30C LiFe battery or Lipo battery.

[jimbulsara]

Hi all,
I have some questions regarding LiFe battery.  

https://www.ariesrc.gr/en/zippy/16008-zippy-flightmax-4200mah-4s2p-30c-lifepo4-pack.html

I found the above LiFe batteries which have a 30 C rating (40C burst).  Has anyone tried these sort of batteries in a RC car?

Setting the voltage aside, assuming you dont mind running the car a bit slower, Could you use this batteries to power (for example) a 1/8 MT (tekno mt410.)? Is this a very low C rating?  What would happen?  
I assume that people have ran 30C Lipos battery before so, disregarding the obvious voltage difference, what happens when you use higher C batteries?  is 30C-40C burst  not enough to run such a car as i mentioned above?    

[GorillaZilla]

I use those in my nephews Hyper 7.      For the peace of mind,  so he can charge his own batteries safely with no chance of Big Woofy fireballs happening.

[jimbulsara]

1 minute ago, GorillaZilla said:

I use those in my nephews Hyper 7.      For the peace of mind,  so he can charge his own batteries safely with no chance of Big Woofy fireballs happening.

Finally someone who used these sorts of batteries. Thank you for your reply. How do they do? Do they power the car well? Do the batteries get super warm?  I am thinking of using some with a Tekno MT410 .  I think the Tekno is the same size as the hyper (maybe?), but it does have bigger wheels I am not sure how that would affect the performance...
What kind of esc/motor are you running in the Hyper? I will be using a quicrun 8bl150.
Alternatively i could get 2 of those LiFe but in 3s and use them. Maybe that would be better. 

[GorillaZilla]

Oh yeah,  they handle it easily.  Don't get warm at all.   Lower voltage pushes less amps,  so you can get away with a lower total AMP discharge rate on the batteries.

 

As for speed,  they are around the level of Li-Pos towards the end of a run,  because they hold about 3.3v per cell under load.  and you set the Low voltage cutoff the same as LiPos at 3.0v per cell.

 

ESC is a Tekkin T8 and a 2650KV buggy motor https://store.teamtekin.com/t8-gen1-2650kv-buggy-motor/

 

That battery you linked can push 126Amps,  which is slightly more than the original Mamba Monster ESC could handle.  So they are fine.    

 

 

 

 

 

Why are you wanting to use Li-FE batteries anyway?       Is this car for a younger family member to get used to running charging and maintaining their own car?    That's what I use Li-Fe batteries for.    For the Resistance to Fu**y Wukkys and oopsie doodles so no one ends up having to go into the bye bye box....

 

 

Edited August 26, 2020 by GorillaZilla

[jimbulsara]

23 minutes ago, GorillaZilla said:

Oh yeah,  they handle it easily.  Don't get warm at all.   Lower voltage pushes less amps,  so you can get away with a lower total AMP discharge rate on the batteries.

 

As for speed,  they are around the level of Li-Pos towards the end of a run,  because they hold about 3.3v per cell under load.  and you set the Low voltage cutoff the same as LiPos at 3.0v per cell.

 

ESC is a Tekkin T8 and a 2650KV buggy motor https://store.teamtekin.com/t8-gen1-2650kv-buggy-motor/

 

That battery you linked can push 126Amps,  which is slightly more than the original Mamba Monster ESC could handle.  So they are fine.    

 

 

 

 

 

Why are you wanting to use Li-FE batteries anyway?       Is this car for a younger family member to get used to running charging and maintaining their own car?    That's what I use Li-Fe batteries for.    For the Resistance to Fu**y Wukkys and oopsie doodles so no one ends up having to go into the bye bye box....

