NIMH or LIPO.
- Thread starter sabrewalt
- Start date
Instant Karma
1 W
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2007
- Messages
- 64
Depends on whether you have a suitable bunker in your yard to charge and store them, they're Lipo and not the safer kind of lithium I believe. Have you read their disclaimer about buying these batteries? One guy on this forum tried them and had nothing but trouble, Reid?, but maybe they've improved since then.
CGameProgrammer
10 kW
Lithium-polymer is usually at least twice as expensive per watt-hour as NiMH. Ebikes.ca sells NiMH packs for between $0.60 - $0.85 per watt-hour. Lithium-polymer typically sells for around $1.25 per watt-hour, which I see is what batteryspace sells them for as well. Those fancy DeWalt batteries are $1.95 per watt-hour.
Ypedal
100 TW
speakin of Reid.. where the hell is that guy lately ??? been a while.
As far as lithium vendors go.. i suggest Andy from FalconEV. He's the only one i know who has actually gone to china/taiwan/etc.. and knows what he's buying first hand. More expensive, yes, but as with everything, you usually get what you pay for.
Batteryspace will sell you a pack and you hope for the best. Many members here run their Suppo brand NIMH, good packs, but the li packs have not been as positive in the QC domain. BMS and charger quality are just as important as the cells themselves in my opinion.
Andy will qualify your needs at least and has been good to me so far. His packs tend to be custom made as it's low volume, so there is a wait time unfortunately, ( from 30 to 60 days lead time sometimes ) but the good part is that the quality is better. The BMS on the packs i received do Ballancing and run at 72v ( 2 x 36v in series )
There are also packs available from electricrider that would be an option, but they are also sold-out and from their website it's going to be september before they have more ( Unless someone know otherwise ? ! )
Justin does not carry LI yet. If you want one of his Ni packs you better move fast, he is selling out of those as well. and his site says he is not ordering more Nexcells..
Quote"
But not so with the batteries
The one thing that we don't have in supply is a new stock of battery packs. We had put together a comprehensive work bench and testing station to deal with NiCad and NiMH ebike packs under the expectation that these would continue to be the most attractive battery option for electric bicycle conversions. However, no one counted on base metal prices like Nickel trippling in the last year, and in consequence the cost for these batteries has nearly doubled since our 2006 shipments. All the batteries that we have left in store are those that didn't initially pass QC, and we will continue to sell these at the same low price after doing cell replacements and repairs until they are gone.
""
LiFe packs are the next thing i think, IF they hold true to their promise, the high cost will be worth it. Remains to be proven.
As far as lithium vendors go.. i suggest Andy from FalconEV. He's the only one i know who has actually gone to china/taiwan/etc.. and knows what he's buying first hand. More expensive, yes, but as with everything, you usually get what you pay for.
Batteryspace will sell you a pack and you hope for the best. Many members here run their Suppo brand NIMH, good packs, but the li packs have not been as positive in the QC domain. BMS and charger quality are just as important as the cells themselves in my opinion.
Andy will qualify your needs at least and has been good to me so far. His packs tend to be custom made as it's low volume, so there is a wait time unfortunately, ( from 30 to 60 days lead time sometimes ) but the good part is that the quality is better. The BMS on the packs i received do Ballancing and run at 72v ( 2 x 36v in series )
There are also packs available from electricrider that would be an option, but they are also sold-out and from their website it's going to be september before they have more ( Unless someone know otherwise ? ! )
Justin does not carry LI yet. If you want one of his Ni packs you better move fast, he is selling out of those as well. and his site says he is not ordering more Nexcells..
Quote"
But not so with the batteries
The one thing that we don't have in supply is a new stock of battery packs. We had put together a comprehensive work bench and testing station to deal with NiCad and NiMH ebike packs under the expectation that these would continue to be the most attractive battery option for electric bicycle conversions. However, no one counted on base metal prices like Nickel trippling in the last year, and in consequence the cost for these batteries has nearly doubled since our 2006 shipments. All the batteries that we have left in store are those that didn't initially pass QC, and we will continue to sell these at the same low price after doing cell replacements and repairs until they are gone.
""
LiFe packs are the next thing i think, IF they hold true to their promise, the high cost will be worth it. Remains to be proven.
Yeah, what happened to Ried? Did his Sterling engine blow up or somethng? Lipo fire?
knightmb
100 kW
sabrewalt said:
If you want NiMH, try this link
Click Here
I had a chance for the last couple of weeks to try his packs out. Works just as well as my packs from batteryspace and a heck of alot cheaper. Even his chargers are of much better quality than my batteryspace chargers. Can't speak on the long term though. I've had my batteryspace batteries since 2005 and they are still going strong to this day after so many recharges I've lost count.
I would jump on the Litho packs if it weren't for the cheaper but still works good NiMH packs that I can buy.
TylerDurden
100 GW
If you are considering nickel chemistry, don't forget NiCd... A tad heavier than NiMh, but long, long life. They were my second choice after Emoli drill-packs. 
(As for Reid, he posted a while back that he wasn't feelin so great. He wasn't specific as to why. )
(As for Reid, he posted a while back that he wasn't feelin so great. He wasn't specific as to why. )
Rebel with a cause
10 µW
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2007
- Messages
- 5
When you take life cycle into account lipo is clearly the better choice. NiMh often only make a few hundred cycles even if you treat them right. Lipo should be good for double that. Safety is kind of a deal breaker though. have you considered the A123 cells? The same amount of money will get you about the equivelent number of dewalt packs on ebay. When you figure they will last 1000+ cycles and wont burn your house down, thats where I'd put my money
