LiFePO4 battery source anyone?

[lordvoltron]

Hey all, after reading many horror stories about LiPo batteries I've decided to build a board with LiFePO4 batteries. It is what boosted, yuneec, and others use because it is far safer. Does anyone have a source that they would recommend for lithium iron phosphate batteries? Cheers!

 

[torqueboards]

I think a lot of people are still using 18650 Lithium Ion's versus LiFePO4.

Your best bet for LiFePo4 cells would be http://www.buya123batteries.com/APR18650M1A_Lithium_Ion_Cylindrical_Cell_p/300030-001.htm. They are the most widely known for being authentic cells.

 

[voodoojar]

I have a bunch of them that I'm not using. They are all 7s2p 6400mah packs with battery management so you can charge them with a cheap laptop charger. I switched to li ion for all my production boards. So if you want the lifep04 I'm sure I could give you a good price.
Email me if you're interested.
Info@bubblegumboards.com

 

[BShady]

http://www.buya123batteries.com/mobile/Product.aspx?ProductCode=300475-306

Look at the ratings it says 70amp continues!???? That can't be right?!

 

[lordvoltron]

http://www.buya123batteries.com/mobile/Product.aspx?ProductCode=300475-306

Look at the ratings it says 70amp continues!???? That can't be right?!

Well if i did the math right, that would give it a Capacity of 28C, which is pretty reasonable.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but those sure look like the cells used in the boosted board.

Thanks for the responses guys. It has been really helpful in figuring out my plans.

 

[BShady]

http://www.buya123batteries.com/mobile/Product.aspx?ProductCode=300475-306

Look at the ratings it says 70amp continues!???? That can't be right?!

Well if i did the math right, that would give it a Capacity of 28C, which is pretty reasonable.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but those sure look like the cells used in the boosted board.

Thanks for the responses guys. It has been really helpful in figuring out my plans.

It could be I'm wrong but the basic lipo has a 20c rate and I remember people saying that lipo has the highest c rate

 

[dnmun]

Hey all, after reading many horror stories about LiPo batteries I've decided to build a board with LiFePO4 batteries. It is what boosted, yuneec, and others use because it is far safer. Does anyone have a source that they would recommend for lithium iron phosphate batteries? Cheers!

what horror stories are you referring to? the only one i have seen was the Evolve board that youareinzway posted up the other day. that was just a bad design by someone who has no experience in batteries or proper engineering protocols.

i see no reason that the lifepo4 pack would be safer than the lipo packs since the problem is poor design leading to shorted battery. it has nothing to do with it being lipo, and in fact there is not any reason to not use lipo except for the hysteria created by all these people making up stories about how risky lipo is. people who have no experience with how lipo is overcharged to the point where it goes into thermal runaway. all just made up and passed on and on by insider after insider making up stuff about how charging to full charge will cause fires.

 

[voodoojar]

I don't have anything against lipos but when I see guys duct taping them to the bottom of skateboards I have to shake my head a little. If a lipo gets punctured or even damaged from an impact it is going to burn that' not true with lifep04.

 

[dnmun]

I don't have anything against lipos but when I see guys duct taping them to the bottom of skateboards I have to shake my head a little. If a lipo gets punctured or even damaged from an impact it is going to burn that' not true with lifep04.

but you have no evidence of this. it is just your imagination that this is what happens.

the more people continue to post up their wildest wet dreams about lipo, the bigger the problem gets, and nobody will ever learn the truth. especially when it is socially discomforting for most here to challenge the accepted theories promulgated by the insiders about the risk associated with using lithium batteries.

the problem is shorts, every battery fire posted here was caused by shorts. the only fire that may have been caused by overcharging was the one that floont caused using the meanwell power supplies with no BMS on his 35S lipo pack. ian overcharged one of her lipo packs by accidentally connecting a higher series lipo pack in parallel to a lower series count lipo pack. it smoked but did not burn as i recall.

 

[torqueboards]

Actually, I do know one guy who was smart enough* to go down a curb with his lipo pack and no enclosure. Scraped that lipo pack and it caught on fire. LOL His friend did it.

 

[dnmun]

Actually, I do know one guy who was smart enough* to go down a curb with his lipo pack and no enclosure. Scraped that lipo pack and it caught on fire. LOL His friend did it.

did you actually determine the cause of the fire though? if he tore the lipo pack apart it would have shorted the electrodes together inside the pouch and the heat released will ignite the solvent in the pouch. but there is no information to determine the cause of this fire except reasoned conjecture, experience.

 

[torqueboards]

Actually, I do know one guy who was smart enough* to go down a curb with his lipo pack and no enclosure. Scraped that lipo pack and it caught on fire. LOL His friend did it.

did you actually determine the cause of the fire though? if he tore the lipo pack apart it would have shorted the electrodes together inside the pouch and the heat released will ignite the solvent in the pouch. but there is no information to determine the cause of this fire except reasoned conjecture, experience.