 

 

First, many thanks for replying to the thread, i have spent countless hours looking online for post about Life. But it was always 'Use Lipos not LiFe" without any actual reasons. First time i run into somebody who has used both and can actually talk from experience.  thanks.
I Just want to use those batteries so i can keep the batteries in the  house. Mostly for the peace of mind, plus me and the kid only ran once or twice per week and sometimes we go more than a few weeks without taking the cars out. I dont want to be worrying about Lipos. I have bought the batsafe lipo to keep lipos, but still i feel queezy about having them around the house. I would have to keep them outside methinks. At the moment the house isnt too big either so if i was to keep them indoors it would have to be in my room.... 
But if those batteries can run the car you mentioned  it would seem that they could run a tekno mt410 the motor i will be running is of a similar size. 
So in your opinion , if i was to go the Life way, should i get the 4s Life or 2  3s Life? I wam going to gear the truck low, because i ended up buying some big tires (on this forum).  Would getting the 5000 mah one be better?

[GorillaZilla]

I'd get 4S atleast if you want performance equivalent to Nitro,    And nah,  4200 30C is plenty.          Also you can save a bit if you try hobbyking,     Especially if you are buying more than one as the shipping does not go up much as you add more.

https://hobbyking.com/en_us/zippy-compact-4200mah-4s2p-30c-lifepo4-pack.html

 

Another thing,  not many people mention this,  but Life batteries benefit massively from a break in period,  kind of like running nitro.    For the first 20 cycles don't fully charge them,  just like 90% charge,  and don't discharge them below 40% of their capacity.     And don't go full throttle for the first 5 cycles.

 

Bit of a pain,  but otherwise they puff and die for no apparent reason,   all mine did the first time because I did not know this.

 

After that PITA though,  they are brilliant and last a lot longer than LiPos,  1000 Charge/discharge cycles vs 500 of lipos.

 

 

 

 

On the other hand,  if you want to make worrying about Li-Pos a thing of the past,  get a couple of Ammo cans,  pull out the rubber seals to stop pressure build up should a lipo let loose and store em in an outside shed on a stone tile  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ammo-Box-Ammo-Can-Tool-Box-Storage-Box-Ex-Army-Ammunition-Boxes-Grade-2/124009699278?hash=item1cdf8dd7ce:g:D54AAOSwFl9e0ese

 

Cheap as chips and well proven,   as they can handle HUGE lipo fires,  with a big pile of BIG batteries in them as you can see in the video in my sig.

 

One for Charging,  one for storing the rest of your lipos in.    As the most likely time a Li-Po can go is when charging,  and you don't want a charging accident taking out ALL your lipos.

 

Good for transporting them in your car too,  with a stone tile under.     Worst that will happen is you need to pull over and open the doors and boot to let the smoke out.

 

Take both cans and split your Li-Pos between em,  so if the worst happens you can carry on to your bash site and run anyway.....

 

All in all a pretty Robust solution.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 26, 2020 by GorillaZilla

[jimbulsara]

2 hours ago, GorillaZilla said:

I'd get 4S atleast if you want performance equivalent to Nitro,    And nah,  4200 30C is plenty.          Also you can save a bit if you try hobbyking,     Especially if you are buying more than one as the shipping does not go up much as you add more.

https://hobbyking.com/en_us/zippy-compact-4200mah-4s2p-30c-lifepo4-pack.html

 

Another thing,  not many people mention this,  but Life batteries benefit massively from a break in period,  kind of like running nitro.    For the first 20 cycles don't fully charge them,  just like 90% charge,  and don't discharge them below 40% of their capacity.     And don't go full throttle for the first 5 cycles.

 

Bit of a pain,  but otherwise they puff and die for no apparent reason,   all mine did the first time because I did not know this.

 

After that PITA though,  they are brilliant and last a lot longer than LiPos,  1000 Charge/discharge cycles vs 500 of lipos.

