Weight saving whores - Lightweight Batteries *discount content!*

[Tamiyoman]

Surely it wont be long before Lipo battery prices come down to a reasonable level and our batteries then weigh about 1.5Kg 

You forgot to say ''.... and deliver 100 Ah + 1000 CCA''. 

I use Lipos in my RC planes (My job is selling RC toys LOL), have a 5000mah 11.1v in 2 of them and they draw 100A peak current anyway, Lipos are based on C rating, so you get 5A battery with 20C means it can offer 100A peak current, likewise a 5A 30c battery can give 150A if needed, although my own models tend to only draw 85A max on full throttle (That electric plane does around 140mph top whack  ).

Larger planes you just put them in parallel or series to bulk up amp and mah capability, still they weight not a lot anyway, not compared to PB batts.

IM sire in years to come tyhey will be in cars, my golf trolley is also LIPO powewred now.

[the bruce]

http://www.isa-racing.com/index.php/cat/c1208_Voltphreaks-Lithium-Batterien.html/XTCsid/f4eed58df61e8d7650ad47ef0dc7dc99

[Tamiyoman]

I think I will wait till they come down to around £200 

[Tfsi_Mike]

I know several people have l/w batteries so to add to this I have had a custom fabricated battery tray for the Braille / Tomika (they are the same dimensions) made by Alex at AKS.

This adds safety IMO as the battery is propperly secured.

Here it is before powdercoating and final features applied....



It bolts down in the original mounting points of the plastic oem battery tray 

[M4T VW]

Has anyone looked at a lithium for our engines yet? I'm looking at the options seeing as my standard one has just about had it.

[Tfsi_Mike]

google liteblox :-) Carbon bodied Li-ion goodness

[M4T VW]

I think i also need to google balaclava and shotgun! 

The price of those is mental. You can get lots of lithium batteries for much much less in the UK. As mine is a strict track car it's going to get left for long periods unused so seeing as they only discharge 10% in 12 months they seem like the ideal thing.

[Tfsi_Mike]

Isolating it helps massively. I fitted an isolating knob to my negative terminal and could leave it for months.

[M4T VW]

I'm looking at something like this. It can be had for about £250.
http://www.rallydesign.co.uk/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=121&products_id=22022

Oh yes, It will be on an FIA cut-off switch when not in use so no problem there.

Is it really worth it though? I could get a small lead-acid battery for cheaper and use one of my trickle chargers that i have laying around. I need to check if they will work with the lithium...

[M4T VW]

Are you still using your small Braille battery Mike? I'm trying to justify the cost of a lithium but it's just not adding up at the moment. I'm thinking of going for a smaller AGM Braille

[Tfsi_Mike]

Only just recently sold it. Was good value for money. I'd recommend something with a higher capacity than I had though.

Was fine if isolated or used every few days.  But the reserve for leaving lights on or stereo etc was non existent.

It was super light but only 15a/h

[M4T VW]

Think i'm pretty much set on one slightly higher than you had which is 23ah. As it's a track/race car there is no stereo or anything., I have stripped it all back to the bare minimum.
It comes in at 7kg but the weight i am not too bothered about. Its a great saving compared to the standard battery anyway but as i had to replace the factory fit i thought i might as well go for a smaller one.
I have chargers that i can use already for it and keep it topped up 

[Tfsi_Mike]

Measured my new replacement (Varta I think) one at 20kg