RCCrawler Forums

dolphenwulf · 08-13-2011, 01:50 PM

I have alot of different types of RC stuff- Boats, Tamiya Vintage, Scale crawler. Ive been out of RC for about 20 years but I still have all my models, I recently bought a scale crawler and I'm loving it, And I cant believe how far the technology has come. I want to convert to lipo but I want to know what benifits there are to it. Do I get a longer run time? Can I use this with brushed motors and old school mannual speed controllers? I appreciate any input.

Charlie-III · 08-13-2011, 02:25 PM

Welcome back......
Electronics don't care the chemistry that supplies volts, onlt the quantity of volts supplied.
The only thing to consider is that older ESC's don't have a LVC, AKA Low Voltage Cutoff, to protect the LiPO's from over discharging. You can either be very careful to stop the vehicle when performance drops a bit, or add an external LVC.
LiPO's have enormous power for the size/weight compared to NiCAD/NiMH batteries.
When I ran 12th & 10th pan cars on carper, you juggled speed vs. run time.
Now, it's how close to melting a motor do I want to go??!!

You also need a charger that can do LiPO's. I use a couple of Venom ProChargers that do almost ANYTHING and can also balance charge LiPO's.
There are decent & cheap chargers out there, but this is what I use.

Search around a bit, ask more questions if need be.

crawlhog · 08-13-2011, 02:30 PM

i was in the same situation as you, GO LIPO you wont regret it. you can get a AC6 charger from hobbypartz for 35 bucks that will take care of all your batts.

Trubble · 08-13-2011, 10:49 PM

Even so-so LiPo's and LiFe's are capable of putting out more voltage under load than NiMh's or NiCad, thus they'll feel a lot faster. And the voltage doesn't taper off as bad with LiPo/LiFe, whereas with NiXx, you'll notice the voltage tapering off as the pack gets used. I've never timed them myself, but reports are that the more efficient lithium batteries give longer run times.

But, yes, LiPo's can become unstable if you run the packs too flat (dead), so a low voltage alarm or cutoff is something you really should have. They also do require a specific charger, and using a charging sack is also a wise idea.

Most who try LiPo love the increased power, and would not want to go back to NiXx batteries. I would love to try LiFe batteries out, but this dang mortgage keep trumping my R/C spending fund. And as mentioned above, your older R/C's don't know and don't much care what chemistry you're running. Just don't go out and load up on 3S's and try and hook them up to your old Futaba MC 1128 or Novak T-4, that might turn out bad.

08-13-2011, 01:50 PM	#1
dolphenwulf Pebble Pounder Join Date: May 2011 Location: charleston Posts: 164	Converting to lipo questions I have alot of different types of RC stuff- Boats, Tamiya Vintage, Scale crawler. Ive been out of RC for about 20 years but I still have all my models, I recently bought a scale crawler and I'm loving it, And I cant believe how far the technology has come. I want to convert to lipo but I want to know what benifits there are to it. Do I get a longer run time? Can I use this with brushed motors and old school mannual speed controllers? I appreciate any input.

08-13-2011, 02:25 PM	#2
Charlie-III I wanna be Dave Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: 07456 N. NJ USofA Posts: 8,314	Welcome back...... Electronics don't care the chemistry that supplies volts, onlt the quantity of volts supplied. The only thing to consider is that older ESC's don't have a LVC, AKA Low Voltage Cutoff, to protect the LiPO's from over discharging. You can either be very careful to stop the vehicle when performance drops a bit, or add an external LVC. LiPO's have enormous power for the size/weight compared to NiCAD/NiMH batteries. When I ran 12th & 10th pan cars on carper, you juggled speed vs. run time. Now, it's how close to melting a motor do I want to go??!! You also need a charger that can do LiPO's. I use a couple of Venom ProChargers that do almost ANYTHING and can also balance charge LiPO's. There are decent & cheap chargers out there, but this is what I use. Search around a bit, ask more questions if need be.

08-13-2011, 02:30 PM	#3
crawlhog RCC Addict Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: a house Posts: 1,986	i was in the same situation as you, GO LIPO you wont regret it. you can get a AC6 charger from hobbypartz for 35 bucks that will take care of all your batts.

08-13-2011, 10:49 PM	#4
Trubble Proverbial threadkiller Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Central Wisconsin Posts: 1,453	Even so-so LiPo's and LiFe's are capable of putting out more voltage under load than NiMh's or NiCad, thus they'll feel a lot faster. And the voltage doesn't taper off as bad with LiPo/LiFe, whereas with NiXx, you'll notice the voltage tapering off as the pack gets used. I've never timed them myself, but reports are that the more efficient lithium batteries give longer run times. But, yes, LiPo's can become unstable if you run the packs too flat (dead), so a low voltage alarm or cutoff is something you really should have. They also do require a specific charger, and using a charging sack is also a wise idea. Most who try LiPo love the increased power, and would not want to go back to NiXx batteries. I would love to try LiFe batteries out, but this dang mortgage keep trumping my R/C spending fund. And as mentioned above, your older R/C's don't know and don't much care what chemistry you're running. Just don't go out and load up on 3S's and try and hook them up to your old Futaba MC 1128 or Novak T-4, that might turn out bad.

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