Does it hurt the lipos to go under 6 volts with a load on them as long as static voltage is still above 6?

Clay,

That is NOT a dumb question, and it's one I've been wondering myself.

I tested some of the Orion 2400 lipos w/ 17.5 last week, and they came really close to an even 6 volts under heavy load at one point.

I've been told that going under 6 volts will ruin the pack! :confused:

I have been told that too, but how are you suppose to know if your running, you stop, and then its above 6? Is going below 6 with a load, bad?

It's not a dumb question, but is probably a little irrelevant for you. If you're running the 3200 and you hit the track with a charged pack you're never going to get close to 6, assuming you don't practice an outrageous length of time. Also, I thought I saw you were considering a Tekin or LRP, both have a LIPO cutoff.

To answer your question I wouldn't be overly concerned with a brief dip under 6. There's some safety factor built into the 6V number. I accidently discharged mine to 3.6 one time and it is fine. I realized my mistake right away and put some charge back in and the pack is no worse for the wear. Maybe it shortened the life some who knows, but nothing catastrophic and it cycles as good as before.

Well, im not running a 3200. They are trakpower 4900. They dont cycle the greatest. 474 with AV of 7.02 @ 35 amps. I have a race coming up in illinois where the a main is 12 mins. Im running a 10.5 in a t4. Yesterday i was doing some testing and at the 13 min mark in my yard (probably higher amp draw than a track). I tested with my multimeter and under load got down right at 6v, maybe a short dip under 6. I should be fine.

Also, i know for a fact that the novak cutoff doesnt work in the gtb (at least the two i have). Both of my trakpower packs have been down to about 5v under load. (I think that is why they dont cycle so well). So i dont trust cutoffs anyway. Maybe the tekin will be better. (I hope)

Reasonable question with the 12 minute main and the 10.5 in a truck. I was assuming assuming normal race lengths and oval pan car :)

I haven't heard of anyone having probelms with the cutoffs not working on the speedos where they are built in, although in the oval world we never get near the cutoff so maybe no one knows.

dont know about the others, i just know that my novaks didnt cut off when they were suppose to.

Anybody have some intelligent answers?

It depends on how old you Novaks are. not exactly sure when they put in the Lipo cut-off on all production models(I'm guessing around 1 year ago) Probably doesn't help for your race next week but if sent in to Novak they would probably update them for nothing or next to nothing.

I just got a few new GTB's for Lipo racing and they have little stickers on them about the built in lipo cut off stuff.

Well, i know the one that i was running was a lipo edition. It did not cut off until my batt was below 5.5v. when i got the truck back to the table, the voltage was at 5.5. Oh well, i installed a 2 cell lipo cutoff in it, so that should be good enough. I have already tested it! works great.