 

 

 

 

On the other hand,  if you want to make worrying about Li-Pos a thing of the past,  get a couple of Ammo cans,  pull out the rubber seals to stop pressure build up should a lipo let loose and store em in an outside shed on a stone tile  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ammo-Box-Ammo-Can-Tool-Box-Storage-Box-Ex-Army-Ammunition-Boxes-Grade-2/124009699278?hash=item1cdf8dd7ce:g:D54AAOSwFl9e0ese

 

Cheap as chips and well proven,   as they can handle HUGE lipo fires,  with a big pile of BIG batteries in them as you can see in the video in my sig.

 

One for Charging,  one for storing the rest of your lipos in.    As the most likely time a Li-Po can go is when charging,  and you don't want a charging accident taking out ALL your lipos.

 

Good for transporting them in your car too,  with a stone tile under.     Worst that will happen is you need to pull over and open the doors and boot to let the smoke out.

 

Take both cans and split your Li-Pos between em,  so if the worst happens you can carry on to your bash site and run anyway.....

 

All in all a pretty Robust solution.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 hours ago, GorillaZilla said:

ough,  they

Thanks for the info. I will try that pack actually. It doesn't seem too expensive to give it a go, to be honest. I will have to solder connectors, so there is that. It will be good practice.  Probably end up going EC5 cause thats the charger i have.  I never heard about this breaking in, but that is good to know. I will set the throttle to 70 % or something like that for the first few runs in the transmitter. In a typical run what should i discharge them too? is 40% the minimum? that is after the initial breaking in.

I already have a bat safe lipo to store the potential lipos. But i like the Life batteries just for the ease of mind for now. I will eventually move on to Lipos once i move to a house with a shed or something.  

[GorillaZilla]

Don't drain em more than half just for the break in,  after the break in you can drain em 100% and use normally.      Just don't drain them below 3.0v per cell after the break in if you can help it,  They are actually a lot more robust than Li-Po in that regard and can actually survive serious over discharge,  but best to take it easy on em regardless.

[m4inbrain]

2 minutes ago, GorillaZilla said:

Don't drain em more than half just for the break in,  after the break in you can drain em 100% and use normally.      Just don't drain them below 3.0v per cell after the break in if you can help it,  They are actually a lot more robust than Li-Po in that regard and can actually survive serious over discharge,  but best to take it easy on em regardless.

 

 

LiFe cells have a voltage range from 3.6v fully charged to 2.5v fully discharged. They survive the "serious over-discharge" because they're rated for considerably lower voltage than LiPos. Discharge them below their max rated 2.5v and they take damage just like over-discharged LiPos.  If you cut off both LiPo and LiFe at 3v, you're over-discharging the LiPo, and barely go under nominal voltage of the LiFe. They're not more robust in regards to over-discharge. They have a higher cycle life, that's it. 

 

As a sidenote, for others reading this thread - it was mentioned that people cut off their LiPos at 3v. That's untrue and in fact pretty dangerous. Here's why. The ESC in RCs doesn't read cell voltage. It reads pack voltage. So if you set the LVC to 3v and stab a 6s pack in the truck, the ESC will cut out once it reads 18v (not 6x3v - the only "normal" batteries ,afaik, which can be checked by cell voltage are SMART batteries in conjunction with a Spektrum Firma ESC, and potentially certain Traxxas stuff but i'm not 100% on that). The ESC does not know how these 18v are distributed. You could have 2x cells at 3v, 2x at 3.1v, and 2x at 2.9v. Usually happens if you don't check if all your cells are correctly balanced. 

 

As LiPos drain they release oxygen internally (that's what makes them "puff"). The more you over-discharge a cell, the more oxygen the electrolyte releases/the lipo puffs. To the point where it ruptures - and at that point you have a cascading failure leading to fire. 

 

LiPos also don't spontaneously combust. If you leave them in the house, they'll eventually take damage after a year or so, because the voltage might drop under 3v (or become irreparably unbalanced), but if they're not connected to anything they will only catch fire if you puncture them. 

 

I'm not talking anyone into or out of anything - just giving some perspective of someone who actually forgot a 4s LiPo in his bedroom for three years. It was of course gone (read around 1.4v per cell), but that's it. 

