Max-U52 wrote:I've been using lipos for about 5 years with no fires, but LiPO batteries are something that you absolutely can not get complacent with. As soon as you think you know what you're doing they will sneak up and bite you. That's why, to this day, I religiously practice all the safety rules when I charge a lipo battery. We all saw the tragedy that happened to Chris Ludwig, that's the last thing we want to see happen to any of our other members.
Don't get me wrong, I think lipos are great, but they're not average batteries and they're not for average consumers. Dedicated hobbyists, such as ourselves, know a bit more about batteries and will take better safety precautions than the Great unwashed. I don't blame any of the major companies for not recommending lipos because as I said before, lawyers are very expensive and defending lawsuits takes up too much time that could be used designing new tanks and tank parts to keep us happy.
I'm still wondering what the Tamiya MFU 'issues' are with Lipos. As yet- in this instance- we don't know
Gary, I'm with you on never allowing complacency to creep in, when maintaining LiPo batteries, and I was about to cite Christian's tank inferno as a timely warning to all.
I'm fairly diligent by nature, but with age, I've noticed a few extra accidents (luckily, not in the pants
) creeping in, and little oversights here and there. For this reason, and not wanting to begin living in a tent, amid the smouldering ruins of ma hoose, I'm content to stick with high capacity NiMh batteries. Then again, we also have limitations on getting batteries through the post in the UK.
Not so many years ago, we had several reported scares concerning 'Laptop' LiPo batteries, where users were having their thighs toasted or scorched (or nuts in the case of some males
), because of batteries overheating.
Whilst tech has improved- and needs to, if we're all going to be running around in electric cars, LiPos still need treating with great respect- and 'fake' ones avoided like the plague.
trouble is, they're all too abundant on Ebay, and elsewhere.