Lipos off Shelves
 

How long should you leave it till you charge the lipos that you buy from suppliers for the 1st time? Is there anyway in telling how long they have sit on the shelf for? And do they get fully charged before getting sent to distributors?
I bought some Lipos that took 1 1/2 weeks to get here and they have been sitting in my downstairs for 1 week now as still waiting for harness to come in for my charger.

ive heard dont let them sit for more than a month without balancing them, just more a safty tho i think, i usually put mine on stand alone balance after a week

Ok, hope my harness arrives this week as got no idea on how long they were on the shelf at the store before I bought them

I dont think it matters really... I assume the manufacturers ship them at 40-60% state of charge, which is apparently the safest storage charge (I think thats a fairly safe assumption), and I read that you can store them for over 12 months like that with no noticeable loss of capacity or charge. I think I got all that from battery university website.. not sure though.

^^ what he said.

Lipos will last longest in longer term storage if charged to 50% instead of 100%. From what i've read when you store them for a long time at 100% they degrade faster (sort of like using a laptop always plugged with the battery fully charged and never letting the battery run down - manufacturers recommend unplugging the battery and just using AC)

I've never heard of balancing cells weekly when your not using them. If they go that far out of balance just sitting there I would say get a better battery.

i just do it as a precaution, ive heard of peoples cells puffing in three months, must have been bad cells, and i do it weekly they are not really out if balance maybe 10 mins on min. drain

Not sure if the cells going out of balance would cause them to puff. I have had cells puff while sitting, just put it to the fact they were crap cells. If the cells go out of balance while sitting, that usually means that the cells were not matched very well, or the pack has seen heavy use.

I went out of country for what I was told was going to be 3wks and wound up being gone almost 3 months. I had stored 7 lipos at 50% charge and every one of them had puffed a cell - the cell on top the way they were sitting.

If I don't use mine every month, I discharge it at 1C, then charge it. I prefer to use them when I can however, which has been a real prob thanks to work lately.

Mind sharing what brand/model they were?

The only ones I've ever had puff just sitting were the ones marked "Firefox" sold by FDM. Never had a problem with my TP or Apogee packs. I've got an Apoge pack that's nearing 3 years old and it works fine still - it's been sitting in the closet now for over a year with no problems.

After I had 7 3700mAh FDM cell puff in storage I check all my batteries once a week regardless just to be on the safe side, but this is just for puffing not to charge or balance.

I just picked up the TP 1010C charger and I love the fact that it has a 50% charge mode - perfect for storage. And when I do a balancing charge with the 210V balancer hooked up to the data port on the charger I know I am storing a perfectly balanced 50% charged pack. :)

Three were Integy - 2 2S 1500s and a 3S 1500, these were 20C rated and were noticeably better batts. The rest were 2S Dualsky lipos -1700s that were 15C rated.

The were all about 3yr old and the integy's had been thru almost 100cycles. The others even more. I ran my 18th scales with these in various configs. The 1700s wired in parallel would give my Vendetta almost an hour of uninterrupted run time.

Guess someone is going to tell me I got what I paid for.....

Nah, I've got a couple of Dualsky 1700's as well. I haven't cycled mine very much for the time I've had them though, but I've had them probably 18-24mos now. However, now you've got me thinking twice about buying any more. I may just have to go with the Flightpower EVOLITE V2 1600's instead.

Or...... Go with TPs..... I have TP prolite cells for my 1:18 that are 2 years old and have never had a problem with them.

I have to say that initially I loved the MA packs (which are great for about 6 months until they start to suck) and was very impressed by their ad that all cells were factory fresh.

Recently I've tried a Neu pack and a newer TP eXtreme V2 pack, and I ave to say both rock - but the Neu pack hasn't stood up to the performance of the TP pack.

The TP packs of sufficient capacity won't fit in my Mini Quake. The 1320 pack is the only one that will fit and it's only 13C. I'm running a Permax 480 sized BL motor in there, so I really want higher than a 17A continuous rating.

Can you find a better pack that will fit your dimensions? I think you'll be fine with that in a 1:18 scale. I used to run a 3S 1320 in a Mini-T that would pull in the 30-40 Amp range with a mamba 6800 motor and never had a problem.

LOL...this isn't even close to a little Mamba :rofl:

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXJCK1&P=7

The Flightpower EVOLITE V2 1600 should fit without a problem...just haven't bought any yet. It's 32A continuous and 48A burst.

Are you kidding me look at the specs:

SPECS: Length: 1.95" (49.5mm)
Diameter: 1.18" (30mm)
Shaft diameter: .125" (3.2mm)
Shaft length: .49" (12.5mm)
Weight: 4.13oz (110 grams)
Input voltage: 6-7 cells NiCd/NiMH and 2 cells LiPo
RPM Per Volt (kV): 4,180
Max. Current: 40A
Max. RPM: 55,000
No load current: 2.1A
Maximum Power: 300+ watts
Current @ Max. Efficiency: 28A/83%

Are you going to be running this on 2S or 3S? At 4000kv the should be no problem at all running the TP packs?

