So are you going to bite the bullet and buy 2 MaxAmps kits?

J

Probably, no one has come up with a better plan. And for the most part if you compare capacity to capacity the prices are pretty similar. If I get the onyx charger which is $50 cheaper I still got to buy a $50 dollar balance adapter, so that is just a wash. And maxamps seems like a good company. I'll probably order one setup so I can get my discount up then order the second, only like another 5% but hey it helps.

I think you will be very happy with the Hyperion chargers with the built in balancer. Don't do what some people have done, when you get your setup look at the volts before you do anything. They should have at lest 7.6 volts. Charge them until your charger drops to 1 amp then stop the charge and dis-charge them at 5 amps down to 7.6 volts. Then charge them all the way up and use them. This is called a soft cycle and should be done before the first time you use them in your Slash. If you are not sure about something stop right there and ask for help. Your going to have so much fun you will have to have yours ASAP

Slash are built tough so they take a lot of abuse. I am concerned running soft wrapped lipo in that environment. I prefer the had cased for increased safety but that is your call. I have three Orions (2 4800, 1 3200,) and one SMC 5000. These all have hard case and plug ins for plus, minus, and the balance tap (single mini plug). I use Ice chargers and Checkpoint balancer. In two years, I have never had any issues with any lipo. The SMC is new but I don't expect any issues with it. You will like the reliability of Lipo and simplicity.

As far as the soft packs are concered... I have 2 Maxamps soft packs that I use off road racing and bashing, and haven't had any problems. I have 6 soft packs for my RC airplane that has seen some BRUTAL crashes and no problems with those either. I'm not tooooo worried about it.

J

I would have to agree with the hard case in a TC were the lipo hangs out on the side. In a truck or buggy the lipo is almost always in the middle and a soft pack should be just fine I would think.

Yeah I feel that my lipos are safe in my off road cars the way they are mounted...expeciakky in the Slash! That sucker is really held in there well.

J

I've been racing with a lipo without the hard case for a couple years . I tape them in a terminator dirt oval car that is pretty fast. I have never damaged one in a crash.

Chargers (I'm thinking 1 for each):

2 x Accucel 6
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...idProduct=7028 @ $40 ea

2 x Power supplies for chargers
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...idProduct=6477 $18 ea (you can also find them cheaper on ebay if you know what to look for)


Batteries:

2x Team Orion hard cased 5000mah

http://www.rcplanet.com/Orion_Platin...p/ori14013.htm $116 ea

~$360, save ~$200 from the maxamp deal...

I have one of the Accucell-6 chargers and its an impressive charger, still learning how much it can do. I was going to post about it cause it's a super deal for the price. It's lipo balance connection is the jst or xh type connection. You'll need adapters for anything else and this seems like it was the kind of complications you expressly wanted to avoid. They are available, just look farther down below the charger.

I got my charger from the USA warehouse and when HC has teh lipos I want I'll order adapters then. In the meantime, charger is just as good for my few remaining NiMH pacs.

So tazeat with that I would need an adapter to plug it into the slash right? Do I need a lipo bag? Does the charger include the adapter I need to hook up to that battery?

Hmm didn't think about that, the plug probably does not come on the charger it comes w/ deans, so you will likely have to either

A) get two male deans plugs and change over the truck to deans. And instead of getting the battery w/ traxxas get the one w/ deans instead (rcplanet has them too).

B) get one male traxxas plug and one female deans plug (or I guess you could just snip off the deans and solder the traxxas plug on to the charger) and make an adapter for the charger. I think they sell deans to traxxas adapters somewhere too.

Pair of plugs are <$5 didn't factor that in.

As for a lipo bag that's up to you, you don't NEED one, but its not a bad idea. The hard cased lipos that are ROAR ok'ed (Team Orion batteries are) require that if they "explode" from being overcharged or whatnot they only vent smoke, no flame can be visible in order to pass... With that said I wouldn't charge them on the carpet of your living room floor while you go shopping, but personally I wouldn't have any problems doing it on a solid table under supervision.

A lipo bag is an essential if you are charging within your house, a soft cell lipo is a very dangerous thing, I personally would never run a soft cell lipo in any sort of vehicle, for the extra money a hard cell as well as a lipo bag is worth it. If one of these cells swells in the middle of a run and you continue to pull on it there is a significant risk of it failing resulting in a fire, in which your vehicle is basically a write off as a lipo fire burns extremely hot and is very hard to extinguish. Having seen multiple lipo fires the results aren't pretty, we even had one customer lose his entire workshop due to the initial fire and then the resulting corrosive effects from the chemical within the battery. If you insist on soft cell lipos at least get the bag which will mitigate the possible damage

I agree with this from what I have read, with a soft cell, definitely get one... With a hard cased cell like the Team Orions, it's not a bad idea.