:( going LIPO....
 

Alrighty guys, after going through two NIMH receiver packs in a single day, having my old MRC superbrain charger go up in a puff of smoke, and spending whatever amount on regular batteries for my M11, i think its time to convert.

so with that being said, I need anyone to help me out in picking out the following:

-A receiver pack for an ST-RR
-A receiver pack for an MP9
-A pack for an M11
-A pack for an ofna blue truggy box
-A good, easy to use charger [preferably one that doesnt need a power supply, or should I get one that does need one? I dont know the difference]
-Regulators? what do i need them for?
-whats a balancer, do i need one, ifso what one should I get?
-Do they have some kind of safeguard from keeping lipos from going to low on voltage? [i heard if they get to low on voltage they are junk and risk explosion]

I know very little about electronic in general, I dont understand any of the hubub about 20c and MAH and all the jazz on the batteries, which is why i've come here. I want everything as safe as possible, and the ease of use to be as best as it can be.

thanks in advance everyone!

I responded to your questions above in RED. I run the exact same equipment as you minus the radio gear and have all of the following equipment installed in my MP9 and ST-RR. I purhcased all of these items either from Nitrohouse, Tower, Radio Shack or Amain.

-A receiver pack for an ST-RR - Common Sense 1500 mah 7.4V 2s Lipo

-A receiver pack for an MP9 - Common Sense 1500 mah 7.4v 2s Lipo

http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_info.php/products_id/13161


-A pack for an M11 - I have a pack for your radio with roughly 10 cycles through it. If Lipos are properly maintained you should get 100's of cycles through them before needing to replace.

Here is a link to the battery I have:
http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...ducts_id/13525
I will let it go for $45.00 shipped. I will send pics. if your interested!

-A pack for an ofna blue truggy box - Common Sense 3850mah 14.8 V 4s Lipo - it's unbelievable how light they are and yet they push crazy power. New motors are no longer a pain in the butt to break in.

http://www.commonsenserc.com/product_info.php?products_id=123

They've come down a bit as I paid $68.00 each as I have Ofna boxes (buggy and truggy).

-A good, easy to use charger [preferably one that doesnt need a power supply, or should I get one that does need one? I dont know the difference]
I use a Duratrax Ice Charger and have for the past (2) years with out fail. I love it as it is intuitive and easy to use.

http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...oducts_id/6053
Not cheap but a great charger. You can find them in the for sale thread on this forum from time to time but not much of a discount unless you find it with the power supply. Here is a link to a very popular power supply. I use it with my setup.
http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2103960

-Regulators? what do i need them for? I Use this regulator from Novak
http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...ducts_id/20946...[COLOR="Red"]the reason for a regulator is simple. Lipo's push a higher voltage, up to 8.4v when fully charged, but nominal voltage is 7.4v. Your electronics are rated at 6.0v, e.g. the higher voltage can cook your sensitive electronics. Running lipo in conjunction with digital servos will provide for maximum performance out of your electronics. /COLOR]

-whats a balancer, do i need one, ifso what one should I get?If your charger does not have one built into then you will want to buy one. The reason being is that Lipo packs are made up of multiple cells and they both take and lose charge at different rates. Therefore, when charging them you must make sure they are receiving equal amounts of charge or over time the performance of your packs will diminish. A key thing to remember with Lipos is never to let your voltage drop below 3v per cell, otherwise they will dump very quickly and may result in a dead pack. Also, never overcharge your packs. The norm is charge rate of 1C. So for a 1500 mah pack you can charge it at 1.5 amps.

I have an extra one of these I will sale you for $15.00 shipped. Let me know and I can get you some pics. of it.

-Do they have some kind of safeguard from keeping lipos from going to low on voltage? [i heard if they get to low on voltage they are junk and risk explosion] They do and it is called a BEC. The link I posted for you on the Novak switch has a built in BEC. The easiest way to keep track is to be mindful of your usage. I ran the exact same setups as you, all Kcar, and will use one pack all day for practice and warm-up, and then drop in a new pack for the mains. At the price you can afford to have a primary and secondary, especially someone that is driving an MP9...LOL

I know very little about electronic in general, I dont understand any of the hubub about 20c and MAH and all the jazz on the batteries, which is why i've come here. I want everything as safe as possible, and the ease of use to be as best as it can be. Out put rate is not that important for your application as Rx packs draw at a relatively low rate compared to other electric applications where you will be powering a motor, ESC, and servo. Then C ratings really come into play.

thanks in advance everyone![/QUOTE]

here's the pack I use in my truggy box, its a little easier to deal with rather than having 2 seperate batteries...

http://www.teamhelotes.com/catalog/i1056.html

I have two boxes so you only need one for each! Tim at Nitrohouse recommended these to me.

another thing to look at for reciver packs are A123 cells, they are alot more durable and you don't have to run a regulator.;)

I guess I'm missing something because the link you gave is for a 2S lipo rather than a 4S and the truggy box would take a 4S. I assumed you were using 2 of them the same way you would 2 NiMh stick packs or something.

Matt, good catch my friend! I was wondering why they were so cheap now...damn details!:spidey:

Thanks Brother for pointing that out. I would have hated to point someone in the wrong direction.

ok...whew.....thought I was going crazy there for a minute.....:ha::ha:


on another note...whitzrac mentioned A123 cells for receiver packs and I'm currently giving those a try as well. I bought 5 or 6 of the Black and Decker VPX packs (for like $7 a piece on clearance at Wal-Mart), put a servo and balance plug on them and I'm going to give those a go. The are built like a standard battery so they are very durable and they can be charged at a very high rate.....so if you have one go dead you can be ready to go in about 15 minutes from what I've seen so far. They have a very flat discharge curve too so the voltage is pretty constant. Plus you don't need a regulator. I haven't put them in a race situation yet but so far they appear to work pretty well.

And for a charger you might look at the Hyperion 610i. I found it for about $140 online. It has a built in balancer and will charge just about anything, including A123. I have a 610i DUO and love it. I don't know much about the ICE so it may charge A123's as well.

Thankyou to everyone who replied here, all of my questions got answered. I;m going to wait until trinity's I-balance charger comes out, but I AM going Lipo for sure!

i bal
 

has this been released yet? how much

It hasnt come out yet to my knowledge, it will be priced in the 180-200 USD range, and is going to be HOT SEX. Built in balancer and doesnt need a power supply, plus it looks awesome... heres a link:

http://www.teamtrinity.com/shop/item.asp?item=TRI22006

Cant wait!