[GorillaZilla]

Good thing you mentioned that,  someone  might have mistook "Just don't drain them below 3.0V"    as to set their LVC to 3.0v.   Yikes.

 

I use one of these for anyone else reading https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-8S-RC-LED-AZ-Checker-Low-Voltage-Lipo-Battery-Tester-Buzzer-Indicator-Alarm/264565280082?epid=933677624&hash=item3d9951cd52:g:BvYAAOSwcuNd8vTG

 

I have a oblong chunk of firm foam the same width and length of the batteries and about a Centimeter thick on top of my LiPos in the car,  so I can strap down the LiPo alarm on top of the foam with the same straps that secure the battery,  is also a convenient way to secure the balance lead so it's not flapping around and getting itself chewed up in the drivetrain...

Edited August 27, 2020 by GorillaZilla

[jimbulsara]

On 27/08/2020 at 02:49, GorillaZilla said:

Good thing you mentioned that,  someone  might have mistook "Just don't drain them below 3.0V"    as to set their LVC to 3.0v.   Yikes.

 

I use one of these for anyone else reading https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-8S-RC-LED-AZ-Checker-Low-Voltage-Lipo-Battery-Tester-Buzzer-Indicator-Alarm/264565280082?epid=933677624&hash=item3d9951cd52:g:BvYAAOSwcuNd8vTG

 

I have a oblong chunk of firm foam the same width and length of the batteries and about a Centimeter thick on top of my LiPos in the car,  so I can strap down the LiPo alarm on top of the foam with the same straps that secure the battery,  is also a convenient way to secure the balance lead so it's not flapping around and getting itself chewed up in the drivetrain...

Hi mate,

the zippy life battery arrived yesterday. I didn’t realised they were shipped at 30% charge... I am still waiting for my lead adapters so I can charge the batteries using my charger .... hopefully they arrive Tuesday the latest.

What is the storage charge for the life battery and what rate of charge do you use?

 

[jimbulsara]

On 27/08/2020 at 00:58, m4inbrain said:

 

 

LiFe cells have a voltage range from 3.6v fully charged to 2.5v fully discharged. They survive the "serious over-discharge" because they're rated for considerably lower voltage than LiPos. Discharge them below their max rated 2.5v and they take damage just like over-discharged LiPos.  If you cut off both LiPo and LiFe at 3v, you're over-discharging the LiPo, and barely go under nominal voltage of the LiFe. They're not more robust in regards to over-discharge. They have a higher cycle life, that's it. 

 

As a sidenote, for others reading this thread - it was mentioned that people cut off their LiPos at 3v. That's untrue and in fact pretty dangerous. Here's why. The ESC in RCs doesn't read cell voltage. It reads pack voltage. So if you set the LVC to 3v and stab a 6s pack in the truck, the ESC will cut out once it reads 18v (not 6x3v - the only "normal" batteries ,afaik, which can be checked by cell voltage are SMART batteries in conjunction with a Spektrum Firma ESC, and potentially certain Traxxas stuff but i'm not 100% on that). The ESC does not know how these 18v are distributed. You could have 2x cells at 3v, 2x at 3.1v, and 2x at 2.9v. Usually happens if you don't check if all your cells are correctly balanced. 

 

As LiPos drain they release oxygen internally (that's what makes them "puff"). The more you over-discharge a cell, the more oxygen the electrolyte releases/the lipo puffs. To the point where it ruptures - and at that point you have a cascading failure leading to fire. 

 

LiPos also don't spontaneously combust. If you leave them in the house, they'll eventually take damage after a year or so, because the voltage might drop under 3v (or become irreparably unbalanced), but if they're not connected to anything they will only catch fire if you puncture them. 

 

I'm not talking anyone into or out of anything - just giving some perspective of someone who actually forgot a 4s LiPo in his bedroom for three years. It was of course gone (read around 1.4v per cell), but that's it. 

