New to LiPo, but considering it for some dirt oval racing in mod class. Curious as to what brand/type to go with ,and what charger to use for it. something simple and reliable, as i am sure i can get more power than traction in the dirt

I'm running the Orion "carbon" 3200 mah version(about $80.00) Orion "platinum" 4800 mah if more capacity needed ($120.00) Carbon still has plenty left after 4min race though. Charger Orion Advantage avionic( about $75.00) No problems with either!

I've being using the Orion 3200 and their Advantage charger. There is plenty of run time left with the Novak 10.5 in a pan car. The Orion packs would be the only ones I would recommend because of their hard case and great quality control.

dont forget that peak sells the carbon and platinum batteries!

Do you soilder the lipo like the 4200 batteries?

No way! You use a connector like this:

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c231/gezer2u/Stuff/Orionconnectors002.jpg

I guess I should have dusted off that tire dust first! LOL

Do both of the batteries being discussed have a hard case? I have heard that us car guys should stay with the had case Lipo's is that true or just one of those urban legends?

It's hard to tell from the picture above but both the Orion 3200 and 4800 batteries are in a hard formed case.

here are a couple of pic's of the hard case lipos.

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c231/gezer2u/Stuff/peak4800.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c231/gezer2u/Stuff/peak3200.jpg


And one of a lipo without a hard case.

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c231/gezer2u/Stuff/maxampslipo.jpg

Is that lead on top the battery? and is that a KSG car?

Cliff,

YES to both of those questions...

The 3200 lipo weighs about 2/3rds the weight of a 4 cell 4200

I was wondering about how the cross weight would be affected by the lighter battery. Looks like you guys have a handle on it!

Yeah. just about the whole sticker area is filled with lead. Joe, didn't they have a kinda high minimum weight there?

Don,

Our series runs a 38 oz rule across the board, I think the AZ weight was 41 oz (Which I'm sure is either the BRL's or ROAR's)

I personally am opposed to the high weight rules being used. We were 42 oz for Expert Classes and 44 oz for Sportsman classes back in the NORRCA days, and when we dropped the 2 cells we dropped the weight to 38 oz for all (since rarely did we have enough entries to split the classes)

That being said, running my car at normal weight w/ the 4 cell 4200 and the 10.5 b/l in Phoenix my car was 43.2 and only once have I seen anyone make it under the minimum weight at one of my races...and it's nice sometimes knowing you'll probably NEVER DQ someone for a weight violation...

Oh, I guess I'm used to Stockton bring 40oz. Josh's car weighs a tick over 40 oz with 4 cell and brushless. With lipo it was 37.8oz.

What is the basic voltage on a LIPO pack?
And can they be matched?

Just curious - thanks!

7.4 vdc Mike. Not matched but equalized. A call to Rick Hohwart will get you first hand info.

Thanks! And I hear they are basically 2 cells so no way to make into 4-cell? Only 3.7 volts which would never work for speedos and all...

So if they race straight up against 6 sub-c's which would win? Which has more voltage....

(YELLOW STRIPE) ROOKIE haha

Mike, I have been working with the Orion 3200 Carbon back. It charges to 8.37 volts. The reason I am so specific is that is what it charges to “every time”. It is call a 2S 1P pack, meaning there are 2 cells in series for voltage and one in Parallel for added run time.

I have run it with the 4300 brushless motor with real good results and only use about one volt for the entire 4 min. run. It starts at 8.37 and comes off between 7.4 and 7.5 volts. Lap times only drop about .01 from start to end. I ran it 7 times in a row one night during testing “trying” to hurt it and it charged and ran exactly the same every time. I even charged it the night before for a test and it only dropped to 8.36 volts after sitting for 20 hours. I can’t imagine any standard 6 cell pack that would come close to comparing to the LiPo.

As for matching, I’m sure it will get to that but right now, there is no need. Like the post above said, you “balance” the cells and you do that yourself.

Mike, we have been runnig the Lipo/4300 for about 4 months now and at best we have come within 1 lap of our 4-cell mod track record. This is on a 200' banked asphalt track. 4-cell record Ken Collins (with 6x1) 64 4:02 Lipo 4300 Humpty 63 4:01 so the question about lipo/6-cell mod Lipo would win every time. 7.2 volts 6-cell pack and 7.4 volts for lipo pack. If you ran a 4.5 or 7 turn you could run 4800 MAH lipo with out any worries of dumping :thumbsup:

If anyone is looking for a great mod class for local races lipo/4300 is the way to go!!!

We are going to mix some 4300/Lipo cars with our 4 cell MOD class this weekend at the VELO to see how the 3200's do on the BIG track trying to run 5 minutes.

We know a 4300/w/ the 4800 cased battery can run 1 full lap faster than what our current MOD record is...both set back in March.

I'm also going to have the 17.5 motor run with a 4 cell to see how it runs vs. STOCK, then I'm going to send if off to Raymond so he can do a few tests with it...

Would love to know how the 17.5 motor runs with 4-cells? Would it make a good brushless "spec" motor? Would give NOVAK two oval classes to sell to. Legend cars with a brushless 17.5 motor and 4-cell spec packs would be a gass if the motor is right... IMO This is something that is needed for the beginners to get into it without motor hasslles. Ralf

Thunder, with the lightness of the Lipo, would using a receiver pack allow the use of a single lipo cell, 3.7V for motor power only?

Good thought Ron - does anyone make a 3.7 pack yet I wonder?

Good thought Ron - does anyone make a 3.7 pack yet I wonder?

C'mon Mike.....3.7 volts??? I see 7.4 volt lipo 4300 at the '08 Birds :)

HOLY cow that would fly! Maybe 13.5 with a restrictor plate :p !!

