Badboy 94 Posted February 2, 2017 Hi all! What's up with their Batteries? I haven't seen them on ebay or Tamiyausadotcom. It's says "out of stock" but for how long I think I saw the LF1600mA more than three mounts ago on ebay all of a sudden… GONE! And I seems not be able to find them anywhere… Stop/out of production? Anyone who knows anything? Cheers Badboy #****cancer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
matman 1499 Posted February 2, 2017 I don't think it really took off . No one was really using them ? & the price was over the top , compaired to the 7.2 li-po . So maybe they have taken them off the market . who knows these days . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Macinnis 226 Posted February 3, 2017 I wondered if the LiFe batteries were better than the nimh. They seem safer than lipo but I just got a venom 4000mah 2s lipo in the mail today. The charger was back ordered 😒 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Badboy 94 Posted February 3, 2017 I found Orion LiFe Batteries for a lot less money! As I been buying Tamiya TEU-105BK with was made for that batterie so I want to use them as mush as possible! As my Nimh batteries always seems to discharge automatically … ? I've been in contact with Horizon/Orion about their batteries and If it's the way I want it to be I'll be happy as duracel-bunny! Badboy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
njmlondon 570 Posted February 3, 2017 I really wanted Life to take off. Not only are they considerably safer but also do not mind water, unlike our Lipos. As a casual driver who likes to have a couple of batteries ready to go at the drop of the hat, I would also love to be able to let my kids use / charge them and and I am not too worried about top end power outputs (I am bashing not racing) Life would fit me far better. If anybody does know a source of Tamiya or Life batteries i would be very interested in knowing where they are. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Macinnis 226 Posted February 3, 2017 Amazon has them available for Prime in USA. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WillyChang 1814 Posted February 3, 2017 Are you just after A123 packs? 2s cylindrical cells? Noticed a fair few China RCs use them in smaller 1/12th offroaders lately. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WillyChang 1814 Posted February 3, 2017 http://www.wl-toys.com/WLtoys-L959-RC-car-parts-WL-toys-L959-L202-Upgrade-Battery-2200mAh-7.4v-Red-JST-Plug-Battery-5691.html Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
markbt73 5316 Posted February 3, 2017 1 hour ago, Macinnis said: Amazon has them available for Prime in USA. I have one of these. Was using it in an SRB, because it fit inside the clear chassis box without modification. Performance was OK, noticeably slower than NiMH, because the voltage is lower (around 7.4 volts on a full charge, 6.6 volts nominal). BUT... Now, it has a dead cell. No idea what happened to it. I was always careful not to over-discharge it, and I always balanced it when I charged it, but one day it swelled up after running, and after that one cell reads something like 0.07 volts, while the other is still over 3. I was warned when I got it that a 10C discharge rate was going to be insufficient for pretty much anything but a 540; I now wonder if it can even handle that. These aren't made to power cars; they're made to power radio gear in large fuel-powered RC vehicles. Hence "receiver pack." Your mileage may vary, of course, but I can't recommend these packs for cars. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cesco 187 Posted February 3, 2017 Tamico sells them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Badboy 94 Posted February 3, 2017 Thanks all for info! Badboy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
njmlondon 570 Posted February 5, 2017 This thread has got me thinking that we have let the racing side of the hobby, with its desire for more power (7.4v) beat the safe, easy to charge, water resistant and frankly far more sensible technology of 6.6v Life batteries. Well I don't know about you, but I don't really want that extra 0.8v if it means it may burn my house down, cannot be left unattended while charging, needs to be half discharged for storage (and therefore needs to be charged when I have a window for driving) and does not like getting a bit wet. So I found the 2200 full sized batteries for my M chassis runners at RCJazz and I just won a mini 1100 for my Fighting Buggy on ebay. Very expensive compared to my Core lipo's but now not likely to blow my shed up, fry my children or explode my car (my Mini M03 lives in the boot just in case I see somewhere awesome to run). Peace of mind comes at a financial price (I could have bought a bottom of the range Mad Bull for the same overall difference) and probably some top end speed, but I feel very zen this morning, almost as if I have discovered the casual fun part of running again. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mokei Kagaku 2706 Posted February 5, 2017 I very much agree with you njmlondon. No question, Lipos have many great characteristics, but it comes at a considerable cost. Unless the safety risk is properly taken care of, I personally think we'll sooner or later experience a major accident caused by Lipos (like for instance a plane crash) and this will probably wake up authorities, the battery industry and their customers. Massive restrictions will most likely follow. Cargo planes have burned out on the ground by Lipo fires, and for all we know, cargo or even passengers planes may have crashed due to Lipo-fires already. Also, the difference in nominal voltage (0.8V) will be different under load. I honestly don't know if the best Lipos have lower internal resistance than the best LiFes or vice versa, but as this obviously has an impact on actual voltage difference under load, the difference will be smaller than 0.8V between LiFes with "low" internal resistance and Lipos with "high" internal resistance. As part of my current job, I've been involved in the design and quality assurance of a LiFe start battery as replacement for the Lead-Acid battery in the serial production a certain sports car. One of the potential suppliers of cells was the company K2 in Las Vegas. During discussions with them, we were told that LiFe-technology isn't locked to 3.2-3.3V nominal voltage. With a different chemistry, 3.8V is possible and research and pilot production was ongoing. And of course K2 isn't the only company testing out alternative chemistry for LiFe. So, with a bit of luck, we may see 7.6V LiFe batteries in a not too distant future. If they'll get a specific capacity comparable to Lipo remains to be seen, but it's in no way given that Lipo has come to stay for further decades. K2 website I have heard many times from experienced Lipo-users that Lipos are safe as long as you know what you're doing. I also know that some of them have changed their opinion about that once they got victims of Lipo-fires themselves! A person I have known for 30+ years through the RC-hobby (I can't claim we're close friends) has been a professional RC helicopter-, RC plane- and (military) drone-pilot for decades. (Professional as in "daily fulltime job and only source of income"). I think it's rather safe to say that he's an experienced battery- and Lipo-user. Some time ago, he posted pics of a Lipo-fire on his facebook page, informing that he had charged the battery in his house "the usual proper and safe way", of course using high quality charger and battery, just to experience a fire for no apparent reason. He barely managed to get the burning battery out of the house. Does he really look like the "stupid, careless and inexperienced" type that, unlike the "experts who'll never experience a Lipo-fire due to their knowledge, intelligence and care", would typically become the victim of a Lipo-Fire? 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Saito2 6686 Posted February 5, 2017 Couldn't agree more. I saw a neighbor's house across the way burnt to the ground over Lipos. He was an adult, but I honestly can't say if he was diligent or not. I really hoped LiFe would take off allowing me to skip the whole Lipo phase, but here I am, years later, still sticking with Nimh (although for a luddite like myself, I'd still be using Nicad if they were readily available. Those things last forever if treated right.) 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
njmlondon 570 Posted February 5, 2017 28 minutes ago, Mokei Kagaku said: Does he really look like the "stupid, careless and inexperienced" type that, unlike the "experts who'll never experience a Lipo-fire due to their knowledge, intelligence and care", would typically become the victim of a Lipo-Fire He looks like a wonderful nutter! What an amazing jet! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mokei Kagaku 2706 Posted February 5, 2017 2 minutes ago, njmlondon said: What an amazing jet! F-104 Starfighter in RNoAF livery. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WillyChang 1814 Posted February 6, 2017 Err... don't want to be bearer of bad news but you know all those E-cig or Vape electronic nicotine dispensers ... that you suck on like a fag? Afaik many if not most of them run on "A123" type cells which are LiFe... and there's been many incidences of them blowing up in users faces. NiMH also goes bang rather spectacularly...! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mokei Kagaku 2706 Posted February 6, 2017 1 hour ago, WillyChang said: Err... don't want to be bearer of bad news but you know all those E-cig or Vape electronic nicotine dispensers ... that you suck on like a fag? Afaik many if not most of them run on "A123" type cells which are LiFe... and there's been many incidences of them blowing up in users faces. NiMH also goes bang rather spectacularly...! No, I didn't know that! Still, in any energy storage device where a lot of energy can be released in a short time, a thermal event is of course possible, so not that a big surprise really. I've seen 4 AA 500mAh Ni-Cd cells causing a fire, and when I worked for Saft, I deliberately abused a single Ni-Cd D-cell until it brutally exploded by cycling it heavily on an industrial charger in our lab. Pretty much any battery with a low internal resistance and/or high energy density can be dangerous. I've worked with large LiTl-batteries used for light buoys and iceberg positioning devices. LiTl's have a relatively high internal resistance that even increases during storage or low load because an Li-oxide starts to cover the active surfaces (a reversible process), but the energy density is among the highest for any battery type, and they have blown up and sunk enormous "open