Reedy LiPo Battery Packs - Future Li-Po?

[kfcaddict]

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u58/orsm/reedy-74v-20c-lipo-battery-packs.jpg

Reedy 5000 mAh 7.4V Pro LiPo pack

I was looking at purchasing a Ni-Mh charger and some new batterys soon but I stumbled on this. Now that it looks like Li-po will be safer, cheaper and easier to fit in off road cars, does anybody think that Li-po will be accepted into brca rules in the short term and more importantly does anybody think it will it completely take over and make Ni-Mh batteries obsolete in time? Or will people stick with Ni-Mh for years to come? What are peoples views?

[HVAC25000]

It's STILL not a saddle pack.... :mad:

[JCJC]

There have been a few threads on here and on Racechat, I asked Jim Spencer (via pm) on RaceChat if there was a chance they would be sanctioned in 10th off road, Nationals - NO in 2008, Regionals - No in 2008.

Those are hard NO's, We need a proposal at the AGM to change the rules, (currently cars have to be driven by max of 6 subC cells - Nat & Regional level) then the Electric Board need to approve the batteries for the season. Club & what you do otherwise is up to you. I understand there is no problem with BRCA insurance, if they were approved they would be covered.

Here is the (edited) reply I had from Jim Spencer

" Hi, Ok first off we're only taking about 1/10 Off Road Regionals, as they're the only class to run regional racing under the control of the full section commitee.

So the answer to your question is 'No' as the 1/10 Off Road rules don't allow LiPo's for any of their sanctioned events.

Any other sort of 'regional' event such as TORC or STCC from the touring car world then it's their choice.

Homologation works like this
When a section passes the rules for a new class it can - if it wishes - ask the Electric Board to draw up a homologation list (Bikes didn't bother) and the Touring Car section may well yet do so they're busy discussing that bit.
Assuming they do the E.B. would then contact the manufacturers asking for product to be supplied. (I suggested that a "vested interest" may propose & supply a sample-JCJC)

So in essence :-
No class uses them = no list.
1 class uses them = maybe a list > if they want one.
Get to a couple of classes and you'll definatly get a list.

The drivers in the classes need to vote in their use at Nationals to generate the info folks seem to want - almost as a comfort zone?

Hope this helps Jim -Jim Spencer "


Thread on RaceChat tucked away in the BRCA General Q&A forum,

http://www.rcracechat.com/vb/showthread.php?t=38852

http://www.rcracechat.com/vb/showthread.php?t=38896


In answer to your question, I think lipo will take over, mabey the top guys looking for ultimate punch will keep with Ni-Mh, but lipo would make my racing at club & regional level easier & cheaper, and I am carefull where I charge our IB4200 at 4.5amps.

[_JP_]

if they do become ok to surley everyone has to change or there has to be a seperate class, we run 7.2V and Lipoly are 7.4V

is that .2 of a volt is an advantage?

[HVAC25000]

mabey the top guys looking for ultimate punch will keep with Ni-Mh

The .2volt difference doesn't help when you can't get the same amperage.

right? :eh?:

[Gayo]

if they do become ok to surley everyone has to change or there has to be a seperate class, we run 7.2V and Lipoly are 7.4V

is that .2 of a volt is an advantage?

Those are nominal tensions, an average NIMH is at 8.4V at least when fully charged, so is the lipo, so not (enough of) a difference here.

Hope this is not too confusing :eh?: :p

[JCJC]

Much use of Lipo's in buggy's in France ? Gayo

[OldTimer]

Hard cased lipos are legal in Belgium this year, so it will be interesting to see how they get on. And if there is a big move across to them or not.

[Cooper]

Hard cased lipos are legal in Belgium this year, so it will be interesting to see how they get on. And if there is a big move across to them or not.



yeah but still waiting for a saddle pack to put in our S2 !

[OldTimer]

I know of three manufactures working on hard cased saddle pack lipos, so hopefully not to long to wait ;)

[Chrislong]

Personally I want to try them first, but if as good as I expect, I intend to use them at club meetings and save the Nimphs for Regional/national events as it means they'll stay new for longer (with the odd equalise & partial charge session to keep them from dieing)

Chris

[RogerM]

Chris ..... have you found somebody doing some that will fit in the 4-2 arrangement then????

[super__dan]

I'm afraid not, but stick packs fit the X6 across the back.

[mark christopher]

saddle packs will come

the EB will have a list of lipo standards as they are now allowed in 19 Touring Class

whats needed is a vote at the agm to allow them
the .2 volt no advantage, the big advantage is, good life span, no discharger/equalize, they dont loose performance over thier life. they are lighter and may put cars under weight.
so your options are to re set up the car or add lead to keep your settings

[_JP_]

OK can I run 7.4V nimh then :)

I know a few guys at the club have moved to them and it does make life easy.

matched lipo's next :)

[Gayo]

Much use of Lipo's in buggy's in France ? Gayo

Unfortunately, they aren't legal for now. Fingers crossed for 2008, I'm not holding my breath though.