Joe ...Talk to Foister ...He broke the mod record at the Indy Velo this past weekend by 9 seconds ..He said he was running 9 sec laps at Indy with a Lipo pack and a 6.5 Motor ...

On the little carpet track, you should see very little difference between a 10.5 and a 13.5 w/ LIPO, those motors don't have a whole lot of rated difference..what maybe 5%?

I never watched Foister's car run, but heard it over the intercom at the Indy Velo. He was doing a speed run and broke the single lap time record by running a 9.4 second (or faster?) lap on a 1120' track which is roughly 81mph. I know he backed that speed up on multiple laps. I was busy wrenching on my car so I don't recall how many minutes he ran, but I don't think is was 4 full minutes. It was a bit windy yesterday so I don't know if he was having issues with front downforce.

Foister has been "the man" when it comes to being fast at the Indy Velo. Best thing of all is that the BSR EHW capped tires can truly hold up to that speed.

John ran like an 23 lap 4:03 and had 80 seconds of battery left.

Oh we're gonna have some FUN this weekend...

Should have 5 cars running the 4300/10.5 LIPO - Scot was pulling 9.0's back in March with his using the bigger 4800 lipo pack...who knows what the 3200 will do.

Scot is supposed to try out his MOD B/L w/ the LIPO too.

How much faster can these things go (Most of the guys don't want to RACE at this speed...but it's fun to watch a few cars do it.)

Oh we're gonna have some FUN this weekend...


Yes we are!!! Hope the 3.5/lipo car stays on the ground :D

Scot,

You got anything 'milder' than the 3.5? Maybe a 5.5 or 6.5? At roughly 86,000 RPM's I think the 3.5 motor will NEVER get to full throttle w/o shaking the tires loose.

I think a 128/15 will be OVER geared....LOLOL and that's a 8.53 final and being conservative...that 'in a perfect world' would run about 85 mph average....and over 90 on the straights.

You got anything 'milder' than the 3.5?

I talked to John as well and for the Velo Nats, I will probably be running a 5.5 or 6.5 with a lipo.

But for this Saturday, I will run the 3.5.

I just have to...

...bring EXTRA Parts

Some guys are saying thay are using the GTB-4 with the lipo's with no problems
Have any of you guys run the gtb-4 on Lipo's

I've personally not run it, but the insides of the two versions are identical and can handle the volts. The problem with running said voltage is heat. I have had mine thermal with the heatsink and being over geared a bit. I would at least order a Novak heatsink and have it standing by in case you run into issues.

I have been testing the Competition Electronics GFX LiPo upgrade for the last week. Its great way to keep your older charger up to date and be able to charge all types of cells.

were can I find info on this up-grade for the GFX ?

Id like to know as well. Nothing posted at Competition Electronics.

Still doing some field testing... but it should be out this summer.

keep us posted.................... :thumbsup:

If anybody is still looking for Lipo's check out russellrc.com, i was just looking around at prices and they got specials goin on for dirt cheap! I just ordered the carbon edition myself.

you no longer need that expensive charger, sell it and get a good lipo chargerId like to know as well. Nothing posted at Competition Electronics.

Lipo Battery Rules Final
THE ONLY LITHIUM-POLYMER BATTERY APPROVED FOR ARCOR COMPETITION IS THE ORION/PEAK CARBON EDITION 3200 AND THE ORION/PEAK 4800 PLATNIUM EDITION.


ORION/PEAK CARBON EDITION 3200 SPEC PACK SPECIFICATIONS
CELLS: 2 VOLTAGE: 7.4V mAh: 3200 MANUFACTURE: KOKAM

WEIGHT: 200 GRAMS (no wiring) 210-215 GRAMS (with wiring)

LENGTH: 137.5mm WIDTH: 46.7mm HEIGHT: 23mm (20.5mm height between humps.

BATTERY MUST BE IN THE ORIGINAL HARD CASE AS SUPPLIED BY KOKAM/ORION/PEAK. SUBSTITUTIONS IN ANY FORM WILL NOT BE TOLERATED!!

CASE DESCRIPTION: BLACK PLASTIC WITH CARBON GRAPHITE DESIGN

The Orion/Peak Platnium Edition 4800, will only be legal in BRUSHLESS PRO MODIFIED CLASSES.

ORION/PEAK PLATNIUM EDITION 4800 mAh LIPO SPECIFICATIONS

VOLTAGE: 7.4V mAh: 4800 MANUFACTURE: KOKAM

WEIGHT: 245 GRAMS (no wiring) 260 GRAMS (with wiring) 9.2 ozs

LENGTH: 137.5mm WIDTH: 45mm HEIGHT: 23mm

BATTERY MUST BE IN THE ORIGINAL HARD CASE AS SUPPLIED BY KOKAM/ORION/PEAK. SUBSTITUTIONS IN ANY FORM WILL NOT BE TOLERATED!!

CASE DESCRIPTION: SILVER ALUMINUM and/or BLACK and SILVER ALUMINUM COLORED HARD CASE

were can I find info on this up-grade for the GFX ?
Comp. Electronics is working on new software for lipo charging on the GFX I talked to a guy from there about upgrading to a 40 amp discharge and he told me that their no plans for that but was plans for lipos new software and maybe even a condensed version of the GFX for lipos and Nimh Batteries.

Jason,

The update was released a few weeks ago.

http://www.competitionelectronics.com/pages/turbo35gfx_update.html

thats cool me personally have not been following the latest news been busy at work .

OK
what would a good starting point be to gear a 10.5 with lipo on a track the size of the snowbirds
2cell 7.4

OK
what would a good starting point be to gear a 10.5 with lipo on a track the size of the snowbirds
2cell 7.4


1.85 to 2.0 rollout is my guess but I would like to hear what people have run for this also!