Lipo's
Have seen Deans type connectors desolder themselves. Having said that they were used in the wrong application, car was running 6s on the grass and doing speed runs, he didn't think it was an issue. Everything else was cool, but the deans were the bottleneck, got hot with the resistance, go figure, couldn't handle the 100 amps the car was trying to pull.
Most connectors will do the job, given that they are rated for the application you are using them for.
Lipos can be safe given you treat them right. From my heli days was always told to only run the packs down to 20% and storage charge when not in use and ALWAYS balance charge. Most fires come from not hooking up the balance leads. When i stopped flying, all the packs i forgot to storage charge are now all puffy. All the packs i did, are still fine and have been using in the cars. Now if i can only find a use for these 6s packs
I charge just before using the packs now, batteries always seem to have that bit of extra pep straight off the charger.
Something else i invested in was good charger (revlectrix PL6 1000w and 1200w power supply) means you can really sink amps into the lipo quickly if the internal resistance of the battery is low enough. It calculates IR and shows what % of the pack at the start of the charge cycle and while charging. I charge my packs quickly 20 minutes or so. Then storage charge when i get home. But most low budget chargers won't have this option. Doesn't mean they aren't good they will still do the job. I also AWLAYS keep an eye on the packs while charging, looking at IR's of each cell and voltages.
Lipo alarm i find is a must even if your ESC has lipo cut off. I think the cut off on car ESC's is way to low. 3.5v on my older packs usually leaves 20% in them, and 3.6v on my newer packs seems to be the sweet spot for me. The voltage bounces usually to around 3.75v which is roughly 20%. Only the high quality ESC's can be programmed for what i think is a suitable cut off. Most out of the box settings for cut off, in my opinion are way too low, but that's just my opinion, dont take it as gospel.
Sorry for the long post, just my thoughts on Lipo's
weave
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About the Lipo batteries, in one of my older posts I stated that there is a way to bring a Lipo back to life. If you ever forgot to unplug your LiPo after rc'ing, or didn't set your low voltage cut-off you know what happens dead cells or low cell voltage and your Lipo charger won't charge your battery, (error low voltage or bad cell). Well there is a way to bring the the voltage back up to a nominal level so you can use your Lipo charger to charge the battery. If you have any type of balance charger 2s, 3s, 4s, plug the the balance connector to the balance connector on the battery and plug the charger into an AC outlet. Charge for about 20 to 30 minutes to get the voltage to a nominal level. I've done this many times, as i, left my Lipo plugged in for weeks and didn't realize it until i went to use the car/ truck and noticed the battery was still plugged in. This works and rasies the cell voltages so your Lipo charger can read all the cells in your LiPo.
The balance charger that comes with the Ruckus ( see image) is great for this purpose. You can also rejuvenate the cells by using your Lipo charger using NiMh settings, BUT YOU MUST be careful not to over charge the cells, so no more then a 10 minutes charge or less. Good luck and happy RC'ing.
The balance charger that comes with the Ruckus ( see image) is great for this purpose. You can also rejuvenate the cells by using your Lipo charger using NiMh settings, BUT YOU MUST be careful not to over charge the cells, so no more then a 10 minutes charge or less. Good luck and happy RC'ing.