Mobile phone lipo cells...

[tymill]

Like many people, I've accumulated quite a few Sony Ericsson phone batteries like these.

They weigh close to nothing, but are rated at 950mAh.

Surely two could just be wired up in series and run in a car for a super-lightweight, hard-cased battery setup...

I six were used (three sets in parallel) that'd be a decent 2850mAh battery that weighs close to nothing and is more or less free.

Would there be big issues with regards to the current draw and/or overheating? (I'd be surprised if there would not be!) After all mobiles are designed to run for hours, where they'd be sucked dry in a matter of 2-3 minutes in an rc application.

Very curious...

Maybe they'd be great in mini-rc applications?

Any thoughts are appreciated!

[neiloliver]

The cells themselves wont be rated for high rate discharge and anyway, connecting them togther in series you will cause each cells active cell protection module to activate in over-current mode.

[rcracer]

These are sealed units and i wouldnt even think about modifying any , with all the good qaulity lipo packs availble there is no need to even consider using them.

[mark christopher]

any one wondering why there rated at 3.6 volts? that would make lipo 7.2 volt!!

[neiloliver]

Do you mean why 3.6V instead of 3.7V? Li-Ion technlogy was always rated at 3.6V, it is only over the past few years that some manufacturers use 3.7V as a badge voltage instead... but both are typical values at 0.2C discharge at +20°C.

At the end of the day it is the energy (area under the curve) that counts in portable electronic devices as most are constant power devices.

[glypo]

As Neil said above, it's all about power ratings.

Some of the tiny packs I put in my parkflyer RC planes are great, 11.1V and have plenty of capacity, but wouldn't be able to supply enough juice for a thirsty RC car (it's about C-ratings |click|).

I suppose it's analogous to NiMH or LiPo cells with 1/18th and 1/10th Scale. You can get baby 1/18th cells (2/3A for for nickel cells) for Micro cars, but these won't be rated high enough for a 1/10th car.

So yeah, I expect you could use them in mini/micro RC as you say. But if you know the websites, you can get great quality small packs of simialr size made for RC use for around £10 (http://www.giantcod.co.uk/cell-lipo-...7d98f2e11e89af).

Great thought, but I fear like the others it might not be best for RC.

[mac]

If you go into their forum and read the customer returns/warranty makes for a very interesting read!!!