Forgot to quote you in the post above.

also would it be ok to use this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Deans-Male-to-5-5mm-Gold-Connector-Adapter/164032566206

to connect the Life battery to the esc for now? Just for the first few runs nothing too hard. Or should I just wait till I can solder 5.5mm adapter on the esc?

[m4inbrain]

I personally would not, but technically it's no problem. It's just that i don't like deans, i find them to be inconvenient to solder, and a pain in the neck to disconnect if they're too stiff, and i don't like how the terminals are pretty exposed. But generally, sure. 

 

Though i'd probably suggest to invest in XT90s, or EC5/IC5 connectors. More convenient to solder, better protection against arcing etc - just all around the better connectors, in my opinion.

[jimbulsara]

43 minutes ago, m4inbrain said:

I personally would not, but technically it's no problem. It's just that i don't like deans, i find them to be inconvenient to solder, and a pain in the neck to disconnect if they're too stiff, and i don't like how the terminals are pretty exposed. But generally, sure. 

 

Though i'd probably suggest to invest in XT90s, or EC5/IC5 connectors. More convenient to solder, better protection against arcing etc - just all around the better connectors, in my opinion.

Right I have some ic5 connectors to soldEr actually. But the battery’s wires are quite thick, which makes me a bit unsure. I will try soldering them then. Can you solder when the battery is in storage charge?

[m4inbrain]

3 hours ago, jimbulsara said:

Right I have some ic5 connectors to soldEr actually. But the battery’s wires are quite thick, which makes me a bit unsure. I will try soldering them then. Can you solder when the battery is in storage charge?

 

You can solder batteries at any charge, yes. 

 

Just the usual applies: be careful, don't short the battery (cut negative, strip wire, solder bullet, put in connector - then cut the second lead - use electric tape whenever you're not 100% certain that the lead is secured). 

[GorillaZilla]

9 hours ago, jimbulsara said:

Hi mate,

the zippy life battery arrived yesterday. I didn’t realised they were shipped at 30% charge... I am still waiting for my lead adapters so I can charge the batteries using my charger .... hopefully they arrive Tuesday the latest.

What is the storage charge for the life battery and what rate of charge do you use?

 

Storage voltage for Li-Fe is 3.3v ,    Those batteries from hobbyking are rated at 2C max charge rate.   So 8.4 Amps for those 4200mah cells.     Though I just charge mine at 1C   4.2 Amps.

[jimbulsara]

On 26/08/2020 at 21:37, GorillaZilla said:

I'd get 4S atleast if you want performance equivalent to Nitro,    And nah,  4200 30C is plenty.          Also you can save a bit if you try hobbyking,     Especially if you are buying more than one as the shipping does not go up much as you add more.

https://hobbyking.com/en_us/zippy-compact-4200mah-4s2p-30c-lifepo4-pack.html

 

Another thing,  not many people mention this,  but Life batteries benefit massively from a break in period,  kind of like running nitro.    For the first 20 cycles don't fully charge them,  just like 90% charge,  and don't discharge them below 40% of their capacity.     And don't go full throttle for the first 5 cycles.

 

Bit of a pain,  but otherwise they puff and die for no apparent reason,   all mine did the first time because I did not know this.

 

After that PITA though,  they are brilliant and last a lot longer than LiPos,  1000 Charge/discharge cycles vs 500 of lipos.

 

 

 

 

On the other hand,  if you want to make worrying about Li-Pos a thing of the past,  get a couple of Ammo cans,  pull out the rubber seals to stop pressure build up should a lipo let loose and store em in an outside shed on a stone tile  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ammo-Box-Ammo-Can-Tool-Box-Storage-Box-Ex-Army-Ammunition-Boxes-Grade-2/124009699278?hash=item1cdf8dd7ce:g:D54AAOSwFl9e0ese

 

Cheap as chips and well proven,   as they can handle HUGE lipo fires,  with a big pile of BIG batteries in them as you can see in the video in my sig.

