C Rating battery craze! True or untrue!!
02-24-2009, 08:14 AM
#196
I do not have the numbers but what i can tell you is that the Trakpower cells that i have run are superb and give me a ton of punch and constant power throughout my races. At my track, the fastest racer uses Trakpower and won both classes that he ran in for the winter point series. He could probably win them with nimh but i can tell you that it is impressive watching his 4wd mod b44 go around the track. So as for now and until i see any great improvements, i am sticking with trakpower. They produce great constant results and have been in the lipo business for quite sometime and don't BS. I will still like to try SMC and maybe i will purchase one to see how it compares with the same setup and gearing.
Test don't mean anything unless they are independent tests! Especially tests from China!
Test don't mean anything unless they are independent tests! Especially tests from China!
02-24-2009, 01:53 PM
#197
I have just read the entire thread, and wow. Definitely interesting. To start; I have been using lipo's in rc cars since Orion came out with the platinum 4800. However, I have only used a couple of companies batteries, Orion, Trackpower and SMC. The only company I had problems with was Trackpower, however I will say their customer service was excellent, and I have never had problems with flight power batteries in my heli. The pack I had was the saddle pack, as it was the only option for a hard cased saddle pack when I bought it. The bullet connectors, while they fit rather tight had too much resistance and would heat up so hot that they melted the hard case around them, this was in a B44 with a Novak 5.5. Mind you the drive train was free, and there was no reason for this to happen, also another guy at my track had the same problems running them in a BJ4we. Like I said though, customer service was excellent, I simply took a picture of the pack, supplied my recent and a new pack was sent to me free of charge and I didn't have to send in the other pack. Anyways, new pack gets to me and after 1 run, the case around the terminals is melted. Well, time to do something about it. I took the case of the batteries and hard wired new wires to the battery tabs and put deans plugs on the ends, completely eliminating the bullet connectors. The next time I took my B44 out it came to life. The esc ran cooler, the motor ran cooler and no melting of the case, the batteries themselves were coming off the track at 120 degrees instead of 160 degrees. I was pretty happy and thought I had resolved the problem, however after about 10 runs the packs started to puff. One of them just got what looked to be expanded gas inside the foil and would go back to normal after a day or so, but the other pack had a cell that actually swelled up. Time to buy different packs, so I bought the SMC 4900 saddle pack. So far I have had no problems with it at all. To the Orion packs, not much complaints here, overpriced yes, but it was the only hardcase pack available when I bought them. I bought 2 of the platinum 4800's, and put over 300 cycles on each before buying something else, I feel I got my moneys worth out of them, but now Roar approves lipo and I need something to fit my 007' for onroad, so I get the SMC 4000 28c. I only bought one as money was tight and ran it for 12 weeks in my tc, after that it went off road in my B4 for the entire summer, and has gone back to my tc for this carpet season. I feel I have definitely gotten my moneys worth out of that pack as well. Now at the present, last week I bought 2 of the SMC 5200 40c batteries. These serve two purposes, one; I also bought the RC8e, which the batteries fit into with the foams in the battery tray, and two; I just made a custom battery tray for my 007', which is allowing me to run the 5200 in it. When Danny releases a battery for the RC8, I will probably buy it, and shelf the 5200's for tc only.
For what it is worth, Danny has publicly stood by his cells with test data and has released experimental batteries that are not approved for racing (SMC 1s 4000 for 1/12), doing so because we wanted him to do it. He is in the process of making a number of batteries for different applications which may or may not become the standard, in other words he could loose his butt on them. He was a very reputable battery matcher even before lipo's hit the scene, and since they have, has taken a very proactive approach to learning as much as he can about them and has no problem sharing his learning's with the fickle RC community. Add to all that, that he is a competitive man, not just competitive because of his business which you would expect, but the type of person who is determined to excel to be the best (just read his posts and this is obvious). Also he has shown to be upfront and honest about his cells as evident that they have proven themselves to be in the top tier of batteries that you can buy, if not the best. From all this I can see no reason not to buy SMC cells exclusively at the present. But then again, I am a racer not a basher. And thus I believe you get what you pay for, and also more apt to use products from people who also want to excel and not just sell.
