Lipo

[Jenny Tamanui]

This thread is open for people to add information how they have gone last year using Lipos


DO and the Don'ts
What brands people have been buying
Who long they been lasting

and any general information that you want to share learnings to other members

[sam11]

Great idea Jen and co.

Heres what i do, dont do, dont do anymore

Dont's
-Dont buy cheaper brand lipo's like Hobbyking ones, Apart from Turnigy Nanotechs, if taken care of they last.
-Dont buy second hand.
-Dont leave in high temp locations when storing.
-Dont leave them in your cars after meetings/travelling

Do's
-Always store in Lipo Bags. packed in nice and tight with padding.
-When charging, Always set your charger to 'Balance Charge'. 'Normal charge' doesn't balance them! an un balanced lipo is a bomb waiting to happen
-when buying. shop around, and research/google different brands for other peoples reviews. (Just remember, on-road don't hit properly )
-Take care when handling, especially with plug in wires, don't get them mixed up and plug them in backwards, if you do say good buy to your esc.
-if using plug in wires, with banana plugs, put something around it to keep the plug in the battery, nothing worse then mid race plug coming out, or some one accidentally picking up car and pulling wires out.
-Make sure the lipo is fitted into your car, with lots of padding around it to help absorb the impact.
-always inspect after each meeting for cracks in case, swelling/puffing and other damage.

so far, i have used a few different brands,
Taranaki Champs - i used a Team Orion Carbon Pro. didnt take the hits very well, cell was moving inside, resulting in no power,

2014 Teams - the one that i smoked, which done a fair amount of damage ... was a Turnigy Nanotech 6.0 6000mah. 1 of 4 that i have, 3 which still are perfect now. we all know the result of that one. haha

Intellect/IP 7600mah 90c, i had 2 of these, one puffed up so much that the case opened up, and cells expanded, the other one has just puffed up,

all of which, common **** up of all them was i didn't know to balance charge them, which is what i have put down to not helping.

But at the moment, and for this year im running Shorty packs which allow alot more padding, and so far, ones i have used over last few months of 2014, haven't had any problems,

Thats pretty much what i have come to after a year of them. hopefully this year will be able to try a few more and see how we go

Cheers,
Sam

[kinder]

Sam pretty much summed it up.
I have found lipos are faster but you need to gear the car down a pinion,as motor gets more power this causes more heat.we run 3 minute races in chch.
I have tried a few different lipos the zippen 7400/90c one died 3 meeting no power.the other I still run on club days.
I tried a team powers 6200/70c didn't really go that good and puffed after a meeting but was a smashfest that day.
For big meetings I run rb 7000/90c the same as I run in my touring mod on road car.
I also run shorty packs as have left over from my f1 4600/60c a bit lighter as well.no problems with them so far as need a lot of padding to put in my car.
On the padding point I run a billet alloy battery box and carbon strap to hold it down.you don't want the battery to slide in any direction they don't like it at all.other guys run Velcro straps and do just as good job.
In the chch club there has been only one battery go up in smoke and he raced in the next race after changing batteries but needed a re tub before the next meeting.
They normally only smoke if in use and catch fire if charging in correctly a good charger should stop this from happening.
I wreaked just as many hi-mi batteries as lipo but our club racing is hard and fierce down here.
I do believe they are safe if handled correctly but do believe the cars need to be slowed down.but that a debate for another day.