Curious as to lighter weight lipo's

[headhunter23]

This one is completely floopy

I know theres some new tech coming soon I'm sure to rc world about denser lipo's or some sort of lithium based batteries but until then I noticed there are a lot of times where a lighter power source would be a big plus, even a few grams. So my question is, has any company latched on to making ultra light lipo's but not done in cells, just one pack that serves 11.1v so you save weight on heat shrink, aluminum tabs, lipo bags(whatever that term is), etc... yea it's a few grams but for some of the ultra small planes this would be a big benefit for something not hard to do.

I'm just assuming lipo's are served in individual cells due to business efficiency but I'm sure there is a niche market... for even further lighter packs. Heck I try to shave where I can...

[Mr.RC-Cam]

It's the chemistry the determines the voltage of a cell. So, to get higher voltages than the cell can provide, you have to string cells together.

[headhunter23]

ahhh... that's too bad, thought lipo's made more volts as you added more plates....

[Mr.RC-Cam]

With battery cells, more plates usually increases the current (amps) and/or capacity (amp hours). Voltage remains the same.

[Terry]

Better to save weight on other areas.

Terry

[rob10000]

Hold on, guys.

I used a Thunderpower 3S2000 prolite for my easystar. It's about 50g lighter than other companies batteries of similiar capacities.

I would have had to use a smaller capacity lipo to power the plane to keep the cg where it needs to be if I used another brand.

[Terry]

Have you checked the capacity in a side by side test ? There may be a hidden reason for the difference.

Terry

[Kilrah]

The prolites usually have their advertised capacity, or even a bit more from my experience, and are indeed lighter. Comes at the price, though...

To the OP: I can assure you that if someone had a way to make batteries lighter, we would know about it. All the manufacturers of portable electronics are longing for those, and would jump on them as soon as they are there...

Edited September 27, 2008 by Kilrah