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A question before I hit the sack...

Those of you guys who are running LiPo batteries in your Optima series of cars--how did you end up strapping in those squared-off batteries?

Short of me fabricating something of my own design, is there anything out there to make installing a square-edged LiPo battery where round-edged NiCd/NiMH's were originally intended, easier?

No doubt it would involve removing or modding those two triangular battery stand-offs that bolt onto the upper deck/radio plate...

Looking forward to your solutions. Surely there must be Optimas out there running 7.4V LiPo packs.

thats where stick pack lipo's come in

http://www.robitronic.com/files/produktbilder/Robitronic/Akkus/R05221/Mit%20Kabel/r05221_550.jpg

couple of those, and you wont have to carve up your chassis on any old cars

I was unaware of such a thing.

Great...after I go ahead and buy a few of these at a great price. LOL

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=17240

Unless anyone else has other ideas, I guess I'll have to fabricate my own battery holders out of aluminum or plastic with squared-off edges...

EDIT: Speaking of which, I could find no pricing info on that linked Robitronic battery anywhere, and various searches of Robitronic on eBay turned up nothing.

I did turn up this equivalent Protek battery, but it's more than double the cost at almost $50
http://www.skmotion.net/PROTEK-LIPO-74V-4000MAH-STICK-PACK-BATTERY-2S-25C-SPORT-RACE-TRAXXAS-CONNECTOR_p_3483.html

guys guys guys

http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=lipo+stick+rc+car

Paul

I bought one of these for my vintage cars. It fit my optima mid, optima and JRX2

http://www.hobbypartz.com/77p-sl4400-2s1p-30c-2222.html

Lonestar wrote:guys guys guys

http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=lipo+stick+rc+car

Well, since I now have these rectangular LiPos already, it's more about finding a way to make them fit, not buying more batteries.

I like the one you linked, Scott...nice price, too. I trust the Turnigy brand more, though...

I'd take the plastic parts off and remove the 6 screws that hold these in place:
1. cut a piece of thin graphite in the same shape as your battery top, but make sure the contact holes are free and there's no short circuit possible...maybe beter use black G10 = non-conductive
2. drill and countersink 6 holes in that part corresponding with the 6 holes in the topdeck,
3. use 6 tapered head m3 screws, spacer collars and locknuts to mount the new piece under the topdeck
4. use tape to strap the battery in place: like touringcar racers do/did

Lonestar wrote:guys guys guys

http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=lipo+stick+rc+car

Just an update; it doesn't do much good to Google "stick lipo" because most e-tailers--including HobbyKing--refer to ANY long, non-saddle, non-hump pack as a "stick pack". I'd be interested in exchanging the square-edged ones I bought for round-edged vintage-shaped units with comparable price & specs, but I can't for the life of me find anything like that on HobbyKing's site! Their site search leaves a lot to be desired.

Furthermore, Turnigy doesn't even have a website, it's a HobbyKing house brand...I don't suppose anyone here knows of a Turnigy battery with a vintage 6-cell shape?

Hobbypartz.com has them. You can find them in their 'hard case lipos' section.
http://www.hobbypartz.com/hardcase.html

tim.sanderson wrote:Hobbypartz.com has them. You can find them in their 'hard case lipos' section.
http://www.hobbypartz.com/hardcase.html

Now we're gettin' somewhere:

http://www.hobbypartz.com/98p-25c-4000-2s1p-hardcase.html
Round edges, similar width to the old batteries (~42mm), not quite as tall, and just a tad longer than the old 6-cells...for a reasonable price.

Coelacanth wrote:

tim.sanderson wrote:Hobbypartz.com has them. You can find them in their 'hard case lipos' section.
http://www.hobbypartz.com/hardcase.html

Now we're gettin' somewhere:

http://www.hobbypartz.com/98p-25c-4000-2s1p-hardcase.html
Round edges, similar width to the old batteries (~42mm), not quite as tall, and just a tad longer than the old 6-cells...for a reasonable price.

Those are decent size too. The length is a tad longer (.16") but it's narrower and shallower than nimh packs so that's good.

Did you read my post? I'm surprised you're not going creative on this subject and don't try to use the modern stuff you already have for your MMV project

Mr. ED wrote:Did you read my post? I'm surprised you're not going creative on this subject and don't try to use the modern stuff you already have for your MMV project

Yeah I did, thanks for the tip, I was considering something similar--but one thing I didn't mention is I bought 3 batteries; one for myself, which I wouldn't mind modding Barney to make 'er fit; and 2 for my buddy, who has an Optima. I don't want to mod 2 cars, so I might as well just return them and buy the no-hassle batteries. The price is about the same anyway.

If I was doing a mod, I'd have bolted a rectangle retaining 'ring' of sorts on one underside of the radio plate, and some kind of press-locking mechanism on the other side. This would allow the battery to slide through the rectangle retainer and use Velcro or the stock zip-fastener to lock the battery in place. But alas, I don't want to do that twice.

Besides...my build is already so far behind that it's about ready to lap itself.

Truth be known I've yet to own a LiPo battery or even any modern electronics for that matter. The last time I drove an R/C is when Novak came out with their brushless setup. That was in 2003 I believe. Since then all my vehicles have been shelf queens or works in progress. I'm getting the hankering again to have at least one runner. I've decided that this spring/summer I'm going to purchase a LiPo battery or two, a charger, and some radio gear in order to have one vehicle I can drive.