I use an LRP 5000 for training and it's really good. 15mn+ run time on a 6.5 on astro :cool:

[Gayo]

Chris ..... have you found somebody doing some that will fit in the 4-2 arrangement then????p
You can fit it on the 4 cells place, but some creative strapping is needed. I'm working on it.

[JCJC]

Found a handy guide to LiPo in the TC section of the BRCA web site

http://bombay.directrouter.com/~centralb/brca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=105&Itemid=25

Interesting read.

[Chrislong]

p
You can fit it on the 4 cells place, but some creative strapping is needed. I'm working on it.

Hi Raphael,
When done, can you email some pictures to me please? I have had a look, and thought about a stick pack on the 4 cell side, lead on the 2 cell side.

[Al3xis007]

yes the run time is more and less maintenance but..
can they take hard landings???
and i know ppl that have tried them in touring cars on-road and they say they're not as powerful as the 4200's
(i dont need more power! and the xx4 def cant take any more captain)

we'll have to wait and see... lipo or lipoo

[Gayo]

Hi Raphael,
When done, can you email some pictures to me please? I have had a look, and thought about a stick pack on the 4 cell side, lead on the 2 cell side.

Of course mate, I will also post here and on 4wdrc.

My X-5 is very left-heavy in 6-cells setup, with the BL esc in front of the motor. I find that with a lipo on the right and no lead, left-right balance is about perfect. Plus, you can put the esc on the 2-cells place, it's so neat ! You shave a whopping 120-150g off the car... how cool is that ?

[Chrislong]

Its very cool Gayo!! I like the sound of that.... :D

[mark christopher]

yes the run time is more and less maintenance but..
can they take hard landings???
and i know ppl that have tried them in touring cars on-road and they say they're not as powerful as the 4200's
(i dont need more power! and the xx4 def cant take any more captain)

we'll have to wait and see... lipo or lipoo
yes they can take the knocks,they are eqaul at least to 4200, and the added benifit of not going off

[ashleyb4]

How are the trackpower lipo saddle packs gettign on mark i see a pic im very intreaged on what there like have you tried oen in a xx4 yet?? Im worried about battery strap high.

A

[super__dan]

Raphael,

ANy early pics, just as a plan view of what an X5 looks with Lipo down the one side please??? ;)

[Gayo]

Overall view, plenty of room for the electronics on the left :
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/2412/imgp0234py4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)



You have to shave the rear mouting boss :
[/url]http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/5369/imgp0233fp2.jpg



Oops ! Shave here too, unless your lipo is shorter. I suppose hard cased ones are longer.
http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/8418/imgp0235rs1.jpg


Some space to use a slim battery post :
http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/2233/imgp0238vn9.jpg


Maybe here too :
http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/1433/imgp0239ba4.jpg


That's my idea. Maybe I should work for Pixar ?:D
http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/2554/strapvt9.jpg

[burgie]

in my experience, hard cased li-po's are not adversely affected from the rigors of off-road racing. I have used them extensively in the B4 and Lazer ZX5.

i have also borrowed a good, matched set of 4200's as a comparison to Li-po's and the power delivery of the 4200's felt better than the li-po's top speed was about the same, so i would say if you buy decent nimih's (like most of you do) you are not at a disadvantage to the Team Orion 3200 lipos at least. I am awaiting my new 3600 orions for the forthcoming season.

Prior to using the Lipo's I was running Demon GP3700's and the 3200mah Lipos out performed them in every category!

[super__dan]

Looks good Rafael, I can imagine with speedo and receiver on the other side and some lead opposite the servo the balance should be similair (though car lighter). Just need a neat way of holding the Lipo down.

Can Olivier make anything (and one for me!).

[Chrislong]

Can Olivier make anything (and one for me!).

And me too please ;)

I have had a trackpower lipo for a few weeks (Thanks Mark Christopher), and although never used, I looked at fitment and what you have done is exactly what I would do too. I thought perhaps about doing away with the servo post, and mounting the servo via a B4 alloy post there (and a hole on the opposite side of the tunnel to get the allen wrench through to the screw). But then the servo wire sticks out there unprotected.

[mark christopher]

How are the trackpower lipo saddle packs gettign on mark i see a pic im very intreaged on what there like have you tried oen in a xx4 yet?? Im worried about battery strap high.

A

ive lent a trakpower stick pack to Tom Cockerill, just got this pm

I've just finished fitting the lipo into my xx4, fits straight in with no mods.