 

One for Charging,  one for storing the rest of your lipos in.    As the most likely time a Li-Po can go is when charging,  and you don't want a charging accident taking out ALL your lipos.

 

Good for transporting them in your car too,  with a stone tile under.     Worst that will happen is you need to pull over and open the doors and boot to let the smoke out.

 

Take both cans and split your Li-Pos between em,  so if the worst happens you can carry on to your bash site and run anyway.....

 

All in all a pretty Robust solution.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi dude,

sorry to keep pestering you. I have set the life battery to storage charge (it reads 2.8). Tomorrow, hopefully, I will try it on the car. For the first few times You mentioned to charge it to 90% and then run it till it gets to 40% or so (whilst never going full throttle). What voltages should I be reading at those percentages ?

[jimbulsara]

On 05/09/2020 at 20:21, GorillaZilla said:

Storage voltage for Li-Fe is 3.3v ,    Those batteries from hobbyking are rated at 2C max charge rate.   So 8.4 Amps for those 4200mah cells.     Though I just charge mine at 1C   4.2 Amps.

Just an update. I have tried the batteries on the car and they worked fine. Only had a minute or two of play time but it drove fine. I didn’t charge it to full capacity (90%). Hopefully soon I will take it out for a bit longer.

 

[GorillaZilla]

11 hours ago, jimbulsara said:

Just an update. I have tried the batteries on the car and they worked fine. Only had a minute or two of play time but it drove fine. I didn’t charge it to full capacity (90%). Hopefully soon I will take it out for a bit longer.

 

Oh sorry about that,  I got caught up with other things...     3.275v per cell is about 40% on the battery.     Based on this chart of a 4 cell Li-FE https://diysolarforum.com/threads/lifepo4-voltage-chart.3156/

 

Though that has to be measured at no load,  so you would have to use a multimeter on the terminals.

It's kind of hard to measure the remaining capacity from just voltage.  So just be gentle with them for the first several cycles and you should be golden.

[jimbulsara]

On 14/09/2020 at 23:01, GorillaZilla said:

Oh sorry about that,  I got caught up with other things...     3.275v per cell is about 40% on the battery.     Based on this chart of a 4 cell Li-FE https://diysolarforum.com/threads/lifepo4-voltage-chart.3156/

 

Though that has to be measured at no load,  so you would have to use a multimeter on the terminals.

It's kind of hard to measure the remaining capacity from just voltage.  So just be gentle with them for the first several cycles and you should be golden.

I noticed that it is hard to measure the capacity.... I am using the spectrum smart charger and every time I charges quickly to  around 90% ... even after I put it to storage charge and charge again... I don’t think the percentage bar is anything to go by. Or maybe that’s normal?

regsrdless I am not charging fully, and I am just driving around a bit in the backyard.

i had to put some electrical tape on the 5.5 mm bullet adapters because when they were plugged in they were still exposed...

 

[gatomaq]

Hi.  
English is not my first language but I will try my best.

Finally I found other RC hobbist, using LiFe batteries. Is very difficult find information about this batteries.
I'm using Tamiya LF2200 for more than a year with fantastic results. 6.6 and a cuttoff voltage of 2.5 per cell using a Hobbywing 1080 esc
Recently I purchased a Zippy 4200mha 3S 9.9V Life pack and I don't know really how to deal with the cuttoff voltage in this 3S battery

My Hobbywing 1080 give me the option to cut at 5 volts for a 2S pack (I use that setup with my Tamiya LF2200) ,  but for a 3 cells I will need a 7,5V cuttoff setup (Not available in the hobbywing 1080)

I have two options now

1) Set up the esc in Lipo low cuttoff voltage at 3.2V per cell. At that way I'm wasting the 40% of the battery capacity.
2) Disable the cuttoff option and pay attention to the  car performance and stop to use it when the speed goes down abruplty.

