new post....who is using A123's for electric flight?

Who is using A123 batteries for electric flight? How many cells? How are you charging them? What do you think of them? They have come DOWN a lot in price (at least the 1100 mahs) have dropped in price.

A friend told our club about a local Home Depot type store ( Menards ) in the Midwest--USA--. They are selling a two cell pack 1100 mah for $8.00 US. I paid $20.00 for the same pack six months ago. Four cells equals about 12 volts. Heavier than Lipos' but they can be re-charged in half of the time.

You can also get a mail-in form directly from B&D to get a free two cell pack when you buy one of the smaller tools. Or, a two cell pack and charger, when you buy one of the larger tools. Rich

Reply to
richg99
Loading thread data ...

My buddy Roland is using them. He loves them.

Reply to
Ed Paasch

Not me personally, but was talking to someone the other day who does.

Basically pretty bombproof: about halfway between lipos ad NiMh weightwise. Just as expensive as LIPOs AFAICT.

Otherwise, just a battery.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

Greetings,

I've been using the larger 2200 MAH cells for a few months. I buy 10 cell DeWalt battery packs off ebay for between $100 and $120. They have 10 cells and come apart very nicely. I've made 4 cell, 6 cell, 8 cell and 10 cell packs from them. They work great! They can be discharged at up to 70 amps continuously or over 100 amps for short bursts. They can be recharged from dead to full charge in 20 minutes. That is if you have the proper charger. That takes about 10 amp charge rate. Another neat thing about them is that a deep discharge down to 0 volts doesn't kill them. (Not good for them but they survive. Don't ask me how I know). Also, they won't catch fire and burn if you overcharge them. They have a recharge life of around 1000 charges and almost zero self discharge. They are the coming thing, in my book. They are a little lower in voltage than a lipoly and a little heavier. A 4 cell A123 pack is equivalent to a 3 cell lipoly. The charger for fast charging is not cheap but it's worth it.

Hope that answers your question.

Art

Reply to
Art Horne

What charger are you using?

Reply to
richg99

Cellpro 10S

Reply to
Art Horne

formatting link

Reply to
Six_O'Clock_High

"Six_O'Clock_High"

Reply to
MJKolodziej

Reply to
Six_O'Clock_High

I have been using them since June 06. Running two 4S packs in parallel on some planes or a single 4S on others. I have over 400 cycles on one pair and they are still going strong. Flying 3 days a week year round.

All charging has been on a CellPro 4S or 10S.

All were built from DeWalt packs purchased on e-bay.

I also have a 4S pack made with the 18650 cells from the B&D two cell packs. About 50 cycles on them in a couple of smaller planes with AXI 2208-34 motors.

When it comes down to it I have heard of no one that has worn these cells out yet. Even after leaving the switch on in one plane for over a month the cells came back after charging.

Reply to
Red Scholefield

PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.