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Old 2009.03.17, 08:51 PM   #1
soulstice
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Lipo Battery and Charger Recommendations

I'm getting back into some of the larger scales, mainly 1/18 and 1/10. Looking for some recommendations on a charger and some brands of batteries.

I'll mostly be bashing but do intend to do some racing so I'm willing to spend.
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Old 2009.03.18, 02:09 AM   #2
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Are you planning on a multi purpose charger? I have a ThunderPower charger that works fine (1 to 4cell up to 2500mAh) but li-po is all it can do.

There are a lot of li-po choices so you're best bet is to match your requirements for discharge rate and budget.
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Old 2009.04.09, 05:45 PM   #3
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I plan to run 1/18 or 1/10 off road chassis. Haven't really decided yet which way to go but I'm leaning towards an SC10 or Slash. It'll definitely be paired with a brushless motor.

Discharge rate I have no idea what that means in real terms.

Budget . . I'm ready to spend up to $150 or a little more if necessary on the charger.

I think the things i want are flexibility in the charge rate, discharging functionality, and balancing. I suppose not having to carry around a separate power supply would be more convenient. My knowledge is pretty remedial. It's surprising how little information is out there about the details of lipos and chargers.

After digging around i've heard a few names thrown around
Triton
Accucell Turnigy
Hyperion
Duratrax ICE

It'd be nice if there was a lipo charger shoot out article or something like that so I can make a good decision. I just don't want to blow this kind of money and regret my purchase in a few months.
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Old 2009.04.09, 06:02 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by soulstice View Post
I plan to run 1/18 or 1/10 off road chassis. Haven't really decided yet which way to go but I'm leaning towards an SC10 or Slash. It'll definitely be paired with a brushless motor.

Discharge rate I have no idea what that means in real terms.

Budget . . I'm ready to spend up to $150 or a little more if necessary on the charger.

I think the things i want are flexibility in the charge rate, discharging functionality, and balancing. I suppose not having to carry around a separate power supply would be more convenient. My knowledge is pretty remedial. It's surprising how little information is out there about the details of lipos and chargers.

After digging around i've heard a few names thrown around
Triton
Accucell Turnigy
Hyperion
Duratrax ICE

It'd be nice if there was a lipo charger shoot out article or something like that so I can make a good decision. I just don't want to blow this kind of money and regret my purchase in a few months.
The two I looked at seem to be the most poopular, the Duratrax ice and the Triton 2. I went for the Triton 2 because it does up to 5s lipos, just in case I wanted to try a high voltage 1/10 brushless setup.

For me, the only thing that the Ice has is it can charge up to 8amps, but I was fine with only charging up to 7amps which the Triton 2 does.
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Old 2009.04.09, 08:39 PM   #5
cowboysir
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Quote:
Originally Posted by soulstice View Post
Discharge rate I have no idea what that means in real terms.
discharge rate is a rating you'll find on lithium polymer cells in a "C" rating. C refers to the Capacity of the cell and the number that corresponds to it will be the amount of capacity discharge.

For example, most 4000mAh packs would usually come with a 30C discharge rate...30 x 4000mAh=120000mAh (aka 120amp discharge)

This number is important to check into when pairing your cells with a High powered brushless system. Most BL ESC's will give you a draw rate guideline so it's good to match or over rate your discharge capabilities of your li-po's. This way you'll avoid stressing your cells and motor/esc combo.

As for charging these packs, you'll need to find a charger that can manage a 1C charge rate for the packs you'll end up buying. Most li-po's only charge at a 1C rate so a 4000mAh pack needs at most a 4amp charge rate and the appropriate voltage amount.

As for budget, you'll probably need to give yourself a little more spending leeway. Most big mAh/C packs are expensive.

Hope I've helped.
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