My question is, the drop of performance is very noticeable even at 7,5V (the minimum in a 3S 9.9v batterie?

How do you deal with this problem?

Thank you so much to any information you can give me.

Cheers

[jimbulsara]

On 08/04/2021 at 20:20, gatomaq said:

Hi.  
English is not my first language but I will try my best.

Finally I found other RC hobbist, using LiFe batteries. Is very difficult find information about this batteries.
I'm using Tamiya LF2200 for more than a year with fantastic results. 6.6 and a cuttoff voltage of 2.5 per cell using a Hobbywing 1080 esc
Recently I purchased a Zippy 4200mha 3S 9.9V Life pack and I don't know really how to deal with the cuttoff voltage in this 3S battery

My Hobbywing 1080 give me the option to cut at 5 volts for a 2S pack (I use that setup with my Tamiya LF2200) ,  but for a 3 cells I will need a 7,5V cuttoff setup (Not available in the hobbywing 1080)

I have two options now

1) Set up the esc in Lipo low cuttoff voltage at 3.2V per cell. At that way I'm wasting the 40% of the battery capacity.
2) Disable the cuttoff option and pay attention to the  car performance and stop to use it when the speed goes down abruplty.

My question is, the drop of performance is very noticeable even at 7,5V (the minimum in a 3S 9.9v batterie?

How do you deal with this problem?

Thank you so much to any information you can give me.

Cheers

Hi ,

I hope I can help you with some of these suggestions. As you probably are aware very few use LIFe. I am probably going to move on to smart spectrum batteries soon. However here are some suggestions.

 

1) you could try getting a lipo alarm and just using the esc in nimh mode. That’s what I have been doing .

 

2) you can’t deal with the “problem” of lower voltage.  You will obviously see a drop in speed from a lipo to a life.  But how much that impacts you depend on what you are planning to do with the car.

 

i bash normally with the 4s life battery and never had any problem.

[gatomaq]

23 hours ago, jimbulsara said:

Hi ,

I hope I can help you with some of these suggestions. As you probably are aware very few use LIFe. I am probably going to move on to smart spectrum batteries soon. However here are some suggestions.

 

1) you could try getting a lipo alarm and just using the esc in nimh mode. That’s what I have been doing .

 

2) you can’t deal with the “problem” of lower voltage.  You will obviously see a drop in speed from a lipo to a life.  But how much that impacts you depend on what you are planning to do with the car.

 

i bash normally with the 4s life battery and never had any problem.

Thank you so much

Yes, I already bought a lipo alarm in Ebay for less than 5 bucks. The device start to make a very loud noise at 2.7volts per cell.  I think this is the best idea.

You are not happy with Life.? I never heard about the Smart Spectrum Batteries. I will take a look too.

THank you again.

[Ian.B]

I wish I had found this conversation 6 months ago, when I took the jump and ordered some ZIPPY Compact 4200mAh 3S1P 30C LiFePo4, most of the threads were getting on and a bit out of date.  I returned to RC about 18 months ago as a hobby to enjoy with my lad and I share the same concerns around using LiPo with a 9 year old.   I don't usually post, but I believe this is a topic that would benefit from more shared experiences.

 

We're running 1/10 truggies, a Rustler 4x4 and Maverick Strada respectively.  Both have had 3660 3500KV brushless systems installed and we're getting almost a hour of runtime with a mix of flat out and walking pace.   The Zippy battery only just fits in the Rustler and Strada battery trays, requiring careful cuts in the battery's card 'end cap' to subtly adjust the angle the cables exit and and use of a heat gun to then tighten up the slack yellow heat shrink wrap.   The Strada required additional mods, since the battery tray is designed for NiMH packs it has a couple of protrusions for stopping NiMHs sliding about which were of concern given that the Zippy's aren't hard cased.  This was addressed by using a plate of 1mm hard plastic under the battery.  The other mod was to swap out the exist battery posts for taller body posts to accommodate the slightly fatter Zippy.

