Maxamps Lipo
 

Any opinions on those Maxamps Lipo cells??
I like the numbers, and the prices are nice, too.
I'm looking for 4S and 5S setups, btw.


Thanks
DAF

I think MetalMan uses some, or has at least planned to buy from them in the past. Either way, he'd know more than me. :)

Oh, thanks for tellin' me! :L:

Yeah, I just barely understand the Lipo stuff, but get all confused by the number jumbles.

I have 2 Maxamps packs, but they are of the older cell version. I made one pack, and the other one I reassembled after part of it got damaged (so, I basically made both). They are good cells, and the newer ones should definitely be better.

But how are their prices? They look a bit steep to me, but I'm not really up to date with the Lipo scene.

They are pretty good for what you get. Of course you can get lower prices, but then you would be paying for lower performance cells. Besides, Maxamps is pretty good in terms of customer service.

are the 6000 packs descent? how long would it take to charge 5s 6000mah pack from maxamps? is 130 good for the 2s?

Most Lipos out right now charge at 1C. This means that at 6amps for a 6000mah pack, or 4amps for a 4000mah pack, etc. It will take about an hour to do a 90% charge, and up to about 30mins more to complete the charge.

Too bad their 3S packs are that long.

The 2S2P packs (4200mAh) sound very interesting!

Yeah, and $76 is about the same as a high end GP3700 or IB3800 pack or comparable others, just put two of those in series......oh man......:D

MetalMan, for a ball park figure, how much did the 3s pack you have cost?

The 3s2p pack of 2250mah cells (3s, 4500mah) didn't come as a pack. They charge extra for assembly, so even though it was my first LiPo, I still assembled it myself (and you thought you were cheap!). I think I paid about ~$100-120 for all 6 cells, or somewhere around there. Austin (owner) also gave me a little bit of a discount. But this cost doesn't really matter anymore. Maxamps has a new LiPo company (Tronics, in China) that they get their cells from.

How hard is it to make up lipo packs? Since they getting them out of china does that mean they are better or worse?

Making Lipo packs isn't too bad, as long as there is a nickel strip soldered to the positive aluminum terminal (if there isn't, then you need aluminum solder, which is tricky to work with). The tabs can also be tricky to get put together properly.
Them being made in China doesn't make them worse, it just makes them less expensive.

What does the one from max amp usually come with? If they come right I may get me some and try them. Put them together and such.

They come with nickel strips welded to the positive side. The negative tabs are always nickel, so you don't need to worry about those. One must excercise extreme caution when soldering with Lipo. I have gotten a lot of shorts while building the packs, but fortunately haven't had any problems with that. Also, you have to be careful with the heat on the tabs because too much heat can ruin the seal around the tab and basically destroy the cell... You also don't want to bend the tabs too much because they can tear.

What would you suggest? I want a couple of 2S packs and some 3S packs. (so I can run 4S, 5S and 6S combos)
I just don't like the lenght of Maxamps 3S pack. What should I get??

Edit: Nevermind. I just found their Car Packs! 4000mAh, verious voltages, and nice price tags.
http://www.maxamps.com/index.html?lmd=38629.674456

Mike, would you mind an order at Maxamps??

In case you want to be able to charge 5s packs (which as you know the ICE won't do), here is a very inexpensive, but great looking charger:
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXKSY1&P=ML

5s at up to 5 amps! That's 105watts at the highest point! And it can do 14 NiMh cells. Once I get the cash, I think I will get this charger!

will it condition the batteries?

It can cycle NiCd/NiMh for up to 5 cycles. But with 6 cells it can only discharge at a max of about 0.80amps. Basically, this charger can't do any sort of battery conditioning. I think it should be used strictly as a battery charger.

Metalman, is this charger really good? I was about to buy the ICE, untill I saw your post. Is this a CC/CV charger Ihave 5S lipo, so if I buy the ICE then i have to charge the battery two times. So what do ICE have that this charger dont have? ?

have you considered the astroflight?

