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lipo Question
Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2008 12:17 pm
by mikedealer
is this a good race battery?
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXTXG4&P=7
forgive my dumbness lol, i know little about lipos really, seems like 5k mah for under 100 would be good, but is there like a drawback to this pack as opposed to a pack for $169?
Re: lipo Question
Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2008 12:35 pm
by Brandon G
Can't tell you anything about Reedy packs.
Tower will match Stormer's price of $89 on this pack, and if you buy $11 worth of additional stuff, get $15 off? Good pack by the way.
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXTMY9&P=7
Re: lipo Question
Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2008 12:38 pm
by mikedealer
thats a good pack too?
my next tower order is going to be for a new lipo charger, low profile servo, lipo battery, tires/wheels, a lrp sphere comp esc, and a novak 17.5 brushless.. so i think i have a $30 off coupon somwhere too.
Re: lipo Question
Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2008 2:30 pm
by badhoopty
mikedealer wrote:thats a good pack too?
my next tower order is going to be for a new lipo charger, low profile servo, lipo battery, tires/wheels, a lrp sphere comp esc, and a novak 17.5 brushless.. so i think i have a $30 off coupon somwhere too.
i got the code if you need it and if it still works.
i would get the orion lipo btw.
Re: lipo Question
Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 3:29 am
by tecnica2001
can I use 1 pack for a whole day of racing? off course recharging it after each race. Or like nimh, would I have to buy a couple of packs to run in one day??
Are these good packs??
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXTAV3&P=ML
they don't seem that expensive, and a charger like the venom is not that bad, price wise.
thanks
Re: lipo Question
Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 9:50 am
by civilguy
I personally run those and have not had a problem. I have 2 for racing (two classes) and I run 2 5-minute quals with them and 5-minute mains, topping them off in between. I use a Superbrain 989 (which I can use for break-in and my lathe too) with the Astroflight 'blinky' for balancing.
I like the fact that they have the cutoff circuitry built in so you can throw them in any buggy.
Those Orions mentioned early are great batteries too. There are tons of choices out there-- good luck!
Re: lipo Question
Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 9:57 am
by Brandon G
I ran a B4 all winter with 1 3200 orion pack. Doesn't even got hot after a run. Bring it in, charge it, run it for the next heat. Never skipped a beat.
You will be pushing it if you run 1 pack in 2 different classes, if that is your intention. Not that the packs can't handle it, just that you wouldn't have enough time to charge it. Charge amps rule of thumb is if you have a 3200 pack, charge it at 3.2 amps. 5000 mah, 5 amps, etc. Of course as racers are becoming more comfortable with lipo, they are pushing the amps up, resulting in higher voltages. This is a learn as we go kind of thing....
Re: lipo Question
Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 2:06 pm
by tecnica2001
Well I have 3300mah nimh, that I want to run on my XX with the brushed stock motor, and on the RC10t with the brushless I was thinking of running the Lipo, but then I would have to buy the pack, charger and balancer, on the other hand, I only have 5 3300mah nimh packs and 2 3600 stick packs, and I'll be running (hopefully) in two classes, so 7 packs for two classes at 3heats 1main, it's gonna be hectic.

Re: lipo Question
Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 2:15 pm
by civilguy
Keep in mind though that the mains are on Sunday, so really you're only looking at three qualifiers on Saturday. You can run the 3 quals and pick the best pack to use the next day.
Or you can do like me-- run 1 qual, fix the broken buggy while charging and sitting out the 2nd and then try again on the 3rd.... then fix the buggy at night and charge again....

Re: lipo Question
Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 5:04 pm
by Bongo Fury
Not trying to diss anybody, but be aware there is some concern with MRC chargers with lipos. Regarding the accuracy of the voltage readings. Not a problem with nimh, relative voltages work OK for delta peak charging. But with the absolute voltage measurement that is so critical to lipos. Orion warns against them in the info sheet that comes with their lipos. And others have reported problems.
As far as lipos, Orions are very good, TrakPower are most excellent. EDIT: Forgot TPs don't fit old school, the Orion 3600 only fits Losi XX, not older JR/LXT models. Orion has new models coming out that appear to be as good as the TPs. Both match the cells, they tend to stay in balance quite well. Haven't heard much, but I'd be surprised if the Reedy wasn't top stuff too.
But recommend a balancer just to be safe. Or at least keep tabs on the cell voltages. And a ‘hard case’ like the Orions and TPs. Would hate to see any body have a fire, all the worse with some of these difficult to replace vintage rides.
Cheers!
Re: lipo Question
Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 5:30 pm
by scr8p
civilguy wrote:Keep in mind though that the mains are on Sunday, so really you're only looking at three qualifiers on Saturday. You can run the 3 quals and pick the best pack to use the next day.
the 3 qualifying rounds, and the mains are all on sunday. friday and saturday is practice.
Re: lipo Question
Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 5:40 pm
by Bongo Fury
Your choice, but you are probably OK with the 7 nimh packs. As long as you get 2 hours of cool down time you should be good. Its quite common to run a couple practices, quals and the main for one class on 3 nimh batteries. Each ran twice.
Re: lipo Question
Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 6:15 pm
by bearrickster
I have 1 Orion 3200 Carbon edition I run a T4 with a brushless 10.5 I run two heats 6 Min each and play in the middle then recharge and and run the third heat and Mail then charge it again it is great I will not be buying anything but Lipo's anymore

Re: lipo Question
Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 6:24 pm
by aconsola
has anybody tried fitting a hard-case lipo into a losi chassis? If so what battery specifically did you use, and what battery box(original, 2-piece, or aftermarket?).
I hadn't even considered the # of packs I will need to race 2 classes, all I've got is 2 3300 and 1 3800. all of which are rather on the old side.
Does the battery with the built-in cutoff mean that it is safe to use with old-school ESC's?
Re: lipo Question
Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 6:42 pm
by tecnica2001
aconsola wrote:has anybody tried fitting a hard-case lipo into a losi chassis? If so what battery specifically did you use, and what battery box(original, 2-piece, or aftermarket?).
I hadn't even considered the # of packs I will need to race 2 classes, all I've got is 2 3300 and 1 3800. all of which are rather on the old side.
Does the battery with the built-in cutoff mean that it is safe to use with old-school ESC's?
I don't know about the fitting, I'm thinking of that myself, what size pack will fit on the stock RC10T battery cups?
As far as the cutoff, it means that the battery pack comes with the circutry that will prevent it from discharging below 6 volts.