The prob is the Vendetta and MQ-SE's batt compartment. The DualSkys fit like they were made for it. Most batts are too long and/or too wide - no bigger than 33.8mm wide x 89.9mm long. I can (and have) made extenders to let me run thicker (2 -1700s is a killer combo) and the integy's are a touch tight but fit and don't move. Integys also fit real well in the m18mt and my m18. They're short and def overrated as far as mah goes (more like 1200) and much lighter than nimhs!

Most everything is too long unless you want to run 700-800mah which I don't. I've just found the 1345 FP EVO will fit, but can't find them in stock anywhere. Apogee has talked about making purpose built 1/18 but never delivered - think their shortest is 105mm.

skellyo - I replaced mine with another pr of DS 1700 that were labeled Vampower I got from Jaime at Starluck. They are the older, higher rated ones with lower C rating. The newer (same physical size) are 1300s, but 25C rated. Airplane guys love em! I plan one getting a pr of these as well as soon as I can catch them in stock.

Just because it's a lower kv doesn't mean much. It's 10mm larger in diameter and 10mm longer than a Mamba motor. It's the same size as a Feigao 380S motor.

The TP 1320 pack burst rating is only 26A, which isn't even 75% of the max current rating of this motor. I would much prefer to purchase a pack that is actually spec'd high enough to have some headroom.

I believe rschoi is running the Dualsky 1300's and likes them pretty well. However, I think I'd just rather go with the Flightpowers if I can find them since I already have a couple of V-Balancers and it would save me having to make balancing adapters or anything of that sort.

I have the balancer needed for dualskys, but the rest of my stuff is hyperion. I'm waiting on a pr of Neu 5ah 30C batts (G2R) now so I guess I'm going to be getting more adapters.

I see a 1500, but not a 1600 FP? What are you doing to run a batt 105mm long in a MQ?

Interesting, where to buy? TH isn't carrying that capacity and the places listed don't seem to be on net.

The newer XPower Dual Sky lipos are 25C rated but 1300mah - .5 amp more current if they can really deliver. Been out long enough, someone should know if the ratings realistic?

I know FPs have a better rep, will look around some more before I buy. Thanks

I haven't found a place to buy the 2S 1600 pack yet.

Try here:
http://www.clubhobbies.com/index.php...ducts_id=76260

or here:
http://www.tjdmodels.com/e-commerce/...productId=2235

or here:
http://www.pivotalhobbies.com/sc/hom...table=Y&cat=80

I just threw the model EVOLITE-16002S into a Google search.

Thanks Vintage...looks like the first one may work. The other two are not in the US.

Ditto, Vintage!

I just ordered a pair - 1600 2s and a 1600 3S. I hope this is one of those sites that won't let you place order unless item is in stock. Price was list and since I'm not a member, the S&H was a bit of a ding. Now, off to look for adapters for the balance connectors.

That was almost too easy, 2nd stop, 2 adapters later and I'm set for both the EVOLites and the Neu 5ah batts I bought few days back. Impressed by the flexibility of my 0606i hyperion charger, liking it more and more!

Even though the TP packs won't work for you, that was the same problem I used to have buying the TP Prolite packs - always had to order them from DraganFly Innovations up in Canada.

That was at least until I discovered rclipos.com - Pat over there is really great.

Duster: Let us know how it goes with ordering from that site, and also how you like the batts when you get them in.

Def, let you know. I tried to call to confirm stock, but they must have been closed already. I'll see what order status looks like tomorrow. I sur ehope they actually had them in stock!

Follow up. After two days my order is still shown as "processing" and the phone goes unanswered even during prime time. I have not left a msg, but will today. Oobvious this is not a brick and mortar lhs, but an internet store that did not have them in stock. I need to find out what kind of wait I'm looking at for them to actually get the batts.

FollowUp #2
 

Its been 5 days and my order is still shown as "processing". What is even less encouraging is I called and left message in response to their recorded msg that said they would call back last Fri about 4:30pm. Today I emailed them and asked what kind of wait they thought I was looking at to get the batteries.

So far, no reply of any kind.

I went back to FP site and they do show links to places selling their batts. It must be out of date cause the wide majority of shops sites listed as hobby shops that sell their products, don't show them anywhere on their site, not any FP products at all. The few that do have FP batts never have these 1600s.

Are these that new??

Meanwhile the DS are in stock. I'm giving them another week - to get in touch, if no contact, I'll cancel the order and start looking elsewhere.

A guy on one18th just picked up some from here:

http://www.rchobbysports.com/index.p...oducts_id=2856

They may be a shop you can actually get a hold of on the phone.

skellyo - Thanks Looks like I got their last 1600 2s.

I still want a 1600 in 3S, so I'm still looking. I don't understand why TH doesn't have these?

I'm not sure why Tower doesn't have them. For a long time, they never showed the new Trakpower packs on their site either and the answer I got was that they don't carry every product from each manufacturer. I thought this was really strange since they are supposed to be the US distributor for Flightpower.

I'm going to ask them if they can get the 3S for me and point out this is potentially the best/biggest batt that you can put in some of their most popular 18th scales. I can understand not carrying everything, but at least make informed decisions on what to carry.

RCHOBBYSPORTS - much better to deal with, I've already gotten 3 emails from them, thanks for registering, order acknowledgement and an order update. I'll ask them about the 3S version.