RC Monster should carry zippy
 

Anybody with me? I hate shipping from hong kong and I want to run zippy's.

$25 shipping for me as I never bought from them, negates the savings entirely so I go Neu. If Mike had them and his reasonable shipping costs Id totally buy them

Mike has his own packs and I'm sure they're much better quality.

Zippy's are cheaper and nobody has complained of the quality. I will buy zippy, and I would rather buy from Mike.

lots are running zippys, an american distributor would be great

Mike is a shrewd business man, that is for sure. He always makes sure that his products are top notch, and the zippys may not have measured up for him. They do seem the best bet in the cheap lipo biz.

I just buy used polyrc, fp, and polyquest packs from the plane guys... Got a fp 4500 30c 6d pack with about 40 cycles on it for 100 bucks shipped recently. The pack looked almost brand new, and it has all the punch my new polyquest 4500 packs have. I like used stuff, thats how I can afford to keep 40 trucks...

and 40 used women ? <ducks>

They pay for themselves, and occasionally I make a buck or two...

:lol:

hmm i too would like to see mike carry them.

If ther didnt meet his standards, id like to hear from him what failed, as i have not heard any complaints from zippy owners.

im with you guys...if RCM had zippies I would def. buy a few more.

Still with how expensive comparable "name brand" lipos the shipping you have to pay which is to in my opinion to expensive to ship from UH its definately cheaper than some other packs from USA distributers.

Zippy is a house brand from hobbycity. The price you see is the price that everybody can get them for. Buy 100 and they will give you a whopping 5% discount, maybe.

You gonna buy them from Mike at a higher price?

Honestly id rather. Also the 5% off and minus $20 shipping may make it worth his while. Im no math major and dont know the time cost involved but hey may be worth it. I simply wont buy from hobby city because of $25 shipping.

but what would they charge mike for 100 500g lipos(shipping wise)? thats 50kg, surely its going to be pricey, but I guess he could get slow shipping if he was to buy a large quanity and then he could just try to keep some in stock.

i agree with _paralysed_. Mike should carry Zippy lipo's. i really like zippys cause they're cheap but good and i'd definately buy more if mike had them because hobbycity/unitedhobby is in Hong Kong and Hong Kong is in China and the trustworthyness of Chinese culture has always been and always will be a bit iffy. and i'm Chinese myself so don't anybody start complaining about how they think i'm wrong and china is fabulous or whatever.

Here's an idea to throw around - if Mike sold Zippy Lipos, he'd kinda have to take care of replacements/warranty should any go bad or be defective. That could be a lot of work for such a busy Monster and the payoff might not be so beneficial when he has other things which require his time.

Also, shipping Lipos in quantity can't be easy, especially overseas. He would want HC to ship EMS for obvious reasons, and if it cost us $25 to ship a single battery then it wouldn't cost him too much less. So in reality I don't think it would be worthwhile for him to sell Zippy Lipos, as part of his business. Maybe Mike will chime in and give his thoughts.

IMO. :whistle:
A sale is a sale :wink: and the team including I have bought Zippy’s before and chances are we are going to buy them again. :yes: I too would like to see Mike carry Zippy (just add a disclaimer) about the quality or what not!. :whistle:

If Mike sold them I and probably others wouldn’t have to feel guilty :oops: about getting them and who knows that might just add sales which adds to the bottom line..

Just my two cents..:smile:

Well, HobbyCity has a state-side warehouse. I'm sure Mike could have them shipped from there with a large enough order. I, too, would love RCM to carry the packs. I personally will buy Zippy packs again, I love them.

Sure a sale is a sale, but if it doesn't make a business money then it is invested capital that could be used for better things - like nice batteries or new vehicle conversions.

Speaking as a business owner, I wouldn't touch those packs as resale material with a 1000 foot pole. Sure I may buy a few myself, but the consistency of construction and known overrated cells totally turns me off.


Would you be willing to pay twice as much? That is about what it would cost to cover the shipping, industry margins, and VAT fees from importation in mass. Then you still have a crappy Zippy lipo.

theres nothing crappy about the zippys......I never hear anything but great things about them......if you order more than one at a time from HC than your shipping cost per battery comes down

I use many of them

one battery cost $20 to ship
two batterys cost $20 to ship

not sure about three

I've heard the same thing. Seems it would only be worth it if Mike could get the raw cells and then put them together himself. But then there goes any profit...

Really? I've known nothing but great consitancy and underrated cells. As for a crappy Zippy, these packs are anything but crappy. I've had them side by side with MaxAmps and they blow them away, at 1/4 of the price. Who has had a problem with the Zippys? Other than one member who tried to use it in a weedwacker, I don't know of another failure.

I think he's referring to some reports of balancer lead coming apart at the solder joint. But that just sounds like an assembly issue to me. I don't think anyone is questioning the quality of the cells themselves...

something else to keep in mind...

Even if mike could secure these cells at a reduced price and get them shipped to his store at the same cost as hobbycity's website offers....he would then need to add something to it to turn a profit. Otherwise he is running a charity, not a business. Also, offering these cells on his site would directly compete with the other cells he has, thus lowering his profit margin even more. As nice as it would be to have these cells sold to us by our favorite vendor, I just dont think it would be mutually beneficial.

Mike needs to buy LiPo manufacturing machinery. Then he can make whatever cells we(he) want(s)!! :lol: :whistle:

Edit: AND sell them at a higher margin while maintaining a lower price! It's factory direct, you know...

