I know the safety concerns...

Just wondering if any of the racers are using them yet for the voltage advantage to the RMGs.

If you use one, how did you waterproof yours and what capacity do you run?

...just curious...


Eric Olson
Atlanta Model Yacht Club
AtlMYC.org

I have been using lipo batteries for about a year now. The concerns about safety stem primarilly from over charging or using the wrong charger.

I switched to lipo for serveral reasons:

No reciever drop out. A NIMh battery can drop voltage when winches pull amps. Lipos can deliver high amps (power) with virtually no voltage drop. So when you winch in the sail fast in high wind the voltage stays steady and the receiver won't quit from low voltage. NIMh batteries can typically deliver only two amps. Lipos can easily put out 20 amps.



Faster, more powerful RMG winch. Lipos start at 8.4 volts. I drive the RMG directly from the lipo.

I use a small voltage regulator (regulate to 6 volts) for the the receiver and other winches. The voltage is rock steady at 6 volts.

Lipos hold a full charge with no bleed off when idle.

I have two batteries from Thunderpower(prolite V2). One is 1320 mAh and the other is 2600 mAh. If I sail the EC 12 continuously for 3 hours, it consumes about 900 mAh.

I mount the lipo on the side of the inner keel wall with velcro. My boat only gets a drop or two of water in it. I have totally submerged the lipos in another boat twice. I just brought them home and let them dry out. No problem.....

The safety issue from lipos stems from the fact that they pack a lot of energy in a small package. They can release that energy very fast. So a dead short for example, could casue a fire. I'd expect that if you are reasonably cautious when first using a lipo and you will have no problems

Dick Hedderick


Richard Hedderick

Lipos are waterproof.... They are totally sealed, if they were not, they would catch fire. I have friends that I build remote controlled submarines with, and they run lipos in the wet all the time, and they are submerged to about 10ft with no problem (so they also can take a bit of pressue as well).

I don't mean to say go out and abuse your lips, but they should be fine.

dave
#1489

thedave
EC-12 #1489
Vic #88888
CR-914 #95
Footy #666/#888
RG-65 #88
ODOM #504
J-Class.......

Oops, I meant to say LIPO's, not lips......

Although, I do not recommend abusing your lips either.....

dave

thedave
EC-12 #1489
Vic #88888
CR-914 #95
Footy #666/#888
RG-65 #88
ODOM #504
J-Class.......

Read the article in the latest <i>Model Yachting</i>. The huge problem with Lipos is poor management in not knowing the cautions. Really. There are some bad stories but how many call a "bad" on themselves. We remember the negatives about things and people even if minor to the positives.

...94