lipo batteries

[millermonsterNI]

Hi

Was looking for your thoughts on lipo batteries? Is it it worth changing over and is there much I need to do like alarms for low battery or special bag to stop acid leaks etc

Cheers

 

[sp00n]

I am relatively new to lipo's, yet this si what i have learnt so far ... with lipo's the charger is every thing, so make sure you get a good one. I personally use a imax b6.

Pro's

a 7.4v lipo gives the same rof as a 9.6v nicad/nimh

there very light and small

they come in all sorts of sizes

relatively cheap

con's

new technology (getting better all the time, so you may have to upgrade as they get better)

they come in all sorts of sizes (make sure you measure before you buy!)

you need a new charger

you cannot fully discharge them, if you do they are useless and you need a new battery!

alarms are optional, you know when they are running low on juice low rof etc

the bag wont stop a leak, contain it yes. i don't bother, as i keep an eye on my batteries when charging.

 

[rexfan10]

Im very new to lipos ( got one a week ago! ) and i got the charger of componentshop.com that only costs £15 and it seems to work just fine

Ive never used nimh as it was only recently i got an AEG and i thought i'd just skip straight to lipo I just charge mine next to my laptop so i can keep an eye on it, but unless you discharge it too much i doubt anything will happen. Seeing as ive only ever used a lipo i havent got anything to compare it to, but there trigger response on my cm16 with a 7.4v lipo seems pretty decent!

As spoon has already said they can be very small, but also they are apprently fragile compared tonimh's, but mine seems to do fine bouncing around inside m handgaurd

The charging time also seems to be very fast compared to when i used to charge the nimh battery packs for my rc boat!

If you do decide to change over to lipo then you will proabaly find its not as expensive as some people make out ( its pretty much the same as buying a nimh battery and charger! ) My charger= £15 and my battery =£15 so all together only £30, and i think some lipo's are even cheaper than buying a mini 8.4nimh!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Airsoft-7-4V-1300mAh-25C-LiPo-stick-battery-with-case-101-x-20-4-x-13-3mm-UK-/121110523314?pt=UK_Sporting_Goods_Paintballing&hash=item1c32bfedb2 lipo= £13

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/8-4V-1600mAh-2-3A-NiMH-mini-battery-AEG-Airsoft-/370694091625?pt=UK_Sporting_Goods_Paintballing&hash=item564f16f369

nimh=£14.25

You dont need a fancy £30+ charger IMHO. The £15 charger i got from componenet shop even chargers life batteries, which is an added bonus if you decide to upgrade to them

Hope this is of some use to,

Rex.

 

[TPI]

Nimh's are old Tech ditch em, Lipo's I'd pass up and get a LiFe Battery instead only one I have found so far is 9.9V and they apparently are less of an arse than Lipo's

 

[sp00n]

Most life batteries are 9.9v, well the one I have is which fits none of my guns lesson learned measure twice, order once

 

[TPI]

3 Times actually because if you measure only twice it's 50\50 right or wrong and they shouldn't be within the same half hour = Adequate forum/Youtube Time

 

[Qlimax]

I like lipo's but my gc-16 doesn't run to it's full potential on them well not on the 7.4v anyway.

 

[millermonsterNI]

Cheers lads

Any more info on life batteries? What sort of cost etc

 

[rexfan10]

http://www.component-shop.co.uk/html/airsoft_li-fe.html

Life batteries are supposed to have all the pro's of lipo's but then have pretty much none of the cons

for eg. They are also small, provide good trigger response etc. but unlike lipo's, life are a lot more robust so can take more of a beating.

Like i mentioned earlier, the charger i have can charge both lipo AND life meaning you can try lipo first, see if you like it or not and vice versa, and for only £15 its a pretty good deal http://www.component-shop.co.uk/html/le-3.html

Life batteries also aren't that expenisve ( only a quid or 2 more than a lipo, so its a no brainer really )

After saying that, i think ive convinced myself to buy one as well now

Rex.

 

[sp00n]

From my (limited) experience, I found life batteries to be slightly chunkier than lipo's of a similar capacity. But like everyone has said, you need a balance charger.

Also lipo alarms don't work on life batteries (as I found out)

 

[DreamWeaver]

Life batteries don't seem to be that much better honestly I've used a 9.9 for a while and its nothing special.

And unless your really trying having an accident with a LIPO is really hard just dont leave them plugged in after they've finished charging (This is good practice anyway) and when you notice in the field your ROF dropping substantially Or if you use semi most of the time your trigger response seems to dip and the AEG sounds different take the LIPO straight out and put a fresh one in.

The hype around lipo batteries being some kind of fragile mini-nuke is bullllllssssshhhiiitttt

 

[zetec]

Just one thing to note for long life with Lipo, apart from not letting them drop too low, is to only charge them when you are going to use them, leaving them charged to max (4.2v per cell) when storing will lead to them puffing up. Easy thing is to charge the day or night before you need them. Most chargers have an option to discharge to a set figure, I tend to use 3.7V per cell for storage.

 

[Ian_Gere]

The hype around lipo batteries being some kind of fragile mini-nuke is bullllllssssshhhiiitttt

I have an Accucell 6 by Turnigy which I think is the same as an Imax B6 (it uses the same software and USB connector anyway). It has a setting to charge/discharge lipo's for storage. It also charges life, nicd, nimh, & lead acid batteries too, from the mains or another battery and with a charging current up to 5A so very fast.

The charging bag is to prevent fire spreading if you use a crap charger or misuse a good one. A biscuit tin would do the same thing...

 

[dazzer306]

hi all just a quikie on this LiPo battery stuff am getting 2 for my GK5C as it can only take nunchuck type, after use do I have to do anything to them ie after game do I just leave till nxt time or do I have to discharge them, have heard if discharged for to long battery is knackered ant help be great thanks

 

[Ian_Gere]

They should have some charge left in them for storage, but not a full charge. I don't know if zetec's suggestion of 3.7V per cell is correct for storage as they are nominally rated as able to continuously output that voltage: 7.4V for 2 cells, 11.1V for 3 cells. Best bets are either get a charger like mine which does it automatically, or look it up yourself.

Oh yeah, and when you buy batteries be aware of what "C" means - the higher the number the more current it can discharge in short times. Obviously when we pull our triggers that requires an instant delivery of our battery's capacity for a short time.

 

[millermonsterNI]

Thanks guys you have convinced me that this is the way forward.

Again thank you for taking time out to help.

 

[snuff]

If you go Lipo I recommend a tester just so you can keep an eye on their condition,mine are quite small but I change them at dinner time,they'd prolly last all day but they don't have to.

Don't worry about an alarm,mine used to beep during sustained fire...

 

[DreamWeaver]

I think most of the time the lipo alarms go off because when your firing the battery the power is always fluctuating?

I take an alarm with me but i plug it in while readying up between games and see if the battery sets it off, i dont leave it plugged in during the game because the constant bleeping gets on my tits haha

 

[zetec]

It's more a case of not storing fully charged which is normally 4.2V per cell. 3.7V is a safe value as below this they drop quickly and can become damaged.