Originally Posted by FlyWheel
From what I've been hearing about LiFe (A123) batteries I'm surprised I haven't seen them marketed as an actual flight pack. Are y'all still buying your packs at Home Depot/Lowes? Or have the RC companies finally caught on to the commercial value they've been missing?
You can buy complete battery packs from at least one source, per below:
http://www.radicalrc.com/category/A123-Cells-Packs-199
http://www.hobbypartz.com/life.html (Search for A123's)
They're a little expensive though, I bought my 32 2300 Mah A123 cells direct from China at $7.50 each, post paid to my home.
TheChina packaging is the poorest I've ever seen though, they simply put the cells loose in a rip proof bubble bag, and ship it from China. I got them in 13 days.
That the 32 cells survived that with no damage is very surprising.
If you want raw performance, the better of the Lipos will beat the A123 cells hands down for weight and voltage. But, my three year old battery packs have the same exact performance as when brand new, and each of them has some 200 flights on them.
Take a look:
http://www.wattflyer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47965