For what it is worth, Danny has publicly stood by his cells with test data and has released experimental batteries that are not approved for racing (SMC 1s 4000 for 1/12), doing so because we wanted him to do it. He is in the process of making a number of batteries for different applications which may or may not become the standard, in other words he could loose his butt on them. He was a very reputable battery matcher even before lipo's hit the scene, and since they have, has taken a very proactive approach to learning as much as he can about them and has no problem sharing his learning's with the fickle RC community. Add to all that, that he is a competitive man, not just competitive because of his business which you would expect, but the type of person who is determined to excel to be the best (just read his posts and this is obvious). Also he has shown to be upfront and honest about his cells as evident that they have proven themselves to be in the top tier of batteries that you can buy, if not the best. From all this I can see no reason not to buy SMC cells exclusively at the present. But then again, I am a racer not a basher. And thus I believe you get what you pay for, and also more apt to use products from people who also want to excel and not just sell.
02-24-2009, 02:34 PM
#198
Tech Regular
iTrader: (9)
I have 4 lipo batteries right now, all 2s.....
Orion 3800 mah (not sure of the C rating)
2 Zippy 4000 mah 25 C
SMC 5200 mah 24 C
I bought the orion used and it definitely doesn't have the punch of the others, nor should it, as it's probably a 20 or 25 C and it's a 3800.
The 2 zippy's ran great, until they basically fell apart because they are garbage. The fake deans connector they came with had problems, the leads they came with fell apart and I had to resolder, and now one of them seems like it goes from a 2 cell to a 1 cell and back intermittently. I opened the case and resoldered everything to no avail. I have no clue what the problem is. For $26 they performed great, but only lasted two months. The quality is flat out non-existant.
The failure of my zippy's convinced me to spend the money and get an SMC. Mother of god it's night and day. The 5200 is just great. Much more punch than my other batteries, and it's consistant too. The only downside is the 5200 is a bit bigger than my others so it doesn't fit in my XXX4 without some more grinding.
Orion 3800 mah (not sure of the C rating)
2 Zippy 4000 mah 25 C
SMC 5200 mah 24 C
I bought the orion used and it definitely doesn't have the punch of the others, nor should it, as it's probably a 20 or 25 C and it's a 3800.
The 2 zippy's ran great, until they basically fell apart because they are garbage. The fake deans connector they came with had problems, the leads they came with fell apart and I had to resolder, and now one of them seems like it goes from a 2 cell to a 1 cell and back intermittently. I opened the case and resoldered everything to no avail. I have no clue what the problem is. For $26 they performed great, but only lasted two months. The quality is flat out non-existant.
The failure of my zippy's convinced me to spend the money and get an SMC. Mother of god it's night and day. The 5200 is just great. Much more punch than my other batteries, and it's consistant too. The only downside is the 5200 is a bit bigger than my others so it doesn't fit in my XXX4 without some more grinding.
02-24-2009, 02:42 PM
#199
Todzilla,
Its a 20c 3600mah
Its a 20c 3600mah
02-24-2009, 04:30 PM
#202
. Preferably test done in USA not in china.Were using our Lipo manufacturer to do the test as they own the proper equipment to do the tests.
02-24-2009, 04:34 PM
#203
I purchased a SMC 5200 40c lipo to try out a couple of weeks ago and am very happy with the results.
I had been running Reedy 20c packs on my Orion 7.5 in my 2wd buggy. Although I did not notice much on top end (with same gearing) the difference in "punch" was amazing. It felt like I had motored up to a 6.5 at least and definitely could have handled gearing up at least another 2 teeth without feeling like it was over gearing the motor at all.
I will definitely be switching out all my packs to SMC after this first hand experience. Thanks for providing quality and legitimate packs for us!
I had been running Reedy 20c packs on my Orion 7.5 in my 2wd buggy. Although I did not notice much on top end (with same gearing) the difference in "punch" was amazing. It felt like I had motored up to a 6.5 at least and definitely could have handled gearing up at least another 2 teeth without feeling like it was over gearing the motor at all.
I will definitely be switching out all my packs to SMC after this first hand experience. Thanks for providing quality and legitimate packs for us!
02-25-2009, 02:57 AM
#205
02-25-2009, 04:34 AM
#206
Tech Regular
How a test can be fair if it's done by the manufacturer that works and build cells for you.
02-25-2009, 04:48 AM
#207
I am more than please with my two lipo's a smc 5000mah 28c lipo(red case) and a 5200mah 35c ep which so far has done great...keep in mind though both are used in a box stock(or mostly stock slash) gearing being the only difference that and the use of old style spur/slipper combo
02-25-2009, 06:52 AM
#209
I have posted allot of info on test results of our cells/packs and if someone doubts them they can do there own tests to prove if our results are real. I will never post test results unless I know there a 100% accurate.
02-25-2009, 07:15 AM
#210
Tech Regular
Just the minimum of 3200grams