Lipo are they dangerous?

Yachty · #1 14-11-2008

Has anyone else had any serious incidents with Lipo as I stumbled across the following article. As I race both 4wd offroad battery cars and yachts.

http://www.onemetre.net/OtherTopics/...e/LipoFire.htm

As we know for off road events presently lipo is not allowed which before ordering my Cat SX which I am presently buidling I thought was a pain as Lipo clearly had a competitive advantage so on a world stage this seemed strange. Maybe this is a wise move to not allow Lipo? Any other bad experiences or is this an isolated incident and we shouldn't be worrying? I have mistreaded normal cells all the way through my teenage years without any consequences I am more carefull now is lipo worth the risk? I certainly wouldn't let kids use them.

Alfonzo · #2 14-11-2008

If abused they can be potentially dangerous. Just like every other type of battery in existence.

peetbee · #3 14-11-2008

There's a lot of information already posted on this forum regarding lipo safety, but in summary, as long as they are charged correctly then they are no more dangerous than other battery types (some may argue they are safer than nimh)

With regards to legality, they will shortly be legal and many clubs have allowed their use this year in off road.
With the Cat you have picked a very lipo friendly car (did you get the lipo version?)

SHY · #4 14-11-2008

Stick to a hardcased ones for safety, and preferably one one the ROAR list (they are tested).

If you also charge and store the batteries in a LiPo sack you should be very safe.

mark christopher · #5 14-11-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yachty

Has anyone else had any serious incidents with Lipo as I stumbled across the following article. As I race both 4wd offroad battery cars and yachts.

http://www.onemetre.net/OtherTopics/...e/LipoFire.htm

As we know for off road events presently lipo is not allowed which before ordering my Cat SX which I am presently buidling I thought was a pain as Lipo clearly had a competitive advantage so on a world stage this seemed strange. Maybe this is a wise move to not allow Lipo? Any other bad experiences or is this an isolated incident and we shouldn't be worrying? I have mistreaded normal cells all the way through my teenage years without any consequences I am more carefull now is lipo worth the risk? I certainly wouldn't let kids use them.

same can be said for nimh, any cell is danjerous if abused, and shame on you if you have been doing when kids are around

Adam Bailey · #6 14-11-2008

If you treat your LiPo like and idiot, then yes, they can be dangerous.

If you use a little common sense and educate yourself on LiPo's and how they should be treated then you'll never have problem

KennyClark · #7 15-11-2008

Hardcase lipos are probably safer than cells.

As long as you dont puncture it, drop it, charge at more than 4C, heat it up in tyre warmers as you charge it to get more voltage, totally dump it, use the wrong charger, dont charge it in a bag or swear at it they are fine.

Its the way forward.

dave g · #8 15-11-2008

ive probably been using lipo longer than most people on here,from around 2002 i think,started using the tiny 145mah lipos to make 1/87 scale rc trucks,right upto the present day 10th scale ones we see,never ever had a problem in what must be close to a thousand charges.

ive seen lipos on video go up in smoke but never in real life,ive seen nimh go up in real life and its scary,infact both are scary if im honest...but you usually have to do something pretty stupid to get to that point(some nimh cells excluded of course)

use them as stated and you will be fine,abuse them and expect the worst.

Lowie · #9 15-11-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by KennyClark

Hardcase lipos are probably safer than cells.

As long as you ... swear at it they are fine.

Its the way forward.

lol

glypo · #10 15-11-2008

I totally agree with views above.

Like Dave I have been using LiPo for a long time (aircraft) and in these years my brother and I have had no problems whatsoever.

I have had problems with NiMH venting, cells killed and all sorts of potential dangerous problems, yet not had one issue with LiPo. I can remember when my bro was playing around with the electronics and prop on his F-16 pusher (might have been his A-10 Thunderbolt ducted fan...) anyway the fuselage was old so he pushed it to the max. The LiPo got so hot it melted the foam! And yet still usable. If that was NiMH would have exploded no doubt at all.

Best plane cells are without a doubt FlightPower and LoongMax. LoongMax are very cheap too, and very well made. I am loving them at least anyway.

LiPo dangers are a total joke. Firstly don't buy crap cells, you wouldn't with NiMH so why with LiPo? Take good care of them (http://www.glypo.com/guides/lipo/) and you will be laughing. Amazing how many people "peak" LiPo, it is these idiots that will create the accident, not the cells.

These are much safer than NiMH, yet they don't force NiMH users to charge in sacks. Totally crazy how bad this myth has spread around

rcluke · #11 15-11-2008

Glypo,

you've hit the nail right on the head there,

but i think some clubs are still a bit wary of the lipo's as they are new(ish) technology to come into touring cars.

Once clubs start allowing them, and see that they are safe etc, the good word should spread round and they will dominate in not too long (thats what i think anyway

)

Yachty · #12 16-11-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by SHY

Stick to a hardcased ones for safety, and preferably one one the ROAR list (they are tested).

If you also charge and store the batteries in a LiPo sack you should be very safe.

Seems to be the general consensus is to stick to hard case one so I will direct my purchase this way. I brought the LiPo versions but planned with a little conversion to run it on NiMh as I can't afford to repower my cars. I spend to much money on radio controlled yachts which makes cars look cheap as all the racing ones are basically custom products with the exception of the rclaser.

I am a bit surprised as I have been racing cars on and off for almost 20 years no real bad experiences with charging and only a few leaky old cells. Why I posted the link was because radio controlled yachts like planes use relatively low power and therefore almost everyone slow charges them with a very low ampage so to see a cell explode like this really never happen with NiMh.

glypo · #13 16-11-2008

Oh yes, Yachts are silly money. I was looking at getting back into it, but thousands per model is madness. I will stick to just basic models for fun on a windy weekend.

I wouldn't say planes use low current though. I have some very high rates gear in larger planes. Lots more juice compared with cars. I suppose it all depends though.

Yachty · #14 17-11-2008

Planes are low power to me because they are mainly Nitro not battery a few electric gliders are the exception. As for yachts if you buy second hand there not that bad http://www.mya-uk.org.uk/forsale/forsale_1m.html but a new Graham Bantock special (the rolls royce of the model yachting world) it is 2 - 4 thousands for a beautifully high quality moulded boat.

Thanks for the advise its a long time since my early days membership at Donisthorpe back in the late 80's early 90's and the SX seemed like a good excuse to get back into it.

I will give this Lipo thing a try and stick to hard case type

mpg200 · #15 23-11-2008

I've been using Lipos in my helicopter for a year and i've had no dangerous acciedents with them. I did get one to puff up when i dumped it too much, but that was it. Spend some cash on a good charger and like all battery chemistries treat them with respect and they'll reward you.
Go to www.batteryuniversity.com for some in hard core battery chemisty lessons and some insight into the mystery of the 'rechargable cell'