An eye opening piece of footage... A Lipo fire

This is a bit frightening...that's why I bought a LiPo safety bag.

Good video i can remember every one panicing when lipos came out as long as you use a lipo bag and take care when setting up the charger there should be no problems.
ive been using them for years so far so good

take care geof

I'm a complete newcomer to LiPo technology, Geoff...the little JellyBean will be the first boat I've built that has a LiPo battery powering it. I've taken every precaution I can...I have a charging bag, an old Pyrex plate to put the battery on when I charge it, an an electronic monitor as well.

Belt n' braces, that's me!

better safe than sorry i say

I use LiFePo batteries. Much safer than LiPos, long-lived and they have way more capacity than NiC

I've been using Lipos regularly in several subs over the last 5 years. No problems so far (touch wood!) even after several floodings. Be careful with the charging - Lipo bags outdoors. Always have an in line fuse in the model.

They are very light and compact and so open up different design configurations. They also hold their charge well.

There is no doubt that Lithium batteries are state of the art and offer many benefits compared to conventional battery chemistries (e.g. lead-acid, NiCd,...), however I still use NiCd and NiMH batteries in my submarine models just to minimise the risk of fire. Of course I could at least double the endurance with Lithium batteries of the same weight but up to now I am still satisfied with the two hours I can achieve with my conventional batteries.

As I said, LiFePo batteries are perfectly safe. As safe as NiC but with almost the capacity of LiPos.

Cheers Andreas

LiFePo look to be very good but they don't seem to be "mainstream" technology and so they don't seem to be easily available in a wide range of sizes.

Most of the technology we get comes courtesy of the r/c aircraft chaps and they seem to have gone for Lipo in a big way (presumably weight and capacity)

But Lipos are a contentious issue. For example I know that major players in the field such as Norbert Bruggen don't like the use of Lipos. They seem to be much more accepted by US sub modellers, as far as I can see.

LiFePos come in many sizes and the technology is identical to LiPo. I use LiFePos in my U-1 bot for the receiver as well as themain battery and will do so for the Nautilus, too.

Dr.Schmidt wrote:. ...I use LiFePos in my U-1 bot for the receiver as well as themain battery and will do so for the Nautilus, too.  

Hi Andreas,
why do you use a separate battery for receiver supply? The main battery as single power source in combination with a switchmode DC-DC buck (down) converter would also do the job.
Benefit: you have to charge one battery only (and take care for it) and the amount of energy drawn from the main battery is neglegible compared to the energy taken for the propulsion train. Of course switchmode converters require some Attention concerning EMI Suppression but my models run since years with such a Kind of central power supply (my old class 206a model since 20years meanwhile).

Best regards
Klaus-Dieter ("Hermann")

I could also use the bec of the speed controllers. What can I say.....its a habit.