 

I can't offer a comparison of the performance of LiFe vs LiPo battery, but the 3s LiFe battery provides more then enough speed to get into trouble 😇.   The switch from 2s LiPo has been both satisfying in the noticeable performance gain and reduced worry of over battery storage and mismanagement.   The step up from NiMH, 7.2v & 8.4v, was massive, partly down to going brushless.  When both truggies were running 550 cans and NiMH it required at least 9000mah of batteries to achieve a similar 1 hour run time.  

 

The advice given on running in a LiFe battery was new to me, I must have been fortunate that during the first few outings we didn't run the battery down to the shut off, we tried before the cars did.

 

I had planned on replacing the existing 5.5mm bullet connectors with AMASS sheathed Deans connectors, but found the 10AWG cable too thick to fit through the holes in the sheath.  Instead I use an 5.5mm to Deans adapter with electrical tape over the join between the connector and adapter.

 

My wish now is for a high capacity hard cased 2s LiFe battery of a similar size to a 7.2v NiMH to use with a Tamiya Boomerang.

[jimbulsara]

20 hours ago, Ian.B said:

I wish I had found this conversation 6 months ago, when I took the jump and ordered some ZIPPY Compact 4200mAh 3S1P 30C LiFePo4, most of the threads were getting on and a bit out of date.  I returned to RC about 18 months ago as a hobby to enjoy with my lad and I share the same concerns around using LiPo with a 9 year old.   I don't usually post, but I believe this is a topic that would benefit from more shared experiences.

 

We're running 1/10 truggies, a Rustler 4x4 and Maverick Strada respectively.  Both have had 3660 3500KV brushless systems installed and we're getting almost a hour of runtime with a mix of flat out and walking pace.   The Zippy battery only just fits in the Rustler and Strada battery trays, requiring careful cuts in the battery's card 'end cap' to subtly adjust the angle the cables exit and and use of a heat gun to then tighten up the slack yellow heat shrink wrap.   The Strada required additional mods, since the battery tray is designed for NiMH packs it has a couple of protrusions for stopping NiMHs sliding about which were of concern given that the Zippy's aren't hard cased.  This was addressed by using a plate of 1mm hard plastic under the battery.  The other mod was to swap out the exist battery posts for taller body posts to accommodate the slightly fatter Zippy.

 

I can't offer a comparison of the performance of LiFe vs LiPo battery, but the 3s LiFe battery provides more then enough speed to get into trouble 😇.   The switch from 2s LiPo has been both satisfying in the noticeable performance gain and reduced worry of over battery storage and mismanagement.   The step up from NiMH, 7.2v & 8.4v, was massive, partly down to going brushless.  When both truggies were running 550 cans and NiMH it required at least 9000mah of batteries to achieve a similar 1 hour run time.  

 

The advice given on running in a LiFe battery was new to me, I must have been fortunate that during the first few outings we didn't run the battery down to the shut off, we tried before the cars did.

 

I had planned on replacing the existing 5.5mm bullet connectors with AMASS sheathed Deans connectors, but found the 10AWG cable too thick to fit through the holes in the sheath.  Instead I use an 5.5mm to Deans adapter with electrical tape over the join between the connector and adapter.

 

My wish now is for a high capacity hard cased 2s LiFe battery of a similar size to a 7.2v NiMH to use with a Tamiya Boomerang.

I am glad you shared your experience too. I was in the same boat a few months ago and could never find any up-to-date info no matter how many forums i searched. All the suggestions were 'just use lipo' which is fine, but i wasn't looking to start using lipos right away.... I have been using Life batteries now for months. I even used one on the Arrma Fellony, obviously i didnt go for speed runs etc... But for bashing around they worked fine. 
I am in the process of modifying the battery holder in my stampede 2wd to fit the LIFE compact zippies . The 3s is one is relatively large and it doesn't fit properly. 
I will eventually  get some smart lipos from spektrum but for now the Life work well enough.