Anybody running Nanophosphate's?

[BadTurtle]

I love my A123 LiFe Nanophosphate packs. I can fast charge them up to 15C all day long. It seems the more I charge them in a day the better they get. They are excellent for crawlers because they have a 60C discharge rate. You can pull 70 plus amps out of them and they dont even get warm! I know, I have a watt/amp meter that proves it. I got mine at www.rclipos.com and they have FREE shipping. They wont catch on fire, they wont explode and they are rated for 2000 plus charge cycles. Here's a pic.

[speed ghilliesniper]

i might be soon, can you charge them with a nimh charger or only lipo? they sound like very nice batteries, nice find

[JohnRobHolmes]

They have a special setting, you need a special charger. The only exception is 4 cell packs can be charged as 12v lead acid.

I'm not too big of a fan on the hard shell LiFePo4 packs. The energy density isn't that great. Prismatic pouch cells are a bit better for the application IMO.

[BadTurtle]

The only way you can hurt these batteries is to over voltage them when you charge them. They are amperage sponges and can handle a 15 amp charge. The venom charger has a A123/LiFe/Nanophospate setting and it charges them at about 3.5 volts per cell at a 5 amp max (all the Venom puts out). There are vents on each cell, and if you over voltage them the vent pops and the cell is dead. They are very safe unlike Lipo's , run just as long, and fast charge. Just don't charge them on a lipo charger.

[JohnRobHolmes]

Popular to some current marketing, LiFe doesn't like going below 2v per cell. It reduces the capacity, discharge rate, and longevity with every occurance.

[BadTurtle]

Thats a good point. You dont run a voltage cut off with these batts. Your radio gear will stop working when the pack voltage drops below 6 volts. So that leaves 2 volts per cell.

[666]

I have been running them for years. Work great for scalers, supers, and anything where size is not an issue. You can find them real cheap too if you know where they are hiding!

[BadTurtle]

The DeWalt Lithium-ion packs are A123. Rip them down and wire up your own packs.

[666]

Originally Posted by BadTurtle

The DeWalt Lithium-ion packs are A123. Rip them down and wire up your own packs.

Bingo! You can get them from guys that say their packs are dead, chance's are only one cell is bad.

[BadTurtle]

I'm using my 3 cell triangle A123 packs on the TCS Edge chassis and they fit perfect. Here's a pic...

[87burb]

I am still using old stick packs. I have been looking at lipo's but I'm still unsure about them. These seem safer and just as powerful?

Can I use these with any esc/manual too? I will need to add a bec? Also what charger should I look to buy?

I am bad about charging my stick packs and forgetting to unplug them so they sit on trickle for an hour sometimes before I unplug them. Will this cause a problem with these? Thanks in advance for the help guys.

[BadTurtle]

You dont run a voltage cutoff with these Nanophosphates so yes you could even run them on a mechanical speed control if you wanted to. On the Tekin FXR I turn the voltage cutoff off. You do need a charger rated for A123/Nanophosphate/LiFe packs. A lipo charger will over voltage and ruin them. Here is a pic of one of the chargers I use.

[JohnRobHolmes]

You should run a low voltage cutoff at 2v per cell.

[Lushtrucker]

I had 10 of them and made some 3s packs for different applications. I think they are ok, but really don't pack much punch for there size. those pyramid packs are 2300mAh, compared to a 3s 2200 Lipo those are huge. when I ran them in a 6s configuration in my 8ight they didn't feel anywhere near as strong as a zippy 5s 5000mah pack, which was also a lot easier to fit.
as far as 60C being great for a crawler, I don't see your logic. according to my data logger my berg running 2 35t motors on 3s with one motor in a bind only draws just over 30A, a 20C 1500mAh pack will push 30A out with no issue.

If you are scared of LiPo's then go for it, I don't see any other advantage to them aside from the fast charge rates.

[Robbob]

Originally Posted by Lushtrucker

I had 10 of them and made some 3s packs for different applications. I think they are ok, but really don't pack much punch for there size. those pyramid packs are 2300mAh, compared to a 3s 2200 Lipo those are huge. when I ran them in a 6s configuration in my 8ight they didn't feel anywhere near as strong as a zippy 5s 5000mah pack, which was also a lot easier to fit.
as far as 60C being great for a crawler, I don't see your logic. according to my data logger my berg running 2 35t motors on 3s with one motor in a bind only draws just over 30A, a 20C 1500mAh pack will push 30A out with no issue.

If you are scared of LiPo's then go for it, I don't see any other advantage to them aside from the fast charge rates.

Ive heard the same about lack of punch from a Berg owner who runs them but he said he made up for it with motor.

Advantage he said was they are lighter then a Lipo of the same capacity.

Give and take I guess.

[JohnRobHolmes]

They are actually heavier than lipo. Lipo (LiCo) has about a 40% energy density advantage over LiFe chemistry in pouch form. Add in the metal shell for some extra weight.

[BadTurtle]

Originally Posted by Lushtrucker

I had 10 of them and made some 3s packs for different applications. I think they are ok, but really don't pack much punch for there size. those pyramid packs are 2300mAh, compared to a 3s 2200 Lipo those are huge. when I ran them in a 6s configuration in my 8ight they didn't feel anywhere near as strong as a zippy 5s 5000mah pack, which was also a lot easier to fit.
as far as 60C being great for a crawler, I don't see your logic. according to my data logger my berg running 2 35t motors on 3s with one motor in a bind only draws just over 30A, a 20C 1500mAh pack will push 30A out with no issue.

If you are scared of LiPo's then go for it, I don't see any other advantage to them aside from the fast charge rates.

Did you do a full bind on BOTH your motors AND bind the steering servo too? That will jump the amps up.

[Lushtrucker]

Originally Posted by BadTurtle

Did you do a full bind on BOTH your motors AND bind the steering servo too? That will jump the amps up.

I'm sure it would some, but since there are plenty of guys running berg comp rigs on 2 of the small sidewinders running LiPo packs under 1000mAh, I still don't see any justification for such a huge and heavy pack.

[BadTurtle]

Originally Posted by Lushtrucker

I'm sure it would some, but since there are plenty of guys running berg comp rigs on 2 of the small sidewinders running LiPo packs under 1000mAh, I still don't see any justification for such a huge and heavy pack.

Your best Lipo's will only last 300 charge/discharge cycles. And at about 200 cycles the Lipo's energy density starts to get lower. All I am saying is for the price of these A123 packs and the use cycles you will get from them (over 1000), and the fact that they will hold their energy densities over a long time, they are a good battery. For racing R/C's I would still stick with Lipo's for their punch in power. But for crawlers I like the Nanophosphates. I can run three 2.2 competition courses on one 1100mah A123 3s pack and still have 10 minuets of play time after! And I can have that pack fast charged before the second pack is dead. As far as weight, it's on my front axle where I need the weight. A123 packs are heaver than Lipo's but they are lighter than NiMH.

[JohnRobHolmes]

Many lipos can be charged in about 15 minutes now as well. The two advantages that LiFe has over LiCo (lipoly) is the cycle life and lack of thermal runaway. Newer lipo has a 300 cycle life when treated with pretty hard discharge rates. With the low average rates crawlers will use, we could very well see 500 to 1000 cycles out of a lipo pack if they didn't get lost, destroyed, or otherwise damaged like I always do after a year or two. I would challange anybody to actually log 1000 cycles on any pack before something happened to it besides it wearing out.