ocean" light buoys several times despite their high internal resistance and the extensive safety electronics used, especially when connected in parallel. So it's more a matter of risk with the different battery technologies than a "black & white" safe vs. unsafe. With LiFe, unlike Lipo, a thermal runaway isn't possible and as such safer. Also, as you surely also know, they can take quite a lot more abuse (like deep cycles) without permanent damage and the risk of a thermal event. The risk of an incident for no apparent reason is simply quite a bit smaller. It seems pretty evident that the better safety is the reason why Tamiya has opted for LiFe instead of Lipo, and it IS the reason why the mentioned car manufacturer chose LiFe instead of Lipo for their starter battery. Personally, I have rather high hopes for LiFe and accordingly low for Lipo unless the safety issues are solved in time before a major accident happens. Breakthroughs may happen with other technologies though, possibly making both Lipo and LiFe obsolete. That may not sound very likely now, but at the time Sanyo totally dominated with Ni-Cd in RC-applications, it was hard to imagine that Sanyo would lose their monopoly and Ni-Cd would virtually be gone too! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mike_o 35 Posted February 6, 2017 I think there is another aspect to the NiMh vs Lithium technology discussion, and thats weight. I've built a number of basher buggies for the kids, and the lower weight of a 1800mAh LiFe (136gr) makes a major difference to the damage report after going head-on with the kerb or another buggy. At the same time the lower weight frees an agility rarely found in brushed motors. Even a stock 380-motors, the Grashopper becomes a real hopper on light LiFe pack. If fitted with ball bearings and prevented from being bogged down it will live with 3S LiFe operation. Hobbyking has 1800 and 2100mAh 2 and 3S pack on stock - also in the local warehouses at $10-15. Beat that for fun and speed. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TenzoR 62 Posted February 6, 2017 It's not the chemistry but the quality of the cell/battery packs. But I do like the fact that the Tamiya LiFE can be charged at 8A which makes charging rather quickly. I use the LiFE for vintage cars and Lipo for racing. The larger square LiFE are much harder to find in North America. Check out rc-champ which listed out a couple brands. I would've jump on the 2x2200 deal but they don't ship overseas anymore http://www.rc-champ.co.jp/net-car/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2829_3613 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WillyChang 1814 Posted February 6, 2017 battery in this China thing is made of 18650 cells i was wondering if it needed a balance tap, guess it does! quite a few 18650 cells being offered for e-cigs... 1500-2300mAh... hmm... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Badboy 94 Posted February 6, 2017 2 hours ago, TenzoR said: Check out rc-champ which listed out a couple brands. I would've jump on the 2x2200 deal but they don't ship overseas anymore http://www.rc-champ.co.jp/net-car/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2829_3613 Anybody who ordered from rc-champ? I got very interested in the "regular" size 6cell stick LiFe batterie http://www.rc-champ.co.jp/net-car/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=66325 How do I make it readable? Can't find any button saying jap/eng Cheers Badboy #****cancer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WillyChang 1814 Posted February 6, 2017 9 minutes ago, Badboy said: Anybody who ordered from rc-champ? I got very interested in the "regular" size 6cell stick LiFe batterie http://www.rc-champ.co.jp/net-car/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=66325 How do I make it readable? Can't find any button saying jap/en I'll save u the hassle... Big Red button means SOLD OUT you're looking at an Eagle Racing product... perhaps the 40C has been superseded by 45C item? i buy eagle from broadtech:- http://www.broadtech.hk/eagleshop/shop/ShopProduct.aspx?type=Class&subclass=302 hmm... now I'm tempted too 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pvaidya 0 Posted February 6, 2017 Hi guys - a little off topic but how do you order from rc-champ? I remember ordering a bunch of stuff from then 7-8 years go by emailing Masa - but now have not received any replies via email when I tried a few years back so assumed they stopped doing international orders. Anyone had success ordering lately? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WillyChang 1814 Posted February 7, 2017 14 hours ago, pvaidya said: Hi guys - a little off topic but how do you order from rc-champ? I remember ordering a bunch of stuff from then 7-8 years go by emailing Masa - but now have not received any replies via email when I tried a few years back so assumed they stopped doing international orders. Anyone had success ordering lately? Sounds like they were warned not to export T goods & decided to stop overseas mailorder completely. Pretty sure before they used to have an English version of their site? In past you'd order then to chase up email them, Masa would reply in English and was there a gaijin called Ivan helping them out too at one stage. (Could be mixing up others, blame nostalgic amnesia) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
