Review – Hobbico LiFe 6.6v Battery

Apr 262010

Words: Brian Rush

What battery what battery what battery do I buy to power my receiver and servo Lipo, Nimh, LifePO4 (Lithium Iron Phosphate)? If you were having the same dilemma, I got off the fence and man up and purchased Hobbico Life 6.6v 1100 mAh batteries. These battery somehow coaxed my hard earn money out my tight hands! I looked at the LiPo batteries but you need a regulator or a voltage reducer (BCE) that drop the 7.4v LiPo to a useable 6v and I don’t use higher voltage servos. The BCE is just one more thing to go wrong and I’m a keep it simple racer. I have a set of NiMh batteries that power my 1/8 scale Dirt Late Model. They work ok but our club is starting to run 15 minutes mains and consistent 6v for 15 minutes is important.

I did research and I went to RCTech Forum and found several threads were racers just like me didn’t know LiPo from a LiPo and what batteries to get. I then watched this Hobbico video; http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXYAS7&P=SM

I really like the no regulator (BCE) and most of the chargers that will charge a LiPo pack will charge LiFePO4 pack. LiFePO4 batteries are very stable and have consistent voltage. The main advantage of the Lifo batteries is no worries about running lifo at low voltage. Lifo batteries are great in that respect and the constant 6.5v they don’t fall off like NIMH or blow up like a Lipo.

I ordered my pack on Friday and it was at my door Monday for under $30. Thank you Tower Hobbies! I purchased the 1100 mAh LiFe batteries. The first thing, I was glad to see these batteries fit in my Ofna Ultra’s battery box. Like any grown kid with a toy, I couldn’t wait to see if these new fangled batteries work. Well, I was impressed the servos were faster and sounded smoother.

I practiced and raced with the LiFe batteries. The car never worked better the extra .6 volts in the 6.6v the LiFe batteries supply to my car. The batteries are well worth my hard earned money! I would recommend these batteries to my fellow racers. Here’s video of the batteries in action, my car is the black and pink car.

I want to thank Dennis Fulkerson for putting the video of the Best in the West Shootout race 1 in Madera Ca. 4/17/2010