[Dannie J]

Looking for some info,I am thinking about going electric but I know next to nothing about lipo batterys and chargers. Could someone explain what all the letters & numbers mean, charge rates, etc. Or show me where to go to find out more.
thanks.

[imported_Semple]

I will try to explain as best as I can.

Usually you see something like this:
ProTek R/C 2S "Supreme Power" Li-Poly 30C Hard Case Battery Pack (7.4V/3800mAh)

The 2S, 3S, 4S, 5S, 6S, etc. is the number of cells the battery has, with the 'S' meaning series. So a 2S is 2 cells wired in series.

The 30C or whichever number is the burst rate. It basically tells you how much power the battery is capable of discharging in a burst. Sometimes you will see another number with the C beside it that says something like "constant". That is the amount of power that the battery will discharge constantly. You give it a burst of 30C, but it will eventually settle down to the 20C constant, for example. I believe C = capacity, meaning 30C is 30 times the battery's capacity for a few seconds before dropping back down to its constant output.


The 7.4 is the nominal voltage of the battery. Lipo cells have a nominal voltage of 3.7 volts. Thus, a 1 cell lipo is 3.7V, a 2 cell is 7.4V, a 3 cell is 11.1V, 4 cell is 14.8, etc.

3800mAh is obviously the capacity of the pack.

[Pipeous]

if you see 2s4p then it's a 2 series, 4 parallel setup. the voltage will be 7.4v and say the amperage is 4400 mah, then it has 4 X1100 mah to get that in parallel.

the c rating is normal output it can handle constant and sometimes they show a second c rating which is the burst as explained about.

a 5000 mah battery with a 20c rating is capable of 100 amps of continuous draw with 30c burst allowing a 150 mah short draw.

lipos can safely be charged at 1c. so a 5000 mah battery, no matter how many cels 2s, 3s, 5s, 10s etc can ve charged at 5 amps on charger, 2500 mah at 2.5 amp. some newer lipos can be charged at higher rates but unless it says so on the battery, charge at 1c

[Dannie J]

Thanks, I think I got the gist of it now. Time to do some lipo battery resherch.

[segmentfault]

Great explanation John!

[Dannie J]

How do these lipos sound...

7.4v 5000 mah 30c 2cell lipo, on e-bay $18.00+ s&h

or 11.1v 3000mah 35c 3cell lipo , $27.00 for 2 +s&h

See them in E-bay store (cyberport88 tell me what you's think.

[imported_Semple]

If you want a lipo cheaper than SMC, Orion, Trinity, Checkpoint, etc. I would go with the Zippy hardcase lipos from HobbyCity.

[rdswper]

Originally Posted by Semple

If you want a lipo cheaper than SMC, Orion, Trinity, Checkpoint, etc. I would go with the Zippy hardcase lipos from HobbyCity.

X2!! I have four of the Zippy Flightmax 2s 30C 5000mah hardcase lipo's. They are great performers. I also have 2 5s 5000mah 20c. The 20C's get a little warm, but they work good.

Kev

[xxgg2]

Just wondering,,,

What is the advantage of hardcase packs?
What are the pro & cons compare to non hardcase packs?

Thank you.

[Narly1]

Originally Posted by xxgg2

Just wondering,,,

What is the advantage of hardcase packs?
What are the pro & cons compare to non hardcase packs?

Thank you.

Advantage: Hardcases afford the pack a greater level of damage resistance, specifically puncture damage. It is becoming the standard that you must have hardcase packs for racing. ROAR sanctioned events have this rule. So does the group that I rock-crawl with......

Disadvantage: No way to make a quick visual inspection of the pack to determine if a cell has "puffed up" or not. You would have to take the case apart. They are also going to be slightly heavier

Narly1