Quote:
Originally Posted by EricH
Correct me if I'm wrong here, but if I recall correctly, LiFePO4 batteries tend to have their own internal balancing circuits (or maybe it's just the brand I'm familiar with that has 'em).
I'd actually go so far as to say that some types of LiFePO4 batteries would be just about a drop-in replacement for SLAs in FRC robots, if their cost came down a bit. I've worked on a non-FRC robot that, for redundancy purposes, ran two LiFePO4 12V batteries, just about the same size as the current SLAs, on two separate circuits, driving RS-775s and linear actuators. Never had an issue with the batteries. Not sure if they got charged much during competition at all.
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They can, but that will inherently reduce ability to source current (or add a lot of price).
They can be run w/o any balancing circuitry in the cell or the charger w/o issue. It just reduces the total # of cycles it can do. This is still more than enough cycles for an FRC team.