On 9/13/2015 3:23 AM, Bill W4ZV wrote:
I understand and agree for your use case of mounting the battery internally
in the K2. My "fail safe" is to never use an internal battery and thus
avoid issues of fire, leakage, etc. I always charge and mount my LiPOs
externally. It's certainly possible to abuse LiPOs and cause them to catch
on fire, but as you stated, there are plenty of devices that successfully
use them internally...significantly more than LiFePO4s when you consider the
volumes of cell phones, tablets, PCs, models, drones, etc. that use LiPOs.
FWIW: I had a small 900 mAh LiPoly about the size of a small match box
catch fire while using it to power my KX1. I got it at the local RC
store. It was external on a short pigtail, I was on the deck with my
AlexLoop, and I was able to yank it from the KX1 and fling it over the
rail down onto the gravel driveway. The pyrotechnic display continued
for about 4 min. Really glad I wasn't in the house.
Just an FYI for anyone interested, the "11.1V 4500mAh 3S 30C Lipo" listed on
a popular auction site for $24.36 is actually available for $20 if you use
"Make Offer" (I just bought one). Of course you also need a balancing
charger (available for around $20) to properly charge and store LiPOs. You
cannot beat the energy density (mAH per ounce) of a LiPO but they DO REQUIRE
proper care.
I've had poor results from the couple of batteries I bought off a well
known auction site. One was billed as a 9 Ah LiFePO4 and the other as a
4.5 Ah LiPoly. Both exhibited a linear, downward discharge curve and my
K2 quit fairly quickly on low voltage. When I recharged it, the "9 Ah"
one took 1,300 mAh which, to a first approximation, is about the usable
capacity I got from it.
73,
Fred K6DGW
- Northern California Contest Club
- CU in the 50th Running of the Cal QSO Party 3-4 Oct 2015
- www.cqp.org
______________________________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net
This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
