IB's

[Piranha2]

I have been researching the IB4200's and IB3600's and what I have discovered was pretty disturbing. Just back in April everyone was against them, failures and decreased cycles. They are scarce, especially with Deans. The 4200's are better, the 3600's are better. NiMh are going to be a thing of the past etc. Go LiPo....but the hazards outweigh the benefits...don't get them wet. Well there's GP's and EP's....but watch your current draw....I'm ready to twist up a rubber band.

[RMZDADDY]

I feel your pain, I've only had problems with the IB4200's. lost two out of 48 cells since last spring. I'm glad I kept spare cells cycled to replace them. Out of 96 IB3800 cells I haven't lost one, been using them for over a year now and they are still going strong. I recently purchased 48 IB3600 cells but only have a few cycles on them, so far so good. I think maybe I'm having pretty good luck with my cells due to the fact that I run high cell count-low amp draw setups. One of my goals was to make the batteries (and everything else) last longer. Batterystore still has the 3600's for $4.45 each, pretty reasonable.

[Doozie870]

If you find some good nimh cells let me know, Im waiting on lipo until one brand stands alone as the best, like the IB4200WC is/was for nimh, as far as holding voltage under load, not really interested in paralleling at this juncture.

[motoxbob11]

Referring to Piranha's post I have heard about the "don't get li-pos wet" thing. Is that true? I'm no genius at this stuff but one way or another EVERY battery I have gets wet at some point. Doesn't bother my ni-mih batteries a bit.

[JimClark]

Thunderpower or polyqwest/polyrc and you can't go wrong.

Jim

[Jeepers]

in my opinion no batteries are water proof, nimh has the potential to take in water through the vents. I have 16 3600s that were submerged for about 2hrs, when the hatch got ripped off in a crash last year, they never held a charge again.

[Fluid]

Hot NiMH cells submerged in water will cool off, reduce the pressure inside the cells and then suck in water. Cool cells may be okay if submerged....or not

The problem with LiPos getting wet is the tabs - if water is trapped inside the shrink the tabs will corrode, internal resistance will rise and the tabs will overheat - potentially puncturing a cell wrapper. If a pack gets wet, carefully cut off the outside shrink and dry all the cells off. Reshrink the next day to make sure the insides are dry. There really is no reliable way to waterproof the packs.....


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[NorthernBoater]

Used correctly there is very little hazard with LiPos. I am running them and they work great. If you are just doing sport running and are concerned about safety you can also try the a123 cells.

[Fluid]

The three Simple Rules for LiPo Safety* are:

1) NEVER let the cell voltage drop below 3.0 volts per cell.

2) NEVER let the cell temperature get above 140F

3) ALWAYS store a pack at 1/2 charge when storing extended periods of time.

Following these basic rules, along with using the correct charger, etc, will keep you out of trouble. Most of the stories we read about LiPo explosions were with earlier generations of cells - current cells are more robust and less likely to cause safety issues.


*From Castle Creations.

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[saleens7]

after i finish the SW, ill probably be making to switch to lipo....by any chance, does anyone know of a lipo cutoff that can have the cutoff voltage set to 3.4v a cell?

[NorthernBoater]

With the computer link on the hydra you can set the cutoff for whatever you want.