BRCA EB Battery Regs Announced

[Chequered Flag Racing]

but no list of what is allowed as yet

see 2009 Regs, top right of page

[Mike Hudson]

Copyed direct from the brca rules and regs 09
'Lithium Based (LiPo) Battery Packs.
The storage, charging and use of Lithium based batteries (LiPo) can give rise to
serious safety implications. The BRCA will publish guidelines for the safe use of
these batteries on the BRCA website. It is imperative that the guidelines are studied
and adhered to.
3.3 Lithium based (LiPo) battery packs must have a hard, protective case that
completely envelopes the cell(s). The case should be made from ABS or a similar
material. The two halves of the case must be factory sealed in a way that any
attempt to open the case will destroy the case. The only opening in the case that is
allowed, is for the exit of wires.
3.4 For 7.4v Packs: The maximum case sizes allowed are as follows: -
Length: 139.0mm.
Width: 47.0mm. (The max. width includes any side exit wires).
Height: 23.5mm. (In addition, chassis location protrusions are allowed)
Saddle-Pack cells are allowed, and must comply with the above width and height
dimensions. Saddle-Pack cells must have a combined length dimension of 139.0mm
max when placed end to end.'

That makes the current trakpower 3200 and 4800 saddles illegal then Glad i din't go ahead and buy a pack today
Have heard that trakpower might be producing some new saddles though but whether they comply with the max dimension limits and will be submitted on time I don't know.
So at current I don't know of any saddle packs that comply with the all rules at current and theres only until the end of this month for manufacturers to sumbit saddle packs that don't break any of the rules.

[discostu]

thats typical of the brca trying to kill a class of racing so if you run a d4,b4, 501, bj4 worlds, x11, yokomo b max, yokomo bx or any saddle pack 4wd car you will not be aloud to race a brca meeting unless you spend mega money on unrelible exploding nimh cells and all the cycle crap that goes with them that figures any way what if the clear heat shrink was removed from the track power lipo saddles do the fit the dimentions then

stu rand

[bondy]

Makes me laugh and cry at the same time !

Saddle pack lipos must be no more in length combined than a normal lipo pack.

Yes it probably would if you cut one end off the case on one of them ????? -- but there are now 4 ends not 2 ! If the cells inside are a set length then yes there is going to be a few mm extra plastic 2 lots to be precice. Its not rocket science here its basic engineering and understanding. So trakpower " the inovators the ones who took the risk reaaly and changed the way we race I think will be a bit P***** off ! And frankley I wouldnt blame them

3mm Guys Come on Which muppet made that rule up ?? and why ??


ps I havent bought any yet and by the looks of it will anybody now !

[3975dave]

Would I be right in saying that they only have till the end of the month to submit some correct size saddle packs that could then be approved for this year???
If thats the case then that could be a bad decision Imo.

[James]

Originally Posted by bondy

Yes it probably would if you cut one end off the case on one of them ????? -- but there are now 4 ends not 2 ! If the cells inside are a set length then yes there is going to be a few mm extra plastic 2 lots to be precice.

Doesnt affect me as i run sticks in both cars but i agree with that bondy, there are 2 extra ends just by nature of having 2 units, shouldn't there really be an allowance for that? i dunno

[OldTimer]

New cells have to be submitted by the 1st of December.

[tyreman]

The way I read it was, all new cells could be submitted as late as 31st January.

[3975dave]

Were no legal sized saddle packs submitted at all???

[DCM]

Originally Posted by OldTimer

New cells have to be submitted by the 1st of December.

there is an extension till the end of Jan for LiPo.

And it wouldn't of been hard to write a specific length for a 'saddle half' of a saddle pack, leaveing the height and width the same. But then I would guess that if there is a need, the manufacturers will provide asap....

I think, for regional racing, the regions would just have to use common sense, just might leave the EOS finals a bit low on numbers.

[OldTimer]

Originally Posted by tyreman

The way I read it was, all new cells could be submitted as late as 31st January.

Just took the 1st of December off the Electric board 2009 rules pdf.

Ah just spotted it further down 31st of Jan for lipos, my error.

[ashleyb4]

Im pretty sure the rules said the time period for cells to be submitted has been extended thsi year due to the fact this year is the first proper lipo year.

But again i could be wrong.

All i can say is though the rules are perfectly fine good set of guidelines yea i have a 3200 lipo which wont be legal next year but im sure companys such as track power wont have trouble skimming a few mm off each of the cell cases.

Also bear in mind that chances are the manafacture's would of had these guidlines before us so they would have more time.

A

[SimonW]

Does this mean that the current "Rolling" list of lipos ie, the one the touring guys use are the only legal lipos for this year then ? Somebody please help as i'm off to race the petite thingy and need to get them in.

[rc_penguin]

Petit said that they would allow lipos before the rules came out but as long as lead was added to bring the car up to weight. I hope they still allow the trakpowers still cos i cant afford new cells

[OldTimer]

The touring car lipo list is not a official electric board list, we were advised at the agm the list of approved lipos for this year would be out as quickly as possible. Not sure now how this stands with the approval deadline being moved back two months ?.

[super sparks]

For 7.4v Packs: The maximum case sizes allowed are as follows: -
Length: 139.0mm.
Width: 47.0mm.
If the above lipo cell sizes above as quoted by mike are correct then core rc 5000mah cells should be ok they have hard cases and they fall under the above measurements

[3975dave]

Originally Posted by rc_penguin

Petit said that they would allow lipos before the rules came out but as long as lead was added to bring the car up to weight. I hope they still allow the trakpowers still cos i cant afford new cells

From what I understood they should be fine dude
Unless of course you insult my plastic fantastic again

[Tim Ward]

Isn't the BRCA supposed to represent OUR views??? I say we on-mass write/email to the BRCA EB and let them know how wrong they are re rules that effectively outlaw Trakpower saddles!

[neiloliver]

I dont think that being on the Touring car list means that they will be on the final list. Some may be removed due to the side wire/dimension. It also depends on if they are officially submitted for approval. We will need to wait for the final list to come out before buying anything.

I see 2009 as a Shakedown year for Lithium Polymer... Even if all the packs on the TC list did make it to the final list then that is a LOT of packs.. and they wont all be good in terms of cycle life, durability etc..

On the trackpower saddles... Making a pack that is longer than three Cs cells side by side was always going to be on a sticky wicket... but all battery design is a compromise and I am sure they were forced down that route by the efficiency of using a cell side they had already tooled.

[ashleyb4]

Try and get them in you b44 as far as im aware they wont fit in anyway without modification so the EB are making the manafacture change the sizes so that they will fit in all cars with minimal modification.

A