Cool little Lipo Volt Monitor

[jhautz]

I found this cool little voltage monitor that just plugs into the balance tap on the pack while your running and it monitors each cell induvidually. If one of the lights turns red then that cell is below the cutoff voltage even if the pack as a whole is still ok. Seems like a simple and nifty little safety measure for only a couple bucks. I just ordered a couple to try out and see how they work.

https://www.unitedhobbies.com/UNITED...idProduct=4175

Anyone ever tried these or something like it?

seems cool but how do you balance an unbalanced pack. another thing is that it is only for 3s and i know that a alot of people have 4s and 5s in there conversions. do they sell another model with more cell capabiltes

Originally Posted by 1bhutch

seems cool but how do you balance an unbalanced pack. another thing is that it is only for 3s and i know that a alot of people have 4s and 5s in there conversions. do they sell another model with more cell capabiltes

4s voltage checker here: https://www.unitedhobbies.com/UNITED...idProduct=4176

but.. where's 5s? :(

I wish the ESC could moniter the cells in a pack and shut down if one of the cells got to low.

[BrianG]

The ESC would need to have a connector with wires for each cell. And then modes for A123's or regular lipos. Much easier from their perspective to have the user find an outboard solution.

That is true, but is there a LVC that can check all the cells of multiple packs and shut down ESC or pulse the throttle at low voltage?

[no mods]

i am looking for the same i want a redundancy system. the problem is when you have 2 separate packs of cells you have to worry about one pack going faster than another... correct? so wouldn't it be ideal if there was a separate lvc for each pack? the problem i find is they connect to the reveiver. how could i connect 2 seperate lvcs to the reveiver and not have back feeding issues?

[BrianG]

I know there is an LVC that does monitor each cell, but can't recall the name. If using two packs, you'd need a balancer Y adaptor so it sees both packs, but that's not hard to do.

If your present LVC is adjustable, you could set it for 3.1v or 3.2v. Sure, one or more cells could drop lower than the others, but a higher cutoff value should add insurance that any one won't dip too far... unless there is a bad/weak cell to begin with.

[no mods]

all i have on the car is the integrated one on the quack' monster pro. i balance my cells with good ole blinky befor running them but not sure how i could do what your talking about can you be a little more specific?

[BrianG]

IMO, the integrated LVC is fine if you balance during each charge. Simple perventative maintenance really. It is unlikely a pack will develop an imbalance all of a sudden unless the cells are old and tired and should be replaced anyway. Also, running at less than the max continuous C rating helps as well.

If you're using the ESC's LVC, you don't have to do anything else.

And by the way, it's not a "Quack" Monster Pro, lol. I know what you meant, it just looked funny. :)

[no mods]

i meant to do that.. haha.. ya.. i think your on to something with the c rating. just got off the phone with a very helpful team member of maxamps. He informed me that i prolly should have gone with a higher mah pack cause most likely running on the ragged edge of my cells "constant" rating, possibly even dabbling in the max load stuff.. anyways.. he also eluded to the potential of having a bad cell to begin with which took a crap under that first serious loads i put on them... not because my lipo cutoff wasn't working.

[miniGranis]

Originally Posted by BrianG

I know there is an LVC that does monitor each cell, but can't recall the name. If using two packs, you'd need a balancer Y adaptor so it sees both packs, but that's not hard to do.

If your present LVC is adjustable, you could set it for 3.1v or 3.2v. Sure, one or more cells could drop lower than the others, but a higher cutoff value should add insurance that any one won't dip too far... unless there is a bad/weak cell to begin with.

That would probably be the CellPro DPM I guess.
I have one but I havent ran my batts "flat" yet, the truck tends to break first :031:

[BrianG]

Originally Posted by no mods

i meant to do that.. haha.. ya.. i think your on to something with the c rating. just got off the phone with a very helpful team member of maxamps. He informed me that i prolly should have gone with a higher mah pack cause most likely running on the ragged edge of my cells "constant" rating, possibly even dabbling in the max load stuff.. anyways..

Yeah, it's the same with anything; if you run it up to its max potential, you will be running into reliability issues. I usually over-engineer the battery just so that I know I will never push the battery too far. There is nothing wrong with running a higher capacity battery other than the extra weight and physical size, but if you are running a battery only up to half it's rating, it will run cooler and more reliably.

[no mods]

guess it was somehting i over looked as a likely failure.