Lipo differences

[SimonN]

I'm going to be buying a couple of new Lipo's for my Trex in the next few weeks. There seems to be a vast price difference in those that are available and I wondered if anybody has any experience of cheap Lipos and can compare them to the named brand ones? The cheap ones I'm referring to are the ones on fleabay, normally from Hong Kong or China and are about a third of the price of my local model shop (after postage, possible VAT etc). I'm normally a believer of the "you get what you pay for" theory, is this the same these for Lipos?

Anybody tried both and can give me a direct comparison?

Cheers
Simon

[chappers]

yeah keep away from the cheepos, tryed them, useless!

[SimonN]

Thanks for your reply Chappers. One other question though and sorry for being dumb but... What is the "C" rating quoted on batteries . I'm guessing that higher is better (judging by price) but is there any difference for a novice like myself? I'm figuring that by the time I attempt 3D etc any Lipo I buy now will be past it's best. Or is there more to it than that?

Thanks
Simon

[Thomas]

Noooooooo, not a LiPo thread.

Ash and Phil are banned form this one!!!

[trvo]

Can I be banned too?

Trev

[Smoothound]

Bog off you :P


For a Trex you really need something that is around 2000mAh and supposedly good for 20C, 15C at a minimum and that won't last long once you get more proficient.

Main thing is be nice to what you buy, don't charge too fast, don't discharge to more than 80% and don't damage the pack

Best fitting packs are FlightPower/PolyQuest/Hyperion/ThunderPower, these are all made from cells from the same factory assembled in different plants and to different skill/tolerance levels.

There are othe packs you can use but are not as good fitting plus you really need to invest in a bespoke charging system as well to get the best out of them, these are made by Kokam.

[Smoothound]

Can I be banned too?

Trev

Nah, just ignore him Trev

[trvo]

lol, it's ok, I know nothing about the rex 450 lipos so I'm out of this one anyway .

Trev

[Ashley Davis]

However, the kokam packs will last about three times longer, easily paying for that bespoke charging system that you dont actually have to buy to use those packs or get the best out of them
It's just a bespoke balance connector and I believe all the other packs force you into on system or another as well, so I don't think it's fair to say that just Kokam packs force you into a particular charging system....all packs force you into one system or another, none of them are common and give you the freedom to use any pack you want with your selected brand of charger or lipo balancer.

oh, sorry, I'm banned

[Smoothound]

Not strictly true

My V Balancer will charge/balance Flightpower, ThunderPower, Align and some crappy Emax packs I use in my planks with the cables that come with it. I'm not sure about Kokam as I no longer use any...

[Ashley Davis]

the FMA charger does kokam, thunder power and polyquest style adapters with the addition of a little adapter you can get for the charger.....and you don't need to buy a balancer as the charger already does that.

[robgt]

Having used most of the brands mentioned so far in this thread, I personally settled on the Kokam HD cells for a few reasons.
1. They can be fast charged (using the Cell/Balancepro charger) in 20 minutes which means I get more flying done.
2. They last longer in terms of cycle life. No two ways about it.
3. They have plenty of punch. ([ame="http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=3148963433899451497&hl=en-GB"]short video of me flying my 4S trex[/ame])
4. They are a true rated pack - sadly, some cell manufacturers over-rate their cells. Kokam packs that say they are 20C have been independently proven to be 20C. Other cells have been independently proven to not be what they claim. This is why other cells die faster.

I am already getting much better cost per flight performance out of my kokam packs than I saw out of my previous TP and FP packs.

This is just my experience - I hope it helps.
Cheers,
Rob

[Thomas]

I have FlightPower packs in various planks and Trex's and they've always performed well for me, never had any reason to change - but then I don't push my packs that hard and I keep flight times short.

FlightPower are accessible, have always been helpful and sorted problems quickly, not just with LiPos but with other electric flight stuff.

[trvo]

FlightPower are accessible, have always been helpful and sorted problems quickly, not just with LiPos but with other electric flight stuff.

so you are saying you have problems not only with Flightpower lipos but also their other electric stuff?

Trev

[Smoothound]

It's probably a good job that FMA/Kokam stuff is so bloody good, with its limited UK appeal, chronic overpricing and limited outlets I'm sure the backup is pretty much the same...limited