Should I make the jump to Li-Po?

[ling427ttvette]

My 8.4v Tenergy's are showing their too good to be true cheapness now. :roll:

One got so hot the glue was running around inside the shrink wrap, and is now showing large burn marks on the sides of the cell that is sideways on the pack.. which tells me the others are probably doing the same. I saw a thread on the Traxxas forums where a set of Tenergy's blew up on a guy while in his truck. I'm not going to let that happen, so I'm shutting down until I get new batteries.

I found a setup that will allow me to go Li-Po for under $100.

Two of these batteries:
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=8357

And a balancer/charger combination:
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=7028&Product_Name=Turnigy_Accucel-6_50W_5A_Balancer/Charger

Or should I stick with Ni-Mh batteries? I was building a pack at cheapbatterypacks.com and to get an Elite 5000 mAh 8.4v pack it will be about $50 a pack. Seems normal price. This has more volts than the Li-Po's up there and more mAh.. for the same price as the Li-Po/charger combination and I won't have to have another charger sitting around.

I'm honestly happy with it's performance it has right now, I'd love it to pull wheelies but I don't need it to, yet.

I thought about upgrading to 9.6v, but would it make that much of a difference? There are so many options I just cannot make up my mind.

[Donziikid]

Do you ever plan on going to Lithium Polymer in the future regardless of what you purchase now? My philosophy when upgrading batteries is that you'll be spending more if you go NiMH, upgraded NiMH then LiPo. That upgraded NiMH is a good $50-$100 you do not need to spend if you will ultimately go to Lithium Chemistry batteries.

However, if you feel you'll stick with NiMH, then just stick with NiMH. I know many people who swear by their NiMH and will never turn to Lithium Chemistry due to the vast precautions, but I also know many people who run Lithium Chemistry who will never again lay their hands on a NiMH. Both of them have their advantages but both of them also have their drawbacks. Personally, if I were in your situation, especially when dealing with a brushless system, I would save the money you would be wasting on NiMH packs and jump straight to Lithium Chemistry.

You'll also see a much larger performance gain with a good Lithium pack than you would with good NiMH. The average Lithium pack has a much higher discharge rate than that of a good NiMH pack and can even sometimes offer a longer run time than a NiMH. It's really six of one half a dozen of the other. Either way is a good choice, but one way will save you money.

Cheers,
Kyle.

[ling427ttvette]

Well, I'm definitely going to be about trying to save money.. I looked at the total amount I had invested in this thing in the short time I've had it and decided to get what I need for now and lay low unless it breaks.

I do definitely need a quality battery with the draw from the BL setup, and Li-Po would definitely fit the needs much better.

I've seen a little talk of a Li-Po safe box, do you know about these? Are they for charging only, or can you run a Li-Po box in the vehicle as well?

As far as the batteries I posted, would they be a pretty decent battery? I'd definitely like to get a good combination for the setup I have.. but don't know much about setting up a good combination since there are different dis-charge rates and what not.