Team Orion 3200mAh Carbon Edition Race Spec LiPo

PeterV · #1 07-31-2006, 10:42 PM

Here's your first look at Orion's newest LiPo pack. The case has a humped design that emulates a side-by-side sub-C pack for a perfect fit in most cars. Kokam cells are inside the carbon-look case, and even though the pack is rated for 3200mAh, you can expect capacity comparable to a 4300 NiMh pack.

Official press release:

Because of the continuing success of the Platinum 4800 LiPo battery, Team Orion has gone back to the drawing board and created a version designed specifically for competition applications. The all-new Carbon Edition LiPo 3200 mimics the actual run times of today’s most popular competition NiMH cells, despite its lower capacity.

The Carbon Edition’s unique shape allows installation in vehicles that accept stick packs. Additionally, molded bumps along the battery’s underside lock it into position when used in slotted touring car chassis.

Features:
• 20C rated Kokam/Team Orion SLPB cells provide the safest output charge after charge
• Low IR, 3200 mAh capacity provides up to 40% longer run times than NiMH equivalents
• At 6.6 ounces, it is less than half the weight of a 6-cell NiMH battery
• 7.4V SLPB Kokam cells in a 2S-1P configuration paired with Team Orion’s exclusive PCB interface provides the lowest loss connection available with industry leading protection against damage
• Twisted gold plugs with Tamiya style connector allow for easy installation
• Cell balancing port
• Attractive carbon look case
• Excellent option for today’s high-performance 3D helicopters

ORI14001 Carbon Edition 3200 LiPo Battery Pack $119.99
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metalry101 · #2 07-31-2006, 10:48 PM

So what's the advantage? Less weight is nifty, but is this less expensive than the 4800? A lot less?

Dan-o · #3 07-31-2006, 10:49 PM

MSRP? street?

jocktheglide165 · #4 07-31-2006, 11:05 PM

no way dude that rocks.....dang it now I want my lipos back...

tmacfan4321 · #5 08-01-2006, 12:15 AM

naw you want your bashing lipos, none of the carbon crap
im all for the look though

jocktheglide165 · #6 08-01-2006, 12:50 AM

i dont understand it saids 3200mah, but it has same capacity of 4200nimh?

ryanD · #7 08-01-2006, 01:20 AM

i dont get that in the middle on the bottom is flat for battery straps, if you put it in up side down how will you get to the plugs?

I took the line out about the "flat for a strap" thing. It can't be flat for that reason, per your very logical observation. I suspect the humps are not full-width simply because they don't have to be in order to locate the pack within the battery slots. --Pete

tmacfan4321 · #8 08-01-2006, 01:25 AM

you would think that some engineering would be envolved with the making of this pack

EvaderRacer76 · #9 08-01-2006, 01:55 AM

SWEET!!! I hope it is a lot lighter (and cheaper) than the 4800...then I'll be sold..

metalry101 · #10 08-01-2006, 02:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ryanD

i dont get that in the middle on the bottom is flat for battery straps, if you put it in up side down how will you get to the plugs?

Ya, that is weird. It probably has the bumps on the bottom so that when it's placed in a sedan with a carbon fiber plate chassis with cutouts, it positions itself correctly, and stays in place more easily. At least that'd be my assumption.

GordonFreeman · #11 08-01-2006, 03:57 AM

We use about 1200 mAh for 5 minutes on our indoor dirt (http://www.rcperformance.com/) , high traction dirt. ROAR is a bunch of @#$$^s, let it go already. Sub-Cs are dead.

Plus MaxAmps has reasonably priced LiPos. Shop around.

jocktheglide165 · #12 08-01-2006, 04:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EvaderRacer76

SWEET!!! I hope it is a lot lighter (and cheaper) than the 4800...then I'll be sold..

man how light do you want it? LOL I thought the lipos were light enough.....

chilly4kc · #13 08-01-2006, 08:55 AM

Looking at the new case design, I see they put the balancing port on the top now. Maybe too many drivers were getting dirt in the port when it was on the bottom and the pack was used in a touring car?

I also talked to Orion support last week and they said they are making a balancer but it was going to be about a year before that came out yet. Maybe putting the port on top is to make it work better with their balancer?

___rollin___ · #14 08-01-2006, 09:50 AM

The price should be about even with this pack considering it's the same kokam cells, and same configuration. But a little more of course because of the fancy case. They (the pack I linked)were about $100-110 before, so expect 120+ to be normal for these.

kvector · #15 08-01-2006, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeterV

As you can see, the humps are flattened in the pack's middle, so your T4 or Triple-X battery strap (or cars and trucks with similar hold-downs) can still be used.

