A123 CELLS

[teamtanglefoot]

Thanks woody for the info. Johns web-site is great for this. Ive ordered some cells to make up a couple of packs. Im looking at the charger that technobots do for this. Cheers Chris

[terrorhurtz]

I would recomend at least three packs for a heavyweight. 4.4Ah is pushing it.
Note that to balance a 10 cell pack with the Xtrema charger, you need the charger, two balancers and the Balancer Interface Module.
The FMA Cellpro 10S does it all in one box: http://www.aurorra.co.uk/aurv2/productDetails.php?id=11
Personally I still prefer the MegaPower Infinity 960SR, because it graphically shows you the balance - you can see how bad the balance is and you can turn down the current if they are badly out, to give the balancer time to work. Seems to be tricky to get in this country though.

[psycho_fling]

Can someone tell me if these cells semm good? and the price? i'm looking at using some in my featherweight but seeing as this topic is still on ging might aswell post here

cheers alex

[terrorhurtz]

Yes, the cells are good. We have been using them in THz for some time now with no problems.
Compared with the three packs of 24V 9Ah Sanyo NiCads we were using, changing to 33V 8.8Ah A123s saved us 2 kg.
The Chinese seller on ebay is doing them for a good price at the moment.
e.g. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0186827742

[big_nipper]

We recently got one of those FMA chargers off ebay for the standard 10C lithiums and they are easy to use (once you have set it up with your PC). Not used them with A123s but never finished a charge with more than 1mV out of balance yet.

[frag]

There was an indication that a decision whether we could use A123s in heavies would be made at the FRA meeting at the end of July, can someone point me to where the decision is please?

[geeza]

It has been discussed at the last two FRA meetings, they are allowed in heavies although the rules on the website haven't been updated yet, hopfully by the end of the week they will be. You are still limited by the maximum running voltage as you are with any type of batteries.

[terrorhurtz]

We have been using A123s for some time now in THz and Sam and Grant are currently finishing off a couple of 4S5P A123 packs for Tiberius.



Packs are 13.2 V, 11 Ah and weigh under 2 kg each.
Compare with a 13 Ah Hawker Genesis - 4.9 kg, with effective capacity of only around 7 Ah at the rates we are discharging them.

[RogueTwoRobots]

Just seen this on the Aussie forum:
http://www.gizmag.com/obama-battery-veh ... ent/12457/

It mentions that A123 will be one of several companies specifically set to benefit from the move, so while it might not have any immediate effect, it will be interesting to see if or how A123 lithium cells will develop, especially in regard to using them in our robots.

Cheap high-performance cells are what they are just now, so if they remain cheap yet boast a higher-still performance then woop woop

[frag]

Any tips on where to get 8s balance connectors?