Futaba LiFe pack?

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Terry,

I am running Spectrum's LiFe packs in many of my boats now. They have a couple sizes from 300mAh on up. I use the 1450 in most of my boats where I have a 5 cell NiMH previously.

Spectrum LIFE pack

Your logging system must be pulling a lot of power. In my FE SAW rigger which runs a 450oz servo and electric water pump I can run all weekend on a 900-1200mAh pack.
 
Terry,

I am running Spectrum's LiFe packs in many of my boats now. They have a couple sizes from 300mAh on up. I use the 1450 in most of my boats where I have a 5 cell NiMH previously.

Spectrum LIFE pack

Your logging system must be pulling a lot of power. In my FE SAW rigger which runs a 450oz servo and electric water pump I can run all weekend on a 900-1200mAh pack.


Thanks, I looked at Spectrum too but their 2200 pack won't fit the space I have:

https://www.spektrumrc.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=SPMB2200LFRX
I could be that when the boat dumps it's often quite a distance away and since I don't want to mess the water up I go real slow with the retrieve boat. Both loggers running plus a digital rudder servo hanging on to neutral draws some juice I guess.

Last time out I used almost half my 1600 NiMh pack on five runs. I have a spare pack ready to go but it's a PITA to change it pondside in the middle of testing.

Sounds like these Life packs will be better, didn't want the extra complexity of LiPo's with a regulator.
 
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Will the 3000mAh https://www.amazon.com/Spektrum-300...72922&sprefix=spectrum+LIFE+re,aps,254&sr=8-3 or the 4000mAh https://www.amazon.com/Spektrum-400...72922&sprefix=spectrum+LIFE+re,aps,254&sr=8-4 fit?

What about paralleling two smaller 900mAh packs? https://www.amazon.com/Spektrum-900...72922&sprefix=spectrum+LIFE+re,aps,254&sr=8-6

I know a regulator is one more component to fail, but it would enable you to use a Lipo and get consistent voltage to your electronics.

Another option is running your logger system off a separate small battery and a lipo powering your radio system assuming the servo's are all HV.
 
Tyler, yes in my research of LIFE batteries for my big boat I read that if the BMS KICKS IN some won’t take a charge without the specific charger.
Everyone,
I thought Terry was talking about his transmitter.
I run 450-1300mah in the boat and can run any of them all day. Just for reference.
the 2100 Life is in my transmitter.
 


I had just enough room for the 1600 pack so none of those will fit.

I hear you on the LiPo advantage but I also like the KISS principle, that's why I was still running NiMh and will do in the rest of my boats. If it ain't broke, lol.

Just needed some extra capacity for the SAW boat and think I found a solution, thanks for all the help.
 
Terry,
The LiFe packs if you try them I am sure you will no longer feel that NiMh are really any simpler.

IMO and most peoples it is much more work to be sure you topped up the NiMh the night before or morning of to be sure it is up and ready.

I have never even heard of a single person that switched to LiFe and didn't feel they gained something and never seen someone want to go back.

The amount of run time LiFe packs provide is amazing comparatively.

Take transmitters for example. The same size(dimensions)pack as the NiMh or NiCd you would have to charge every or every other weekend. Switch to lithium and seen exact same transmitter now goes 3 maybe 4 months or longer every weekend before needing a charge. If you did that with NiMh or NiCd it would be dead if you didn't even use it. LOL.

Receivers with gas boat and my most popular gas boat pack has been the 1300 mah.

You can run these all day and come home and just a few minutes on the charger and it is topped up already.
 
Great, thanks for the heads up!

I cancelled my order, found these that should do the job:

https://www.amainhobbies.com/protek...er-battery-pack-6.6v-2100mah-ptk-5188/p165091
Half the price and a little smaller even!

Buyer beware.... that is only a 1C pack. Typically the TX batteries have a lower C rating than the RX packs. That is done by design. The TX doesn't pull the same current as a typical RX (servos and rx transmission). In addition your powering a few other items. IMO, I would be purchasing the highest C rating you can find in a pack that fits your space.
 
Just FYI on the LIFE batteries, there really is a night and day difference in the way they hold a charge vs. the nicad and nimh packs, especially from when I raced in the 90s through 2000. I’m running an 1800 mah pack and I can run all day with no issues and come back and it seems like I could go out and have at it for another day. I do top them off with a balanced charge on my Hitec smart charger, which takes a short time. Another note, after running my new Backlash a couple weeks ago, I somehow hit the switch and the receiver was left on until the battery went to 0 after a day or two. S***, ruined right? The charger would not even recognize it (set up to do a life balanced charge, that is). I did some searching and watched some you tube vids on a way to recover a life pack that’s been over discharged. This worked with lipo too. If you plug it in (without the balance plug) and set your charger to charge nimh batteries, in just a few minutes, you‘ll be showing 5 volts or more which is enough for the pack to once again be recognized and balanced charged as a life pack. From there, bring it up slow. I used like a .1 or.2 amp setting and the charger hit the programmed cut off time before the pack was all the way charged. After that I charged at like a 1 amp rate and it fully balance charged. I checked the volts on the 2 cells and they were even at 3.5 and the resistance was like 44 per cell. Any variances would show cell damage. The videos indicated this is how you tell how damaged your pack is. So all good there. It’s not charging up over 7 volts like it did but did get most of the way there. So guess I got lucky. I ran probably 4-5 full runs last Sunday no problems at all. Every pack is going to be different and maybe I had this degree of success because the pack was new but it worked, and as far as I can tell, any pack damage was minimal. Do this at your own risk, results may vary. I got another pack and I’ll use this one as a backup moving forward.
 
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Yep the LiFe packs are the real deal. A guy in our district used to run gas boats every Saturday (like a full day of hard running) with a 1600 LiFe pack and he would only charge it once a month. Of course when he told me that I was like...Umm, I'm not doing that... After recharging a whopping 3% after a test /race day I stared to change my tune haha. I'm still in the process of changing over too but they are definitely the way to go.

I use that protec battery in my radio as well and like Richard says, it barely drops after an an entire weekend of racing.
 
Update. I got one of the Protek 2100 mAh packs to try and really like them, shows 2300+ on my Triton when cycled. What's nice is it can sit for weeks and lose very little if any charge.

I'm putting them in all my boats.

https://www.amainhobbies.com/protek...pack-6.6v-2100mah-ptk-5188/p-qqqqt2wqpczxactz

TK... now we have to update that Triton!.. The Triton charge profile is very nice but.. its peak timing is slow..

I have one of these (I have 5 chargers and use them all from time to time) but.. I have two of these.. for the money...best I have used thus far.. (I think mine is 500W however).. slightly early version..

Be well

Grim
 
TK... now we have to update that Triton!.. The Triton charge profile is very nice but.. its peak timing is slow..

I have one of these (I have 5 chargers and use them all from time to time) but.. I have two of these.. for the money...best I have used thus far.. (I think mine is 500W however).. slightly early version..

Be well

Grim


Gota link?

The Triton seems to do everything I need and then some, I'm still always looking at the manual to figure out what I want, lol.
 
I have chargers too. Sold a bunch(100+) of these. Everyone has liked them. Sold 2nd and 3rd to quite a few people they like them so much. They are perfect low cost solution for all your receiver and transmitter batteries as well as your starter or igniter batteries.

Chargers | Intlwaters - RC Boating Forum
 
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