LCT AS VAL upgrade and battery questions

[Nimble]

So as of a few months ago Im the proud owner of the new LCT as val. Awesome gun so far, accurate, solid, etc etc.
My main question today is using LiPo batteries. Im new to the world of lipos and have heard everything ranging from good reviews to stories of peoples guns exploding and lighting on fire.
Right now Im using a firefox 7.4v "butterfly" lipo and was told to just not let the battery run dry and I should be ok as far as preserving battery life and electrical system integrity. I was wondering if anyone who has been using lipos for longer has any suggestions on failsafes I could be installing? I heard you can install cutoff switches etc but have no clue where to even begin.

[waylander]

You have a few choices. You can get a good mosfet which has a built in alarm or a separate voltage alarm or cut off. You can find them on ebay, or hobbyking... etc. You can also check your local RC hobby shop for them. They'll be at least twice the price though. An alarm will just buzz/beep but a cut off will actually cut off so your gun will stop working.

[ViR]

Voltage alarm is probably the easiest solution.. but Ive never actually seen anyone light up a lipo from "excessive use".
I've seen Lipos burn after being banged/cracked, but thats it...

I usually run them until rate of fire slows down. Even had them drop below 3.7V.. Years later still no issues..

[waylander]

You won't really damage a lipo until you drop to about 3.4v or so. The original voltage alarms for lipos I think were actually set at 3.2v, most people only use their lipo to about 3.7v now (which is the recommended storage charge). It's recommended that you don't leave a lipo fully charged for more than a week or two. For instance, if you don't play in the winter, it's a good idea to discharge your lipo to 3.7v storage charge.

As much, if not more, than voltage, look at the capacity used. It should not drop below 40% so if you're recharging and you put more than 60% of the capacity back in it then you're probably drawing too much. Now that's just a rule of thumb to make your lipos last longer, the cost of these lipos is pretty low so it's not as much of a concern.

Remember that besides light weight, lipos have a big advantage in that they have a pretty flat discharge curve, that means they maintain a fairly even discharge until right at the end when the curve drops right off very steeply. If you keep using it until you notice an appreciable change then you're probably running it too long in terms of trying to prolong the life of the lipo.

Lipos don't typically catch fire due to over discharge but they can puff up which will reduce their charge and life. The biggest danger to lipos catching fire is during the charging of them.

[ViR]

Originally Posted by waylander

Lipos don't typically catch fire due to over discharge but they can puff up which will reduce their charge and life. The biggest danger to lipos catching fire is during the charging of them.

Good to know.

[Nimble]

Awesome! Thanks for all the info!

[ThunderCactus]

Read the battery thread in the noob section for good info too!