02-18-2009, 01:27 PM
thenewguy821 Wrote:As long as you pay attention to the discharge rate, charge rate, and voltage cutoff of the LiPo's you should be safe. Most accidents happen when people buy a cheaper battery, with a low discharge rate, and hook it up to something with a high draw. This puts too much strain on the LiPo's, causing the fires.
Another big problem with LiPo's, is over-draining them. This is the most common cause of fires in vehicles. People go for the LiPo's to save weight and get a little more power to their servos, but have no way of monitoring the voltage. With some of the higher end servos, their amp draw is too strong for some of the lower end (cheaper) LiPo's. They now have external Low Voltage cutoffs/Regulator that will help prevent this.
The only other problem with LiPo's is charging at the wrong rate. If you hook up a LiPo to charge at twice it's rated charge speed, they can and will explode.
the Newguy is right... I've been doing lipos for about 2 yrs now, never had a problem, but I always pay attention... don't leave them unattended... make sure you balance your cells, and pay attention to your esc cutoff voltages and charge rates and you will be fine!
they are pretty scarey when they do blow up, my buddy blew a two cell up in his back yard (it had been squashed by the helicopter falling on it so it was junk)....
"if guns cause crime, all of mine are defective" - Ted Nugent