LiFePo4 Choices

Equipment
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Its been at least a few weeks since a battery topic appeared. My Hobbyking Zippy compact 4200mAh LiFePo4 4s2p battery has died, and my spare has some swelling, so looking for a new LiFePo4

Can’t find anywhere shipping to UK with a 4200mAh rating (my preferred size) but saw this on Amazon for a good price
Is there anything problematic with this type of battery (except for being twice the capacity I need)?
Any other good suggestions?

Thanks

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I haven’t used either type of battery but I know others do successfully. The key differences are that the Amazon battery contains a BMS so it will need a different charger and may have a lower current limit. It’s a shame that RC style LiFePo4 batteries are really hard to find in the UK now.

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Brexit: the gift that keeps on giving.

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This needs some European ham cooperation.

  1. Order a 12V 4Ahr LiFePo from Eremit in Germany. Eremit only ships to German addresses. But there are 2 international dealers listed on the website. You can check if they will ship internationally, probably not.
  2. Get a cooperative German ham and pay them to order your cell from Eremit (https://www.eremit.de/) for delivery to their address.
  3. Go on a SOTA holiday in Germany. Preferably near the ham in #2 above.
  4. Meet ham, collect Eremit cell, do joint activations, have a nicel meal (meat and beer and kuchen) .
  5. Return home with new LiFePo.

I collected mine at the Friedrichshafen rally from a very nice chap. I’m very pleased with my 12V 4Ahr version.

Or you could buy 4 of the bazillion LiFePo cells from eBay (32700 3.2V 6000mAh 5700mah LiFePO4 Cell Rechargeable Battery 4 batteries | eBay) and a battery holder (12V 1S4P LiFePo4 Battery Storage Box with 1X4 Holder for 32700 Power Supply | eBay).

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Or these:

26650 Battery 3.2V 3200mAh LiFePO4 Lithium Protected Rechargeable UK Batteries | eBay 4x for £7.23 each
2x 26650 Battery Holder Case Spacer Frame Radiating Holder Plastic Bracket DIY | eBay 2x for £3.90 total.

EDIT: 01-mar-2024 The original batteries in the first link are no longer available, all sold. However, just search eBay for “26650 battery lifepo” and you will find assorted suppliers of cells.

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Weight will be higher. I have a RoyPow 12Ah LiFePo4 which I have used for QRO POTA activations with my IC-7300. They also make a 6Ah size which would be better for QRP but it still weighs nearly 900g.

I use a Victron charger which has a suitable charging cycle for LiFePo4.

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You can also get a Lidl Jump Starter (UMAP 12000). It has a 3Ah LiFePo4 inside, and can be charged from any USB connector.
I am alternating two of these batteries with my XieguG90 (it works fine with 3Ah). I am not using the 12V/8A otput since is very noisy. Instead I bought some EC5 bullet connectors to get raw 13.4 (or less) Volts from the “engine start” connector (connected directly to battery terminals). If your rig is not forgiving regarding supply voltage, you might need some circuitry to lower this voltage.

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Thanks for the replies. 18650s seem to work out a bit more expensive than the ready assembled packs…but I am starting to think 18650s are the way to go…looks like there are some bms boards with usb-c connectors for charging.

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Sorry to copy the battery died.
Amazing battery, mine is still going after 12 years got 3 activations out of it this week.
Not rubbing salt old mate.
I noticed a fellow doing Parks the other day had a small Quadcopter battery much the same size as the HK 4200. not sure if it was LiFe or LiPo.
Good luck in the search.
Regards vk5cz …

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Oh its my own fault for overdischarging it several times. A battery pack with built in bms is probably not a bad idea for me.

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I use these a lot, 6 x 18650’s. Home brew pack, 2 banks of 3 in series. This is 12v 5AH
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1pAj3UIeEapmFqL6PPTjKjN1i9NY6xkt1?usp=sharing

I’ve have 30 + 18650’s mostly from cheap 9 cell laptop packs from ebay. Last 9 were LG brand 2600mAH batteries. Easy to charge in an external 4 cell battery charger.

I use them in my ft-817ND :
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1q6iI7QG23GwkgrXqyi0Zv9et2MyAQJkz?usp=drive_link

And hand held radio’s :

Cheap cheerful and readily available.

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These would give you a couple of hours use - but only if you were using CW. :blush:

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I had one of these, it was more like 180ma not 1800

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Our friends from The Middle Kingdom do tell some fibs.

Consider 4x 3.7V 1000mAh cells

Wire them as 4S1P and you get

UK spec      14.8V 1000mAh
Chinese spec 14.8V 4000mAh

Wire them as 1S4P and you get

UK spec       3.7V 4000mAh
Chinese spec 14.8V 4000mAh

You could call it marketing but I call it bare face lies :wink:

It’s also Li-Ion chemistry not LiFePo.

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I do like the idea of the internal holder for LiPo 18650 in an ft818, but my preference is LiFePo4.

Maybe I will try both…a pack of four 18650 LiFePo4 for external use and and an internal hder for LiPo 18650s and see which works out best

Although, the LiFePo4 battery I linked in the original post does look like good value if the specs are accurate. Do maybe will try that too!

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Bioenno has 4s LiFePo4. Not cheap but very well made packs with good BMS boards. Can you get those in the UK?

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Maybe… I’d expect the shipping costs to be eye-watering if possible. When I bought a HobbyKing LiFePo pack that retailed for about £35, the shipping was another £30. i.e. shipping was nearly the same cost as the battery.

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A friend imported them in the EU and I can confirm the shipping fees nearly doubled the price of the item.

I just ordered the 2Ah and 4Ah Eremit LiFePO4 from their international reseller, I’ll blame Andy for the enthusiastic review, shipping was not cheap (23€) but I pooled them with other heavy purchases that would have required significant fees… or at least this is how I rationalised the expense.

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Have a look here @M0MZB

https://www.componentshop.co.uk/batteries/radio-control/nimh-flight-packs.html

also this page

https://www.componentshop.co.uk/batteries/radio-control/li-po-flight-packs/14-8v-4s-packs.html?p=2

73 Allan

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I appreciate this is bigger and more expensive than you are looking for - but it looks an excellent product!

I’ve got the older version of this. Still going strong after over 8 years of intensive SOTAing (2000+ activations). It’s fairly light - weighs 2/3 of what a traditional 7Ah SLAB does.

I’d love the current version with its USB sockets, but can’t justify the purchase while my existing version continues to give excellent service.

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