How do you access the plugs if you put it in upside down?

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeterV

Kokam cells are inside the carbon-look case...

It's basically a sticker or screen printing on the outside of the plastic, just like Orion's charger. Almost looks like it will be heavier with all the extra shaped plastic molding in the case design, or is this intended to actually be a stronger or more durable case (like something that can help the lipos survive a high speed crash)?

NiMo · #16 08-01-2006, 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ryanD

i dont get that in the middle on the bottom is flat for battery straps, if you put it in up side down how will you get to the plugs?

The humps are to fit in the battery slots on the chassis (like your current NiMh pack), you can the hold it in the same way as your normal NiMh pack without is sliding out the side of the car.
This is something we have requested over at another forum site, along with a rounded shaped so it can fit more cars without modification.

chilly4kc · #17 08-01-2006, 10:29 AM

I have the Orion 4800 and it works great in my T4 with the carbon fiber strap, but it doesn't work well with my Trinity blue aluminum battery brace since the brace has grooves in it for C cells. It looks like I might be able to use that Trinity brace again with this pack.

But I also ran into issues when I tried to install the 4800 into my TC4. However, this new pack design looks like it will eliminate that issue too.

The humps on the bottom will fit snuggly into the cutouts on the bottom of the chassis that is normally used to allow the C cells to sit into them. So now these humps will fit into that perfectly (most TC have these cutouts now).

The top of the case it sunken in too, so that will make the battery strap fit better too since it has grooves in it to fit snuggly against a C cell pack.

So I can see why they made these changes. This pack design will fit into more RC vehicles now. And the more applications they can fit these pack into the more people will run them, and the more they will become accepted.

The only thing I don't understand is why they lowered the mah from 4800 to 3200? Maybe they are trying to get this approved by ROAR and they want to match the runtime of the best 4200 NiMh to keep things more fair? Kind of like running brushed and BL together?

Of course, the lipo is 7.4v and not 7.2v so it will always have a little more punch to it.

micros_rock · #18 08-01-2006, 11:42 AM

Rick said 80-90 for the price.

JakeE · #19 08-01-2006, 12:57 PM

It seems these are newer cells than those currently being used in the 4800 pack. This pack is a 2s1p whereas the 4800 is a 2s2p. The 4800 pack is rated for 15C continuous, 20C burst - if this new pack is rated similarly that would only be 48A continuous, 64A burst. Hopefully these are at least 20C continuous cells. It's a nice idea, I wonder how long before manufacturers start designing chassis' with LiPos in mind.

JCSS · #20 08-01-2006, 01:18 PM

So is this pack a 3200, or a 4300?? Are they just understating capacity to overstate discharge? Why not just state true capacity and discharge?

JakeE · #21 08-01-2006, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JCSS

So is this pack a 3200, or a 4300?? Are they just understating capacity to overstate discharge? Why not just state true capacity and discharge?

The bit about 4300 NiMH mAH equivalency is probably targeted towards the bigger is better crowd.

My understanding is the higher the discharge capability of the cell, the lower the IR the cell has. Thus, a higher rated cell will maintain higher voltage under load and therefore require less amps to perform the same job which equates to more efficient use of available capacity.

I may be completely wrong on this so please correct me if that is the case.

Rick Hohwart · #22 08-01-2006, 02:58 PM

They are 20C continuous.

The rated capacity is 3200. But due to a LiPo's effeciency, this capacity translates to actual run times that are at least equal tot hat of NiMH cells with capacities of 4300 mAH

JCSS · #23 08-01-2006, 03:49 PM

So what you are saying is, if i dicharge that pack at 1C, 3.2 amps, it will only put out 3200 mah?

Rick Hohwart · #24 08-01-2006, 04:38 PM

Capacity is capacity. It does not change. A 3200 will always have less capacity than a 4200, regardless of construction

Imagine a 3200 unit "tank" full of LiPo draining to the motor though a solid pipe. A 4300 unit "tank" full of NiMh drains to the motor thorough a porous pipe. The motor sees the same amount of each because one loses much more on the journey to its destination. In reality, the loss is due to internal resistance, which surfaces as heat.

This is also true when comparing NiMH. A cheap generic stick pack with 3700 mAh cells holds the same capacity as a pack of GP3700s. But in no way do they perform equally, even though though they are the "same". The chape packs gets hotter with less duration and less power.

JCSS · #25 08-01-2006, 05:27 PM

So your new 3200 mah pack, which only has 3200 mah, puts out more current, and also runs longer than a 4300 mah ni-mh that has over 25% more capacity. I think i get it now.