Tekin Prez

Everyone is thinking too long term... We are loading the battery and letting go thousands of times per second. When a motor is spooled out it is really only seeing the few volts left that have not been canceled by the motors back EMF. If it is slow on top then the battery is getting hammered during accel.

If you do not have a voltage cutoff, watch the clock... safety or not it is hard on your batteries to drive them when they are noticeably slow.

All new Tekin products have an adjustable voltage cutoff.

Tekin Prez

bvoltz

iTrader: (44)

With my 4800, you feel it when you have about 6.0 left. And I mean you you really feel it. Your car slows down by half all the sudden, you know it is time to take off the track.. You have plenty to get around the track back into the pits....

YR4Dude

iTrader: (44)

Currently I have been using a Much-More to charge my NiMh batteries and it also capable of charging LiPos but at only 1Amp. So I've been looking for another charger that can charge at a higher rate. Heres what I found:

Orion Advantage with LiPo feature $189.99
Astro Flight Lithium $109.99
MRC Super Brain 977 $100.00
Duratrax ICE 119.99
Multiplex LN-5014 89.99

Of course the Orion is the obvious choice but what about the others? Will all LiPo chargers charge the same? Are some chargers more precise in "peak charging" LiPo cells than others?

Any advise would be great. Please be fair. No product bashing please. Lets have some good information for all to know.

SpeedyPenguin

iTrader: (1)

You have forgot about the new Orion avionics charger, which is around $80 and is quite small. There is a racer at our track who uses it for his Orion pack and a one cell pack for his 1/12 scale.

trilerian

iTrader: (51)

A year ago, I bought two ice chargers. I did this, because at the time I was using cheap peak chargers and needed to upgrade. Knowing that lipo's were coming I decided to buy chargers that charged lipo's as well as nimh. I can say that I am extremely happy with my decision. But the advantage charger has alot of the same features as the ice, and you can charge lipo's higher than a 1c rating. If I could change 2 things about the ice charger I would change the charge rate cutoff for lipo's and make it balance the lipo's. Regardless, it is very convenient to be able to see all the charging data. This is one thing I would look for in a charger as well. Anyways, that is my 2 cents.
Lipo's don't peak charge. They are charged by cc/cv (constant current/constant voltage). The only difference is the way other chargers charge them would be the ability to balance, and charging current.

cvt01

iTrader: (2)

My ESC does not have the LVC built in (Novak GTX). Would this device solve the LVC problem? http://www.fmadirect.com/detail.htm?item=1897&section=2

padailey

iTrader: (11)

From the site you mentioned it states. "The AVC1AIR will work with any ESC that provides motor cutoff on loss of signal." So I don't think it would be something you want with a GTX. I have found several that warn you with led's (which I don't have any idea how that would help) or warning beeps or throttle pulsing. But I have only found one that appears to cut power to the throttle. Even though it still needs to be shut off because it is still drawing a small amount of power.

I'm still learning about these but these two look the most promising that I have found.

http://www.fmadirect.com/Detail.htm?...117&section=45
http://www.boomboombatteries.com/pro...x?ProductID=62

padailey

iTrader: (11)

I have an ICE an would recommend that with no hesitation.. however are you just trying to charge lipos? If so I probably wouldn't spend the extra money on the ICE or Orion Advantage with Lipo. I've been looking at the Team Orion Avionics Advanced Flight Charger, Great Planes Electrifly Triton Jr, or HYPERION EOS 5i CHARGER. They all look very very similar and won't cost as much as some you listed. But again it depends on what you want the charger to do besides lipo.

http://www.teamorion-avionics.com/Ad...Flight+Charger
http://www.electrifly.com/chargers/gpmm3152.html
http://www.purehobby.com/Chargers/HP-EOS-5I.htm

Jeel

iTrader: (16)

With nitro season winding up here in New England, I will be heading indoors to race electric truck offroad indoors for the winter.

My current setup is a T4FT, GT7, 10x2. I use a CE Pitbull charger.

All of my batteries are spent from last year so I need to decide whether to buy nimhs and a Smart Tray for one more season (need at least 3 batts) or to buy an ICE charger and give the one 4800 Lipo a shot. We run 3 5 minute heats and a 5 minute main.

My only concern is with all of the safety issues I am hearing about Lipos...can anyone out there confirm that these are overblown?

Having just purchased my first home, the last thing I would need is to burn it down!

Darkseid

iTrader: (9)

The best thing I can tell you is to do your own research, and make up you own mind.

That may not seem like much help, but honestly, having people from both sides telling you their opinion is even less help.

Everything you want to know is here in this thread, just read through it and you'll see both sides, hear all the stories and be able to decide for yourself whats best for you now and in the future.

Good luck

cvt01

iTrader: (2)

This weekend we had a three day IIC Warm Up race (I'm just an average club racer but it is still fun). I used one pack for three days charged it 20+ times had no problem with it at all. It was not an Orion pack (wont fit in the T2 )but an other manufacturers LiPo. I'm pretty sure that the Orion would do the same.
I run 19T foam and however my driving suck big time there were no lack of power for sure... I'm done with the NiMH crap. Sold my old Advantage charger (no lipo feature ) and I will sell my dicharge trays as well. Do you think I can get $20 for my 3 months old SMC matched IB4200

YR4Dude

iTrader: (44)

cvt01 - what pack was it that you used to fit in the the T2?

cvt01

iTrader: (2)

Apogee LiMn

Kings Kid

iTrader: (35)

Yes cvt01, that is the same cutoff that is used in the no longer available scorpion batteries by FMA. The best charger for lipos only in my opinion is the scorpion. It balance charges, allows up to 10amps charging, and has adapters available for orion batteries as well as others

cvt01

iTrader: (2)

Platinum pack discharged at 20A (for comparison I've put in the 10A curve too)