Steven Kautz (SVEN)
02-25-2008, 09:29 AM
I am sure all the veteran Li-po users know this as common knowledge, but for those like me who are new to Lipo packs, I thought I would share my experience this weekend.
I have been using an 1100 pack in my 2.2 crawler for the past couple weeks and it has been performing very well. I am a Li-po newbie, having only used them for about 2 months. This past Saturday SERCRC had a competition in Alabama and the temperatures were in the freezing range. I ran the first course in a little over 4 minutes and came out with a nice score of 0. I figured I would just run the next course with out charging. I had been getting 30-40 minutes of play time previously, so I wasn't too worried about it. So my truck sat outside while I waited about 30 minutes to start the next course. When I did start the second course, I got past the 2nd gate and the truck felt dead. I was clueless as to what the problem was. I took a repair penalty (10 points) and put an 860mah pack in the truck to finish running the course. I ended up pointing out and got a 33 for the course, which put me out of a chance at the Finals.
After the run I charged up the 1100 still thinking it was just a dead battery. When it finished charging it had only put in 300mah, so I ask MaxAmps team mate Jeff Williams what was up and he told me it was the cold temps affecting the pack.
So hard lesson learned, keep your packs warm before a run in the cold.
I drove the 1100 on Sunday and it performed very well when I drove through the courses again. It was sunny and about 55 degrees out side.
I have been using an 1100 pack in my 2.2 crawler for the past couple weeks and it has been performing very well. I am a Li-po newbie, having only used them for about 2 months. This past Saturday SERCRC had a competition in Alabama and the temperatures were in the freezing range. I ran the first course in a little over 4 minutes and came out with a nice score of 0. I figured I would just run the next course with out charging. I had been getting 30-40 minutes of play time previously, so I wasn't too worried about it. So my truck sat outside while I waited about 30 minutes to start the next course. When I did start the second course, I got past the 2nd gate and the truck felt dead. I was clueless as to what the problem was. I took a repair penalty (10 points) and put an 860mah pack in the truck to finish running the course. I ended up pointing out and got a 33 for the course, which put me out of a chance at the Finals.
After the run I charged up the 1100 still thinking it was just a dead battery. When it finished charging it had only put in 300mah, so I ask MaxAmps team mate Jeff Williams what was up and he told me it was the cold temps affecting the pack.
So hard lesson learned, keep your packs warm before a run in the cold.
I drove the 1100 on Sunday and it performed very well when I drove through the courses again. It was sunny and about 55 degrees out side.