Share your voltage alarm setup

[Lil Dylan]

I'm looking to put voltage alarms on my 6s Kraton and Noto. Can people share what alarms they're using and pics of how they're installed? Thanks.

 

[Killacam]

i use these lipo alarms in my son's power wheels. They are super loud and easy to use. They connect to the balance lead and you can velcro the alarm to your battery.

 

[dure16]

i use these lipo alarms in my son's power wheels. They are super loud and easy to use. They connect to the balance lead and you can velcro the alarm to your battery.

View attachment 327199

I use the same alarms for the same reason

I just rely on ESC voltage cutoff in my RCs though.

 

[Johnny b]

Voltage alarm? Crucial for planes so you can land safely but my land RC's just slow down at lvc. Why is this necessary?

 

[Vulthraxis]

Some LVC is set to low in some ESC and can not be changed. Some chargers will not see the lipo as a say 6S lipo(example) when the voltage is to low and you will have to DC charge them over a point to get them to read as a lipo again. This can be very bad for your lipo cells. This is only a problem in lower end surface ESC IMO. All most all flight ready ESC have a huge warning system and any quality surface ESC will have a LVC you can adjust.

 

[SrC]

I only use my Volt. alarms when trying to diagnose a possible LVC or Lipo issue. Or simply trying to find at what Voltage the LVC cuts off. If you suspect you do have a low or even too high of LVC cutoff, they can serve a purpose. Usually with cheaper ESC's.
I would set the Alarm for 3.5v per cell. I like to preserve my Lipos this way. Just enough run time without stressing the pack.
But this can vary based on the packs C rating and capacity. Cheap , worn unmatched cells will always cause a premature LVC. A voltage Alarm can point to that while out bashing.

 

[SrC]

I found that many of the cheap Voltage alarms are not that accurate reading some cells. One reason I don't rely on them for regular use. Been there,
So first check them against your Charger's readings or a known good Lipo Testor. Alway good to have a quality lipo testor in your tool RC box.

 

[Lil Dylan]

The reason for the question is I bought super cheap HRB lipos off of Amazon early in the year to run on my two 6s cars with Castle escs. Both escs have a 3.5v cutoff. However, both batteries have developed severe resistance in cell 1 at 30ish ohms (?). Can't remember the exact units. I read that some people recommend doing a higher cutoff of 3.7v hence the reason for wanting lipo alarms. I'd love to be talked into not needing the alarms. I don't know why these batteries have died so quickly at maybe 25-30 cycles. I'm new to the hobby so maybe this is normal.

 

[Vulthraxis]

Yeah not a big fan of HRB lipos I have had 4 all with short life spans.

there C rating is farther off advertised then most. New lipo in video there showing 60C rated battier showing a 19C ratting from brand new based on mAh and resistance. To keep it under that 60C rating he was only ok pulling 50amps. So my questions is what HRB do you have C rating and mAh. Then are you pulling more then 50 amps from them if they are the smaller 4000mAh ones. 2050KV 6s stock arrma is going to pull more then 50 amps a lot of the time. Just considering its coming with 150 amp Esc and that's it's constant rating under heavy loads you can see 300+amps peak. I would question the Lipos First.

Further question What ESC are we using if it's the firma 150 that came in the arrma stock the LVC is set to 3.2v lower then what most would recommend running and is a good reason to have one. Since the LVC on stock arrma is locked but the firma 150 its self not from RTR can be set to 3.4V.

 

[dure16]

Yeah not a big fan of HRB lipos I have had 4 all with short life spans.

there C rating is farther off advertised then most. New lipo in video there showing 60C rated battier showing a 19C ratting from brand new based on mAh and resistance. To keep it under that 60C rating he was only ok pulling 50amps. So my questions is what HRB do you have C rating and mAh. Then are you pulling more then 50 amps from them if they are the smaller 4000mAh ones. 2050KV 6s stock arrma is going to pull more then 50 amps a lot of the time. Just considering its coming with 150 amp Esc and that's it's constant rating under heavy loads you can see 300+amps peak. I would question the Lipos First.

Further question What ESC are we using if it's the firma 150 that came in the arrma stock the LVC is set to 3.2v lower then what most would recommend running and is a good reason to have one. Since the LVC on stock arrma is locked but the firma 150 its self not from RTR can be set to 3.4V.

I’ve got a few HRBs and they’ve been great. I wouldn’t call them a high-performance battery, but I’ve put them through the paces with no issues.

 

[Lil Dylan]

Yeah not a big fan of HRB lipos I have had 4 all with short life spans.

there C rating is farther off advertised then most. New lipo in video there showing 60C rated battier showing a 19C ratting from brand new based on mAh and resistance. To keep it under that 60C rating he was only ok pulling 50amps. So my questions is what HRB do you have C rating and mAh. Then are you pulling more then 50 amps from them if they are the smaller 4000mAh ones. 2050KV 6s stock arrma is going to pull more then 50 amps a lot of the time. Just considering its coming with 150 amp Esc and that's it's constant rating under heavy loads you can see 300+amps peak. I would question the Lipos First.

Further question What ESC are we using if it's the firma 150 that came in the arrma stock the LVC is set to 3.2v lower then what most would recommend running and is a good reason to have one. Since the LVC on stock arrma is locked but the firma 150 its self not from RTR can be set to 3.4V.

It’s the 5000mah 65c batteries paired with my mmx8s with 1650kv Kraton and mmx6s with 2250kv noto.

 

[Vulthraxis]

It’s the 5000mah 65c batteries paired with my mmx8s with 1650kv Kraton and mmx6s with 2250kv noto.

Yeah seeing as its a castle ESC as long as you have the I think they call its auto lipo volt/cell in castle link set then the voltage alarm should not be needed. Again I would question the lipo health over the ESC LVC. We are under the assumption here that you are all ways balance charging your lipo not "charging" your lipo as not balance charging will in most cases over charge the first cell more then others and could cause a single cell burn out like this. I would look at other battier health things like is it damaged is it getting warm on a 1c charge a lipo should not heat up on a reasonable charge if its heating up on a 1c charge might have internal short.

Are we reading the resistance at the cell or at the charger via balance lead. Loose but not fully broken balance wire would give the charger a report of a high resistance in cell even if the cell was fine.

I'm not trying to say HRB are bad just saying there are much better out there and personally have had problems with them about a year in to owning them. I just don't think a lipo alarm is going to do any thing for your problem would even trust that castle ESC LVC over most cheap lipo alarms.

Most people start out in the hobby keeping to a budget that's why I had some HRB and still have a few ZEEE's lipos. I at least pay for CNHL now and when they go on sale there still a great price with the right deal.