Tom

so if you ask tom nicely im sure he will try to get a pic on here

[ashleyb4]

Yea tom also pm'ed me to say it would fit in without any mods. So does this mean the saddle pack lipo will also fit in

A

[Al3xis007]

loads of touring on road boys recon 4200's have way more punch... but they do all charge way over 5amps.
i saw some one using 2 chargers on a 5cell pack at the indoor rug racers event. thats gotta be over 10amps...mental

[HVAC25000]

Just out of curiosity, (and sorry to hijack the thread, replies could be PMed to me if desired), why does everyone keep referring to 4200s as the competitor/alternative for LiPo? Didn't 4600s come out about a week ago, and shouldn't they basically make 4200s obsolete, just as 42 did to 38 and 38 to 36 and 36 to 33?

Chris

[sly]

loads of touring on road boys recon 4200's have way more punch... but they do all charge way over 5amps.
i saw some one using 2 chargers on a 5cell pack at the indoor rug racers event. thats gotta be over 10amps...mental


From your observation of the charging habits of someone, is it no wonder why people are getting hurt and equipment getting investigated for safety reasons. when it looks simple like a total user error/stupidity.

[Al3xis007]

Just out of curiosity, (and sorry to hijack the thread, replies could be PMed to me if desired), why does everyone keep referring to 4200s as the competitor/alternative for LiPo? Didn't 4600s come out about a week ago, and shouldn't they basically make 4200s obsolete, just as 42 did to 38 and 38 to 36 and 36 to 33?

Chris

42's were the huge step from gp4300's and most ppl used them last year. who here as used 46's.....?

we should wait for the homologation list to come out on the brca site cause 46's may not be legal!!

[Al3xis007]

From your observation of the charging habits of someone, is it no wonder why people are getting hurt and equipment getting investigated for safety reasons. when it looks simple like a total user error/stupidity.

it was one of the a final 5cell mod boys doin this, wouldn't recommend it but his car was huge fast.

it does prove you can give em a beating tho!

[mark christopher]

it was one of the a final 5cell mod boys doin this, wouldn't recommend it but his car was huge fast.

it does prove you can give em a beating tho!
the idiot should have been reported and kicked out the meeting and had his BRCA licence withdrawn!

[mark christopher]

Yea tom also pm'ed me to say it would fit in without any mods. So does this mean the saddle pack lipo will also fit in

A
there is a very good chance as were trying to keep them within a 3 cell saddle size

[Oliv996]

And me too please ;)


Hi my dear fellows (Chris and Dan) !!!

It would be a great challenge to design a neat battery strap system for LiPo on X5 and then share with you how to do it but unfortunately, I'm not very involved in my X-5 mods anymore... you will blame me 'cause I switched to B44 :(

So I put my trust in my master Gayo to find a brainy solution ;)

Cheers

Olivier

[RogerM]

I know very little about the chassis on X5 but could you not make a small slot in the tunnel at the right hight and clip a strap into that .... all you would have to do then is an outside rear and central front post which should be easy!!

[Spoolio]

I'm surprised that no one has yet released a hard cased LiPo with 'lumps' to simulate a conventional cell race pack. Surely the extra plastic involved would be more than offset by the weight saved on the cells themselves.

A lumpy LiPo would be much easier to fit into a touring car chassis wouldn't it. Something for the manufacturers to think about perhaps.

[burgie]

I'm surprised that no one has yet released a hard cased LiPo with 'lumps' to simulate a conventional cell race pack. Surely the extra plastic involved would be more than offset by the weight saved on the cells themselves.

A lumpy LiPo would be much easier to fit into a touring car chassis wouldn't it. Something for the manufacturers to think about perhaps.

team orion have...

[mark christopher]

I'm surprised that no one has yet released a hard cased LiPo with 'lumps' to simulate a conventional cell race pack. Surely the extra plastic involved would be more than offset by the weight saved on the cells themselves.

A lumpy LiPo would be much easier to fit into a touring car chassis wouldn't it. Something for the manufacturers to think about perhaps.
the lumps dont alter the size of the cell inside the case, there just plastic moulded lumps

[HVAC25000]

the lumps dont alter the size of the cell inside the case, there just plastic moulded lumps

What did he say that implied that he thought the battery would be a different shape, and not just the case? :wtf:

[Spoolio]

What did he say that implied that he thought the battery would be a different shape, and not just the case? :wtf:

:eh?:Er, I didn't think I did. I just thought they could chuck a bit more plastic into a mould to put some lumps on the underside of the case - apologies, I didn't realise Orion had already done this. I don't get out much!!:D

[bigbison]

chav pay attention, i knew wot u ment cheers the bandit ;)