It's catch 22.
Li-ion is just as dangerous as Li-Po in some situations.
They still suffer from thermal runaway, and they still set on fire if they get pierced.
The major difference in the 2 styles of battery is the outer casing. Li-ion is a rigid design and run as standardised form factors like the 18650, and are often skinned with a lightweight metal material. Li-po is often just a foil skin with a heat-shrink outer.
As such li-ion is generally a little harder to physically damage or pierce, but it is still a battery that deserves a lot of respect. Damaged wraps/dents on the batteries are still a major point of failure that may cause fires.
I take it you are looking at the 7.4v 7000mAh 10C nunchuck battery.
It's 4x 18650's. Average retail for those is about £5 each, bulk to a manufacturer less than £2. So the £55+ asking price is very steep.
The output ampage of 18650's is not rated in C. It's rated in amps based on the inbuilt fuses.
The 10 amps discharge of the 18650's is the maximum continuous discharge rating. You can draw more than that out of them, but it creates heat in the inbuilt fuses and skin of the cells. Too much heat and the fuses will just pop and render the battery scrap.
The C rating of a li-po gives you an ampage multiplier over capacity. 2200mAh 30/60C gives 2.2x30= 66amps continuous 132amps burst.
1300mAh 20/40C = 26 amps continuous and 52 amps burst.
A typical airsoft gun will draw somewhere between 10 and 20 amps depending on how well built the gearbox is. A baseline of 15 amps continuous is reasonable.
So you are going to be stressing those li-ion batteries all the time. Yes, they will cope, but not as well as a li-po will.
Li-po's only real flaw is the soft skin. If you use a good charger it will tell you to fuck off if the battery isn't safe to charge. Discharging them too low voltage won't cause a fire - Charging one that has been discharged too low will. You should never be able to stress a decent-sized lipo in terms of amp draw, And a decent mosfet will prevent shorts and low voltage issues. An inline 25 amp fuse will protect the battery and the gun.
Li-ion, on the other hand, has harder skin and it has inbuilt protection from short circuits, but you will always be stressing them and if you do get them a bit hot then you risk popping the fuses that will kill the battery outright. Over time they lose capacity and discharge faster just like li-po. An inline 25 amp fuse may still allow the battery to fail through heat.
If you drop either they need to be put aside and checked for heat buildup for a few minutes.
If you damage the outer wraps on either they need to be disposed of - A li-ion can be re-wrapped but you would have to desolder it if the battery wrap is damaged so it's not an option to re-wrap.
Personally I'd rather spend the £55 on a charger for Li-po that will tell me to fuck off and keep my £10 li-po's in individual cases, rather than spend £55 on each battery.
