AntiGravity Lithium Batteries

[Glas467]

Does anyone on the forum have experience with the AntiGravity line of lithium batteries? I saw that Aircraft Spruce starting carrying them and found their website here http://antigravitybatteries.com/our-batteries/


The advertising claims seem spectacular and the YouTube video of starting a large motorcycle engine with a battery the size of your hand was impressive. Their 25AH battery claims a massive 720 cranking amps capacity in a package size about 1/2 the width of an equivalent Concord 25AH battery ... and the AntiGravity battery weighs under 5 lbs. Can anyone see any drawbacks to this battery, other than the price? How does it compare to other lithium batteries on the market?


All the best,
Reggie

[1600vw]

On another forum I belong they were talking about these batteries. They may have been made by someone else or a different company but basically the same battery. They seem to like them. I use a lipo battery to power some 14v equipment. Its a stand alone unit I take from the airplane after each flight and charge it at home and store it there.

Tony

[rwanttaja]

Does anyone on the forum have experience with the AntiGravity line of lithium batteries? I saw that Aircraft Spruce starting carrying them and found their website here http://antigravitybatteries.com/our-batteries/


The advertising claims seem spectacular and the YouTube video of starting a large motorcycle engine with a battery the size of your hand was impressive. Their 25AH battery claims a massive 720 cranking amps capacity in a package size about 1/2 the width of an equivalent Concord 25AH battery ... and the AntiGravity battery weighs under 5 lbs. Can anyone see any drawbacks to this battery, other than the price? How does it compare to other lithium batteries on the market?

There are always risks in new technology, and Cessna and Boeing have both had problems with lithium batteries on aircraft. Lithium batteries have revolutionized the electric RC battery world, and have made laptop computers much lighter, but there are still fires due to the batteries. Personally, I'd wait a few years to ensure the technology is mature. If there's a problem on a motorcycle, you can always stop and step off...an airplane, though....

I've used Odyssey Dry Cell batteries on my Fly Baby for a while and am quite happy with them. They're not as light as lithium, but still are significantly lighter than a standard aircraft battery and are pretty rugged. And you can buy them from Amazon for $110 (and for me, shipping was free).

Ron Wanttaja

[vaflier]

The company I work for has just started selling a lithium battery pack that I am told is a little larger than a pack of gigarettes and is able to jump start a large v8 5 or 6 time before needing recharge. I have not seen it but I am going to make a point to do so. It sounds pretty impressive. Not sure what the price is going to be. I too am curious about these.

[Blue Chips]

Lithium still bothers me in aircraft, when to the battery point in my build I am going to look seriously into the new super Capacitor batteries. All the light weight and most of the size benefits of the Lithium type and none of the dangers from what I've read, looks promising

Here is some interesting info on it.
http://www.instructables.com/id/The-...er-Capacitor-/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3x_kYq3mHM

[Matt Gonitzke]

Lithium still bothers me in aircraft, when to the battery point in my build I am going to look seriously into the new super Capacitor batteries. All the light weight and most of the size benefits of the Lithium type and none of the dangers from what I've read, looks promising

Here is some interesting info on it.
http://www.instructables.com/id/The-...er-Capacitor-/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3x_kYq3mHM

I don't think you read far enough. In the 'cons' section: "If you made a super capacitor big enough to replace your car battery, it would likely be 10 times the size. Super capacitors have lots of energy storage, but need to be banked in series/parallel to achieve battery-like storage." That sure doesn't sound like it has the "size benefits" of a Lithium battery.

[Blue Chips]

I don't think you looked far enough
The first link was just for the interest and potential of this type of power, the YouTube link shows that 10 times is just not so and could be made plenty small, what was meant by size benefits was simply smaller and not meaning "small as". While every innovation generally has a way to go this concept is a proven one with no down side that I can see.

Ken