Lithium batteries

[shackwrrr]

Saw these in the Grm magazine and checked them out. Use lithium batteries like an RC car. These things are friggin light too, not a bad price either compared to a similar Odyssey.

http://www.ballisticparts.com/products/batteries/8cell.php

[ShadowFromHell]

That's pretty spendy, I wonder what if anything is stopping us from using like a 2s2p 8000mah Rc car battery? From a company like Sky that could be built for 30 bucks. I would be afraid of the battery going dead, because once it does chances are the battery is now garbage.

[moparman76_69]

I think the issue with using RC car batteries is charging. I assume the batteries from the original link have some sort of circuit in the battery to prevent them from being damaged by the charging system. I know when I went from Ni-Cad to Ni-MH batteries for my R/C I had to get a better charger and I think the Li batteries require different chargers also. When I upgraded my drill to Li power I had to get a different charger for it also

[shackwrrr]

The way these batteries are set up the vehicles charging voltage won't overcharge it. Balancing isn't required but reccomended. If you look at their charger that balances (90 dollars) it is merely an imax b6 RC charger rebranded (40 dollars).

[shackwrrr]

As far as price goes, the Odyssey pc680 is 150 bucks, weighs 15lbs, 17ah, and has 370ca. This battery is 160 bucks, weighs 1.7 lbs, 15ah, and has 275ca. Also the evo2's at rest voltage is 13.6 volts, the odyssey is 12.6, this means that you dont need as much amperage from the battery to start.

If you are worried that one won't do it for you they 3 more that are larger with 410 or 500 cranking amps but still weigh less than 5lbs.

[minigts]

Has anyone purchased a Lithium Ion battery for their car? Considering getting one and have a source for one that's about $200, but leery about the life, recharging issues, etc. Anyone?

[wheming]

As far as price goes, the Odyssey pc680 is 150 bucks, weighs 15lbs, 17ah, and has 370ca. This battery is 160 bucks, weighs 1.7 lbs, 15ah, and has 275ca. Also the evo2's at rest voltage is 13.6 volts, the odyssey is 12.6, this means that you dont need as much amperage from the battery to start.

If you are worried that one won't do it for you they 3 more that are larger with 410 or 500 cranking amps but still weigh less than 5lbs.

Wow, the prices have gone up on those odyssey batteries. I thought i paid around $85 several years ago when i had to buy one for my Evo VIII after installing cruise. I needed the small battery for the room.
Never had on in the mopars though. The garden tractor battery in Slug still works fine, but it still is alot heavier than 5 lbs!

[Rrider]

I messed around with a lot of the lithium cells, there are maybe half a dozen chemistries. I used a lipo RC pack for a track day ONCE, it was destroyed after a couple sessions. I spun out once, and it had a really hard time starting the car back up. I threw in a couple other packs which were lithium iron and they worked fine. One was built from dewalt drill battery cells believe it or not, and it worked fine.

The issue with lipo is that the voltage doesn't work out right. The range it likes to live in is 4.2v down to around 3.6v, which for a four pack of cells wont match what the alternator/regulator is trying to do.

The 8 cell lithium iron packs like what ballistic does, does work out right for most charging systems. I had some of those built, and they did work fine for me. These lithium iron cells are 3.3 to 3.7v fully charged, so they do 4 series 2 in parallel.

[shackwrrr]

Check out the Maxwell Ultracapacitors. Not the best reserve capacity but crazy amperage and charging speed. Ultra lite too.

[bakes]

Started a high compression small block 4 months ago just using two 9,800 3s in parallel just for $hit and giggles

[Ondonti]

Not sure if was 1 or 2 years ago I did this. Needed a new battery tie down system so I just started over. I put together a tractor solenoid shutoff system to avoid draining the battery. This means I have zero memory function in that car.
Someone else installed the same battery into their 3000gt and killed his battery with parasitic drag. Told them he had it in a car and they denied warranty. Had nothing to do with what it was installed on except that it probably has more drag.

I did this because the replacement Motobatt was double what I bought it for many years ago. Ridiculous. Think I posted pictures on Facebook.

[minigts]

Has anyone installed a name brand (or branded) lithium ion battery, not piece meal one, and run it for longer than 2 years? I'm curious as to the longevity of any of them, but in particular I'm interested in issues with charging and overall life. Brent, what was the brand you used, Motobatt? Was that the same brand used in your friend's car?