Battery Questions

[Rambosmurf]

Hi all
Excuse me for some stupid questions but I figure I better ask before I go and hurt myself (been known to do that..alot).
Can you use a 3.0 V cr123 Battery for mods or is voltage to low?
Can you use 3.7V Cell Phone batterys?
What about 3.7V R/C Li-po's. I have them from planes and heli's I have. The major danger from them is overcharging them or overheating them during use, but there are voltage cut-offs to prevent it.
What would be the recommended amps for mod if they could be, i.e. 3A continuous, or 5A, etc.
To play is safe I will be building a Nico-Stick for my first build, but just bouncing Ideas around in my head.
Thanks
RS

 

[Dave Rickey]

3.0V is too low for eCigs, there are mods that use 3.0V CR123's in series to provide 6V (and then generally a regulator to pull it back down to 5V). Flat packs of various kinds are rising in popularity recently, the DigiPower and Lenmar PPUMINI "USB Backup Power" units have been used a lot because they have all the electronics for charging integrated into them at a price no higher than buying the components separately. RC flatpacks would work just as well, you'd just have to supply the charging circuitry (for example, the circuit board from a DigiPower).

I know Bad Things have been known to happen when badly over-discharging a RC flatpack, but that may only be an issue when pushing a 10+ C discharge rate (not an issue for eCigs with a flatpack bigger than that the DigiPower starts with). I'm currently working on a mod that will put 4-5 of the PPUMINI flatpacks in parallel, to get the best of all worlds: flatpack compactness and reliable current, regulated voltage output, and full-day operation from a single charge. For practical purposes, the only difference between that and RC packs is more variety in dimensions.

--Dave

 

[Rambosmurf]

Thanks Dave
That's what I was thinking. The R/C 3.7v's are small and can be paralleled together to keep it the voltage, but last all day. I didn't figure there was much amp draw seeing as they can run motors and servo's. I have also found that most of the li-po's will give a warning (i.e. cut motor,servo,etc) before they fry. When flying you can't feel the heat (the big enemy), but I figure the battery in a pack in my hand, I will know. Hey, this might work or toast a atty or a battery. (been there, done that already).
Again, Thanks.