Ok, I just read about this charger in few forums. Many ppl are happy with this charger. It has some very nice features. Looking at the instruction sheet it appears that you set battery capacity, not charge current while in Li-Po mode. Does this mean that if I have a 3700ma Li-Po pack, I can't charge it at less than the 1C rate?
1C is the maximum charge rate, so I'm thinking that charging at less than maximum might increase the life span of the packs. Don't think I'm alone on that thought. At home I'm in no rush, so why not charge at a lesser rate.

By the way, astroflight is not a CC/CV. Im looking for a CC/CV coz its better to charge you battery with this.

I haven't heard any reviews on it yet. But if you have, and they are good, then that is good :L:. If you set the charger so that the battery's capacity is 3700mah, then it will charge at 3.7amps. You could just set it to a lower capacity, and it will charge slower. But this could be a problem, as the charger might not allow you to put more back into the battery than whatever you select for the battery's capacity.

The ICE has A LOT of features that this charger does not. Perhaps that is why there is a $40 difference. For starters, the ICE has a display that's about 8 times larger (it's a dot matrix display, the Multiplex's is just a 2-line). The ICE can show a graph of charge/discharge, which is an awesome feature IMO. It has a built in fan for doing high cell/high current charging/discharging. It has a 10 model memory, and can do 10 consecutive cycles for NiMh/NiCd. It can discharge up to 10amps, and charge up to 8 amps. It is easier to navigate because it has a nice wheel. It has a brushed motor break-in feature that can be used as a variable voltage power supply (or even as a BEC for use on the workbench). I think that's about it. Now, the only downsides of the ICE (IMO) are that it can only charge up to 4s Lipo and 10 NiMh/NiCd cells. If it could do more cells even for $20 more, it would be the single most popular charger on the market.

You are correct about the Astroflight 109. It is a "pulse" charger, not at all a CC/CV. If this charging algorithm were better than CC/CV, then there would be more chargers on the market that use it (it is probably the only one that does). CC/CV has to be a more popular method for a reason.

can anybody provide a little more info on this charger? http://h1071118.hobbyshopnow.com/pro...prod=TMEXTRLWM

That's interesting! It can be hooked in-line with your car's battery and controller to tell you the voltage of the batteries, the amps that the motor is pulling, etc. It is a variable voltage power supple (1-12v). It can charge 1-10 Lipo cells at up to 8amps.

is it worth it? does anybody know if its a cc/cv? will it condition the batteries?

It doesn't say that it is a CC/CV charger, but it probably is. By "conditioning the batteries", what do you mean?

will it use the taps to charge the batteries so that each individual cell is charged to the same voltage for longer life?

It can. You need the male JST connector though. And then you set the charger to 1 cell, and it'll do it.

thanks! will it take longer to charge them like that?

Well, if you have to charge each individual cell it will take longer! Each cell will take as long to charge as the whole pack would. I suggest that you charge to about 4.10v/cell with the pack connected as a whole (or 4.15v), and then fully charge each cell separately after about 5 runs. Depending on the number of cells you run, it could be time consuming. But this is better for the pack in terms of longevity and safety, so it is well worth it IMO. Or, if you have extra cash to spend, just get a balancer and hook it up while the pack is charging.

If any of you are interested in buying for maxamps, I am sponsered ny them and can get you a discount on then for you. I raced all seaon over the summer with my bl lipo truck in the gas truck truck class with a 2s3p 4500 mah. It worked pretty well for the heat it was putn thorough.

what was your setup? i am kinda interested.

Hi, I ran a losi xxx-t mf1, novak super sport with a ss5800 motor. The battery is a maxamps 2s3p 4500 mah lipo.

What's up Cola, we have met down at Medina. You have the UPS truck don't you?

what kinda of discount? im thinking about some 8000mah 3s packs.

well come to the forums!

Ya I do. Can you help me rember who you are. sorry I forgot .:Love:

I can get you 15% off. let me look it up.

Hey I got an emaila bout that to. I thought about ordering up some lipos. That would save me some money.:D