True... No I did not actually check.

 

[lordvoltron]

There is actually a lot of evidence that lipo cells are more unstable than Li-ion and LiFePO4.

On the endless sphere battery tech forum there are threads for 2013 and 2014 catastrophic events. They can be found here:

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=56305

Most of these accident reports are due to failures of LiPo packs. They are very likely to catch fire when something goes wrong (impact, overcharging due to unbalanced cells or charger errors). On the other hand, LiFePO4 will smoke for days if smashed or overcharged, without catching fire.

I'm not saying that LiPo packs do not have a place in this hobby, but people should be aware that there are safer options. LiPo packs are currently cheap, light, and very high energy with many options available. In my opinion, if you are not willing to babysit a battery while it charges for however many hours, maybe you should consider a more stable energy source. People on these forums have burned down parts of their houses through use (arguably misuse) of these batteries.

It is always easy to say that people must have done something wrong to cause an accident, and think that it won't happen to you. But the truth is that most of the people coming to this forum for advice on building their first electric skateboard are not battery experts, and best procedures will inevitably not be followed sometimes.

If you are safe with LiPo batteries and don't leave them charging unattended in your garage, and make sure they are protected from impact from curbs and stuff you will probably never have a problem. But if you overcharge your LiPo battery then this is what can happen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4lOywZq1Wg

I'll won't be riding a board with LiPo batteries, but to each their own.

 

[777arc]

So 6s (around 20 V) at 4400 mAh would cost $160? Lipo equivalent is around $40, and you don't have to wire up the battery pack yourself which adds risk.

Perhaps what we should discuss is how to make a vented metal bunker for the Lipos out of sheet steel that would mitigate most of a lipo burn up, and could act as a skid plate on the skateboard. Could probably do it for around $50. Anyone look into this?

 

[an7h0ny]

I have seen both, lipo fire and no fire. One pack I accidentally hit with an exacto knife and caused a short in one of the 3s cells. It Started to smoke then quickly made a tiny flame. I threw it outside and it went out. The other pack I discovered months after I last used it, it had a small pin hole in one of the cells and all the liquid was gone. But no fire. That pack got mixed in by accident with some rc plane parts and it was a cardboard box. So maybe the danger lies in how fast the electrolyte reacts. I bought hard case lipos and they are in another fire retardant case under the board. I'm carefull now how i handle them and charging I've always been careful not to charge to fast or without a balancer. I'm not afraid to use them, been crashing planes regularly and the batteries always survive.

 

[arkmundi]

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=46395&start=200#p950755

 

[encore8899]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XymqQ-YlfJ0

lifepo4 torture test

 

[Quan1um]

I use headway batteries which are LiFePO4 and they work great, i purchased mine from http://www.headway-headquarters.com/ i bought 8 but due to my ESC i am only using 6 and i am getting reasonable power, 150 Amp continuous and with 8 AH, these are the high power cells, they are normally red but i got mine a while ago, but you can buy lower amp batteries that have 15AH

 

[NJEV]

I don't have anything against lipos but when I see guys duct taping them to the bottom of skateboards I have to shake my head a little. If a lipo gets punctured or even damaged from an impact it is going to burn that' not true with lifep04.

but you have no evidence of this. it is just your imagination that this is what happens.

the more people continue to post up their wildest wet dreams about lipo, the bigger the problem gets, and nobody will ever learn the truth. especially when it is socially discomforting for most here to challenge the accepted theories promulgated by the insiders about the risk associated with using lithium batteries.

the problem is shorts, every battery fire posted here was caused by shorts. the only fire that may have been caused by overcharging was the one that floont caused using the meanwell power supplies with no BMS on his 35S lipo pack. ian overcharged one of her lipo packs by accidentally connecting a higher series lipo pack in parallel to a lower series count lipo pack. it smoked but did not burn as i recall.

Its just plain old science. There is a reason insurance companies all require companies to store lipo in special fire proof enclosures Apart from eachother. Hell my company has a bann on them. They are the high risk cheap battery of choice for people who want cheap light high output battery. They are by no means safe especially for vehicles.

 

[NJEV]

Hey all, after reading many horror stories about LiPo batteries I've decided to build a board with LiFePO4 batteries. It is what boosted, yuneec, and others use because it is far safer. Does anyone have a source that they would recommend for lithium iron phosphate batteries? Cheers!

ping battery had the best support best bms and is probably the largest quality vender atm. His new packs and bms are rated at 70 amps. Cant beat the performance per $ right now. I have a few packs myself. Never a problem. my bud is running a 70 amp 36v eglide controller kit and his pack from ping has endured it with no problems. No swelling or bms problems what so ever. He is 277 pounds and beats the crud out of his board.