if i have the money then that is what i am going with.

Here is the short summary,
Take 15' of 18 guage wire. Connect to a car/deep cycle batter and connect the other side to a 3s A123 pack. wait 15 min disconnect and you have a charged pack.

Can not get cheaper and simpler then that.

Highflier

PS. By alterering the length of the wire you can get charge times down to 5-10 minutes

i dont think i would be able to trust that...

I wouldn't trust that... unless you had a power analyzer on it...

ya idk what that is but if i had something measuring mah and volts i would trust it... but idk.

I have done it with a Astro Watt meter. I started with 20' and have shortened it to 15' which gave me the results I wanted. View the thread I posted if you want to learn more. I works just fine and there are many that will tell you that. Just the same, If you don't feel compfortable with it then don't do it. I just wanted all to know. I enjoy charging virtually as fast as I discharge. in my planes.. I charge faster then aI discharge.. :: All I need is 2 batteries and I can fly all day long :)

Highflier

that is true i wouldnt mind a never ending runtime (have multiple batteries... charging then running charging then running.)

yeah, ur absolutely right.. but that wouldn't work for guys that run higher voltage.. unless you had more car batteries... :lol:

Ahh....., you can set packs up a 3s pack and use a harness to serial them for higher voltage.
I use 2 3s packs for 6s, But you could go to 9s or 12s also.

Highflier
PS. Yes you can drain a car battery pretty quick if you are going through the watts.

props high flier, I believe the saying goes...

I have done so much, for so long, with so little. Now I can do almost anything, with absolutly nothing :)

Just read through this thread, but I'm still confused at to where I can buy A123 packs that are already built? I was looking to run a MM and a 8 or 9 XL on 4S LiPo but I don't race. Would A123 cells be better for a first timer? I'm running NiMh cells through the BL E-Revo and will be converting mine soon, which is why I'm asking about these cells.

you can get them at

123racing.com i believe for already built ones.

they are like 220 for 2 3s1p packs and a charger. the charger will get them done in about 15 min. anxd then the runtime will be about 7-10 per pack.

they are REALLY nice as long as you can find a way to mount them. i had them in an older bl rustler and the power was insane

i was running 6s1p with them also in my revo and it had SOOOOO much more power than my 16cell nimh batteries.

it is amazing what these cells can do. they are probably not the best for racing though because of the weight issue.

Well I like keeping my Revo lightweight, so I'll probably go with LiPos.

The only way A123 makes sense if if you buy 10 cells via dewalt on Ebay.
It will cost 10.00 per cell if you shop well.

If you were going 4s lipo, go 5s A123
So a 5s2p would cost you just over 100.00

But now you would have to find a way to charge them.. as cheap fast systems are for 3s or 6s

Maybe Lipo's is the way to go.

Highflier