Outcast Loss of power in snow

[The_shansen]

I had the outcast running in light snow on grass today. After a little while, power dropped considerably, almost as if the ESC was detecting low voltage but didn’t kill the throttle completely. I went home, threw the batteries (2x 5000 mah Gens Ave 2s) on the charger as they each had 7.48v so no low voltage. All the cells were balanced and good. No physical damage to the packs either. I haven’t tested it since to see if the power returned.

My question is what could be causing the sudden drop in power? Anyone else have this happen?

 

[slick2500]

I've had mine hit LVC at 3.6v per cell, under load the batteries voltage can sag down to 3.4v or lower and it will trigger the lvc, mind you this is in 60+ degree weather. Colder temperatures and batteries do not mix very well, this often causes the voltage to sag lower at higher voltages than normal. I'm only assuming that the colder temps are to blame since you said you were running in the snow.

 

[Bruce]

Had the same thing happen to me , few days ago about 3" of snow only ran about 8 min, than went to half power. SMC 5200 packs only couple cycles on them. They took about 4000 mah on a re-charge. Running almost full throttle in the snow draws allot of juice.

 

[Dustin Mustangs]

Yes, lipos do not like to be cold. Voltage sag goes through the roof as you approach freezing. Do not run or charge them if they (not the air) are around or below freezing. I will set mine over HVAC vents, in my car or house, for a while before running if it is really cold out. That is a nice gentle heat source which is a good thing but it takes a while for them to soak it up.

I learned this lesson the hard way with cp helis a few winters back. Inadvertently hitting lvc on one of those is a costly situation!

 

[The_shansen]

Thanks for the replies. I’ve had my truck out a couple times since and haven’t had issues. These last few times were still in the cold (but not as cold) and no snow running.

 

[Booboo71]

The Halix battery was 3 years old and the Outcast is new Lectron 50c.