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Thread: Are LiPo batteries safe for HW robots?

  1. #11
    Little Spinner ran a 37V 3.3Ah LiPo at its last event. That in its self is big enough to run some heavyweights also. It does seem a little daft that a feather weight has no limit on the size of LiPo pack but a heavy cannot run any. Maybe a pack capacity limit is needed or sooner or later someone will have a featherweight with a 20Ah 10 cell pack in it.

  2. #12
    are we limiting it to 9cell lipos then lol.

  3. #13
    I think Mark has a very valid point.
    What size of LiPo batteries are considered safe by the FRA or the EO€™s.
    If the size of the LiPo battery, could run a HW, but is in a featherweight why is this considered safe, but the same LiPo pack in a heavy is banned!
    I€™m sure their people out there with opinions on this point.

  4. #14
    I think as the popluarity of lipos in featherweights increases as it is doing then time will tell what the FRA/EO's feel safe to run.
    So far, there are lots of robots running them, and have been for years without a single problem or fire. One point that should be considered with using lipos for an event organiser is whether the user is knowledgable of the correct usage and competant enough to follow it through. Its part of the tech check to make sure all safety precautions are in place, and as long as those guildlines are followed then i cant see any reasonable size lipo being much of a problem. I have seen a fair few nicad fires, not a single lipo fire at an event yet!
    I do think a few rule changes needed to be made, as at the time no one had any proper knowledge of lipos in use, and i believe most people are a little scraed by the horror stories and videos floating around.

  5. #15
    Grant there are those people like yourself who know what they are doing and will look after their packs, but then we know that there are those who won't. If LiPos were opened up to the higher weights there will be people who have huge current demands so need bigger capacity than one pack from a feather even though there are packs with very impressive specs. I think it is several packs all going up at the same time that people are worried about. Especially say after an event on the way home, the robot is chucked in the car, not balenced charged or otherwise. In a feather you pull over and pull the feather out quickly, not possible with a heavy. Maybe you have a separate transport box, but the one time you forget to take them out of the robot, bad things happen.

    But keep the comments coming they will be disscussed at the next meeting.

  6. #16
    I think the problems with heavyweights would come if someone like me fancied running a second version of Hive with 2 eteks plus a weapon running off a few packs and then you throw in my history with battery packs and high current motors.

    Perhaps proof that you can run Lipos in featherweights safely along with a capacity limit would be in order for a heavyweight. Throwing in a requirement for a steel container inside the machine seems somewhat pointless as it negates the weight saving from Lipos.

    At the end of the day its the event organisers decision as to whether or not a robot runs in the arena.

  7. #17
    if the pack is balanced charged everytime and kept in a metal box, and is not mishandled they should be fine, they supply the current alot better.

    if they could be a check in the tech check of having a balancing unit for the lipo that would be good also

    if you don't think lipos are good for you then use a123's, also don't get cheap and tacky lipo's with lipos you get what you pay for, look into flightpower, thunderpower and outrage lipos these are some of the best

  8. #18
    Kenny I think thats the point there will be people who buy cheap packs and abuse them, but good point about the tech check which should be checked anyway even though not currently written specifically in the rules with regards to the tech check.

  9. #19
    It is already written in the rules regarding proper charging and balancing equiptment.
    With the saftey aspects in place, with almost anyu size lipo fire i can't see where there would be in a problem. They are either in a metal case, or in your robot at the times they are likely to ever catch fire, which is very rare for that to happen.

  10. #20
    I think people underate lipo's ALOT.

    Gary- you could easily get lipos to power an etek powered heavyweight pusher. If it can be done with a123 it can DEFINATLEY be done with lipo.

    Why put a limit on pack size? theres never been a limit for any other type of battery? Apart from voltage, Which still stands at 37v i believe. If you want 100amps then have it.

    360 pulls more current then alot of heavyweights, its pretty much constantly pulling atleast 160amps. and probably over 250 when the disc is spinning up. And my tiny little 5amp pack doesnt even get warm after 3mins of abuse.

    I think it should be part of the tech check to make sure whoever is running lipos is 100% compitent to use them. AKA the tech checker must have experiance with lipo's themself.

    Currently all the people using Lipo's in featherweights seem to know the dangers, the advantages and the risks involved aswell as which brand of lipo to stay clear of. As kenny said thunder power and flight power seem to be the only brands used so far that i can think of. You get what you pay for.

    LS + sabertooth = flight power
    360 + ploughbot = Thunder power.

    Both thunder power and flight power use the same cells. Just a different brand.

    Id like to see lipo's being used in heavyweights- it would give a massive impact on the progress of the robots being built. I think the FRA should watch a few RC heli crash's and see the abuse they take there, They dont seem to explode after a 100ft smash into the floor.

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