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Quality batteries for racing.

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Quality batteries for racing.

Old 11-26-2023, 07:17 PM
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Default Quality batteries for racing.

I have done stock class 17.5 offroad racing for a few years off and on over the last decade. I am now doing 17.5 carpet racing as well as onroad parking lot 21.5 and 25.5 racing. 2S hard case batteries. I am ANAL about storing my batteries at 3.85v they are never more than a few hours at charge. in all this time I have NEVER had a single battery that didnt puff in less than a year. I have tried several brands. SMC, Hobby king, and some $$$packs in the past I forget the name to. in that same time I have had 30 soft pack air batteries and I maybe lose a couple to puffing. my latest batch of HK batteries are all puffed after maybe 4 months.

does anyone make a hard case pack that isnt total dog S$%^
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Old 11-26-2023, 07:46 PM
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Hmmm I never store mine I only keep them around 3.8-9
U get what u pay for both smc and hk r on the lower side
Plus lots of factors some pack case's r smaller so a little puffing will happen
Charging to much or not a good charger


Nitro pro or nothing bro

Last edited by Goof; 11-27-2023 at 11:41 PM.
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Old 11-26-2023, 08:10 PM
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What temperatures are they being exposed to? Storing them in a hot area is far worse than leaving it charged for too long. Leaving them in a hot car for a few hours for example can be quite harmful.
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Old 11-26-2023, 09:11 PM
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Originally Posted by slappomatt
I have done stock class 17.5 offroad racing for a few years off and on over the last decade. I am now doing 17.5 carpet racing as well as onroad parking lot 21.5 and 25.5 racing. 2S hard case batteries. I am ANAL about storing my batteries at 3.85v they are never more than a few hours at charge. in all this time I have NEVER had a single battery that didnt puff in less than a year. I have tried several brands. SMC, Hobby king, and some $$$packs in the past I forget the name to. in that same time I have had 30 soft pack air batteries and I maybe lose a couple to puffing. my latest batch of HK batteries are all puffed after maybe 4 months.

does anyone make a hard case pack that isnt total dog S$%^
If you're losing nearly all your packs to puffing, you are abusing your packs quite badly. You're either subjecting them to extreme temperatures or you're discharging them below 2.9v every run.

Frankly speaking, it's physically impossible to lose so many packs in such a short amount of time through normal usage.

Please revise your battery usage habits before buying any more packs.
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Old 11-27-2023, 12:28 AM
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Originally Posted by Sabin
If you're losing nearly all your packs to puffing, you are abusing your packs quite badly. You're either subjecting them to extreme temperatures or you're discharging them below 2.9v every run.

Frankly speaking, it's physically impossible to lose so many packs in such a short amount of time through normal usage.

Please revise your battery usage habits before buying any more packs.
Or they're using really high charge rates.
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Old 11-27-2023, 02:51 AM
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Originally Posted by gigaplex
Or they're using really high charge rates.
Which many would also consider a form of abuse.

Something is definitely not right when all your LiPos puff, especially after such a short time.
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Old 11-27-2023, 06:13 AM
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Scrap your charger and charge leads.

Balance boards and plugs don't last forever, and easily corrode, giving false readings. There's only one viable charger in racing for a reason.

I suspect crash damage as well.

Consider switching to brands your competition uses.
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Old 11-27-2023, 07:55 AM
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I no longer race 1/10 stock, but the only battery I grew to trust was the Trinity White Carbon series.

There's a guy over here who did a bunch of comparison testing among budget brands to consider as well:
https://www.rctalk.com/forum/threads...9/post-1368906
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Old 11-27-2023, 08:29 AM
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That comparison test shows that guy charges at 30 amps and discharges at 35 amps. Just pointing tat out since people say never to charge at higher amps. I will agree that 30 amps seems a bit high but I10-20 amps seems fine as long as battery health is being monitored and the battery isn't being physically abused.
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Old 11-27-2023, 08:56 AM
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If you want to be competitive in stock racing, then you need to pump your batteries, I pump mine at 40A to get the lowest possible IR, more info here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blWFtoiqEaE
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Old 11-27-2023, 09:25 AM
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Charging batteries at that rate needs to stop. It's outdated information that unfortunately keeps circling around for some reason. Lipos are not NIMH batteries; where you could get better performance by "pumping".

The better packs are able to hold a higher voltage under load and have a lower IR from the factory.
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Old 11-27-2023, 09:45 AM
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Originally Posted by Sabin
Charging batteries at that rate needs to stop. It's outdated information that unfortunately keeps circling around for some reason. Lipos are not NIMH batteries; where you could get better performance by "pumping".

The better packs are able to hold a higher voltage under load and have a lower IR from the factory.
Click on the link I provided above, that guy originally charged his packs at 1C where I recommended for him to pump his packs instead and he saw drastic improvement in his IR findings across the board, however there were some lower quality brands that did not see as drastic of an improvement as others which is proof that brand of battery matters, especially when pumping to get max possible performance.

I love it when my competitors refuse to pump, then I get the advantage
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Old 11-27-2023, 01:08 PM
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Originally Posted by billdelong
If you want to be competitive in stock racing, then you need to pump your batteries, I pump mine at 40A to get the lowest possible IR, more info here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blWFtoiqEaE
You don't need to do that.
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Old 11-27-2023, 04:09 PM
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Originally Posted by gigaplex
You don't need to do that.
agreed that 90% of people do not NEED this. People may want all the speed they can get but at the end of the day not everyone can handle it effectively. Set up should always be the number thing. Imagine every speed secret but your alignment and camber is out of wack. What most people probably need to do is time and gear their motor effectively, like in that video. Get the most out of your motor before destroying your battery before no real gains. I laugh at all the low fixed timed motors in 17.5 blinky. That’s a way bigger advantage than 30 up 30 down.
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Old 11-27-2023, 08:19 PM
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I usually charge at 1C sometimes as high as 2c but its rare. they have been stored in my garage which gets hot in the summer. but my air packs are there too and they dont puff. the latest 2 packs I stored in my bedroom to make sure they dont get hot and they still puffed. I really dont want to have to spend over $100 for a 2s battery. where can you even buy a 2s trinity stick pack? its looking like they stopped selling batteries.
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