3S LiPo battery or single cell with step-up?

Community General Discussion
1

I'm going to make a circuit that requires a 10-12V input voltage and up to 1A. It will be battery powered and I'm wondering if it's better to stick with the popular 3S LiPo batteries for R/C models or use a single cell and a step-up switching.

In any case, I don't need to charge the battery. It must be disconnected and charged externally.
Is there any disadvantage in using a 3S battery? I just connect it to my circuit... no need to design a boost converter, etc... and the balancing is handled by the external charger.

What do you think about?

2

I think you should be asking if there is any advantage to using a single cell and a boost.

3

When you boost the voltage you reduce the current. Or looking at it the other way, you're "pulling" more current from the battery.

Lets say you are boosting from 6V to 12V and your circuit uses 1A. Assuming 100% efficiency (not quite possible) the battery would have to supply 2A.

...Power is calculated as Voltage x Current, and of course you can't get more power out of the boost circuit than you feed-in.

4

Using a 3S pack is more energy efficient than boosting the voltage.

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5

I would go for the 3S lipo, but I would add a (poly)fuse in the circuit. Lipo's can deliver a dangerous amount of amps if accidentally shorted.

I use my old RC lipo packs for such situations. They have lost their C rating, so unable to put them in my airplanes anymore, but for low Amp situations, they still have their capacity.

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6

+1 for stepping down from too high a voltage

+1 for using Lipos that can't fly any more

+1 for knowing all you can know about Lipo cells and batteries of them - amazing source of power, other edge of that sword very sharp.

a7

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7

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