Air Hog Battery Packs

[TheB1GDude]

Hi,

So I got sent an Air Hogs LIPO Battery Pack and charger sent to me as part of a trade (don't ask! :-)) I wondered if anyone had done anything with re-wiring these to fit into an Xmod??

Would I need to cut the case or what and if I did how do I charge with the standard charger??

Any help much appreciated!

[RedSXmodder]

Just buy some Dean's plugs, redo the charger, EP, and battery. 2 female and on male (battery).

Later,
RedSXmodder

[TheB1GDude]

Originally Posted by RedSXmodder

Just buy some Dean's plugs, redo the charger, EP, and battery. 2 female and on male (battery).

Later,
RedSXmodder

OK sounds simple enough! Do I have to open everything, e.g. the battery casing and charger casing up to get to where I would need to do the re-wiring?

[RedSXmodder]

So, your wondering if you have to mess with anything inside the battery? If so, you don't. Just cut the plug off the end of the battery (making sure the ends don't touch) then solder and heat shrink the new plug.

Later,
RedSXmodder

[bondo]

i have no idea what the air hogs batts are about but i can tell you this.
DO NOT cut the plug wires at the same time. seperate the wires and cut them individually and just like red said, dont let the wires touch.
very bad things could happen.
cheers and be safe with those lipo's

[TheB1GDude]

Thanks for the feedback so far - I just wanted to show which of the packs I had got:



The yellow battery pack is a sealed unit so do I have to crack the case and take it apart to get to the wiring? The same question would apply to the charger as well?

Thanks.

[RedSXmodder]

Oh, I get what your saying. I'd imagine that method of battery plug is alot safer than some plugs I've seen.

I don't know what to tell you.

Later,
RedSXmodder

[TheB1GDude]

OK well this is what I did! I pried open the yellow plastic case to get the actual cell - from looking at them I didnt cause any damage so hopefully they aren't going to explode on me!

What was inside was two PS2 (I think this is the technical name for them) 7.4volt cells one had a red wire coming of it and one had a black wire coming of it then the postive and negative terminals that didnt have a wire coming from them had a piece of metal soldered to them to make a circuit I guess?? This piece of metal also stuck out the side of the yellow plastic case and made contact with a point inside the charge again I guess to make the circuit to start the charging.

Now what I am assuming is that I can simple replace the two wires with a Deans plug and wiring and then just solder a piece of wire inplace of the piece of metal currently there and that should be that..... I think anyway!

What I should end up with is a lith-pol set thats looks like it should fit on a Evo.

I took some photos but I havent had chance to upload them yet! I will try to document what I do so it can help others!

Let me know if you have any suggestions because I am kind of winging it here and dont want to blow my hand off if I make a mistake!

[RedSXmodder]

Well, here's the deal. Install it outside, away from anything flamable, and on a car that you don't care for first, to tell if it works right...

That way, if you made a mistake, and the thing catches fire, you won't burn your housw down.

Later,
RedSXmodder

[TheB1GDude]

OK so this was my final plan based upon advice from the person who gave me the liths:

1. Open yellow Air Hogs Battery case.
2. Solder Deans plug onto positive / negative terminals of cell.
3. Cut hole in side of yellow case.
4. Reassemble yellow battery case with Deans plug sticking out of the side of it.
5. Solder Deans plug onto car.
6. Connect battery to car.

All seemed fairly simple! So this morning I went ahead and did the steps the listed - when the soldering was all done I connected the batteries together, flipped the power switch and there was a bang and a fizz and some pretty lights and then my board decided to melt itself onto the heat sink!!

Now as much as I love the smell of burning electronics this was every so slightly annoying! Infact I could turn this response into a massive rant but I'm not going to!

I will simple say to anyone else that wants to attempt this - BE VERY VERY CAREFUL because I would hate for anyone else to loose a car!

Looking over my work I see nothing wrong with what I have done so I don't really know why the board would have fried - the batteries are 7.2volts putting out 750MAh so they shouldn't exceed the max voltage of the board - I didn't do anything stupid with my wiring so my thinking is that the cells where bad but supposedly they where brand new so I don't see how that could be!

[janikphoto]

well, the board can handle the juice. I used a 7.4v 1250mah lipo battery from an r/c helicopter and burned up stock motors, but not esc boards...

[TheB1GDude]

Apparently my mistake was using it one a gen1 car - apparently there is some different between them that means it cant handle what comes out of the cell! Works great on evos though and is a nice and easy way to recharge!

[Andrew7447]

Apparently my mistake was using it one a gen1 car. ??? Gen1s and handle just as much volts as a evo can......

[RedSXmodder]

Ehh, thats where your wrong. Gen1 FETs aren't as nice and powerful as the EVO FETs, and will fry a little easier, so BIGdude, your right, it overpowered your Gen1, and your probably on the edge with you EVO...

Later,
RedSXmodder

[TheB1GDude]

Originally Posted by RedSXmodder

Ehh, thats where your wrong. Gen1 FETs aren't as nice and powerful as the EVO FETs, and will fry a little easier, so BIGdude, your right, it overpowered your Gen1, and your probably on the edge with you EVO...

Later,
RedSXmodder

Yeap you where right! Boom goes my Evo! Two cars in one day gone..... so I guess if anyone reading this has a stock Evo chassis they want to get rid of PM me and I'll take a look through the B/S/T posts.

[Andrew7447]

ok a 7.2 volts wont near blow a gen1 lol i had 9.6 in my once lol. and evo fets suck too lol.

[TheB1GDude]

OK my electrical knowledge isn't that great but my understanding is that the electrical impedance of the cells was two much for the Evo board.

I also once did an 8-cell upgrade to a Gen1 and it ran fine but apparently the impedance from 8 batteries compared to the impedance of this LITH pack was completely different and that is what blew my board.

[Andrew7447]

very odd i ran liths on my gen1 but then my charger caught on fire lol so back to 6 cell.

[TheB1GDude]

Yeah for what they cost liths and how much hassle they are compared to the power gains you get from them sometimes they just dont seem worth it!