Mike all ready has so many QUALITY choices for lipo battery's . I dont think he really needs anymore :lol:. You have to remember he has to put alot of money out of his pocket . Then sit on the product untill it sells to recoup his investment .

I completely understand why he doesn't have them, I just wish he did. I will continue to purchase them personally. They can not be beat for the money. Unfortunately times have forced me to curb my RC spending and I haven't made any large orders lately. Up until a few months ago(when the whole nazi Traxxas mod fiasco was going on) I didn't know this site existed so I was placing orders elsewhere. As soon as things pick back up, I have about a grand order waiting for me on here. The one item Mike doesn't have that I will be ordering are the Zippys.

The only real prob w/ the zippy's I've experienced is that they are not matched cells, so they get horribly unbalanced and need much more attention than high quality cells like PQs, etc. And the tap is lame...

Although we would all like to have high end cells, we all have budgets. Zippys def fill a much needed niche of powerful yet cheap lipos. The new cells Mike has, while not cheap as zippy's, seem really good and are priced quite a bit less than MAs or PQs.

The only thing they seem to be lacking yet is
1.) Variety of configurations/capacity
2.) Labeling/ Brand recognition

I would love to see Mike carry a line of lipos to compete with MA. Would a line of RCM branded zippys necc cross compete w/ these? IDK, depends. I think there is def room for a more midgrade Zippy pack. Ie, better matched cells and better taps. You can't compete w/ HC's price, but if you could build a "zippy-like" 5S 4000 mah pack for say $120-130ish bucks vs the $85 HC wants, and run that as a RCM Value Lipo line, along with enough variety to pull in plane/heli/boat people, then it may fly.
Depends on how much its worth it is to do it, plus all the capital required to get it going. I do think a US based supplier of these could charge a bit of a premium for the convenience if another perk was added in as well.

Says something about MA cells there, doesn't it.


When I say crappy Zippy, I am indeed referring to the construction and not necessarily the cells themselves. No matching, sketchy soldering work, and generally a big possible variation from pack to pack.

I am in no way saying that Zippy isn't a good value. They are cheaper than anything else out there, but you do have to inspect them before use and keep a careful eye on the balance of the pack.

all good points. the numbers would have to be verified and run. i don't think anybody is returning zippy's to hobby city, perhaps it could be an "as-is" sale. just food for thought.

I was looking at zippies awile ago and they seemed like a good deal until I seen the pricing on Neu packs! The neus where about the same price after shipping and I got some of the best cells available and I supported a USA based company. Although they weren't from Mike he does carry some neu packs as well and I have made other purchases from him to support him

please show me the Neu packs that can compare pricewise to TWO ZIPPY-H 4000mAh 5S1P 25-35C for $212 shipped

I have 4 zippy K packs, 2 4300mAh 2S and 2 4300mAh 3S. One of each has failed on me. The 3S that failed had 1 maybe 2 cells puff while the pack was just sitting on my dinning room table this summer. I was monitoring the voltage on a regular bassis and one day when I went to check the pack was puffed.

The 2S that failed had a dead cell from the get go. It never took a good charge on my ballance charger. Returning isn't an option becasue the shipping would be more than I have in the packs.

The other two that are still good work great. I use them in a variety of cars, rustler 2S, and 3S, the converted revo has been run on 3S (becasue I forgot my series connector), but usually 5S (2S + 3S). The packs don't get more than 105f in the heat of the summer.

I must be a glutton for punishment though becasue I have a 3S 4000mAh and 6S 4000mAh on the way that are to be run in series (when I get lutach's 10S esc), and 2 of the 4000mAh (suposed to be 25C)hard case 2S packs that they just released also on the way.

All that said though I do plan on buying two of Mikes 5S2P 5000mAh packs for my Muggy when he gets them back in stock. Sorry for the long winded reply.

-Brian

thanks for the reply, it backs up what I'm saying, people are buying zippys. surely a zippy witn an RCM sticker on it is worth more than one from hong kong:yes:

You can get two 5s1p 4300 mah 25/50c neu energy packs for 125 each. That is .029 cents per mah.

http://www.neumotors.com/2008/store/page6/page6.html

The zippy's you posted are .027 cents per mah and have a lower peak c rating.

The neu are enerland cells and of the highest quality. I think for 35 dollar increase over the zippy with more mah to boot I would go neu.

I paid 95.50 for a 3s 4900mah and 65.00 for a 2s 4900mah neuenergy xp packs $7 for shipping

I paid $128 for a pair of 3s5k 20-30c packs shipped. Neu packs aren't that cheap.

I agree, MaxCramps are garbage. I personally never had the Zippy cells more than .03 out from each other, and that is with a pair of 3s packs in parallel, but I can see where you might need to watch them. I never inspected them. In fact, I left them strapped into my truck even during charging. All experiences will vary, surely, but there are far more great reviews on these packs than harsh ones. If Mike gets his new packs in different sizes, I may take a look at them.

If I may offer a single example/thought about the cost of buying & importing direct from the source, versus buying them from a 3rd party (be it Mike or someone else), then, try this on for size:

ZIPPY 'RHINO' 4900 4S (14.8v) 20C/30C (98A/147A) Lithium Battery £74.99 ($116.76) in the Uk plus shipping.

Rhino 4900mAh 4S 14.8v 20C Lipoly Pack $79.99 direct from Hobbycity plus shipping.

Exact same lipo, yet it costs nearly 50% more for the privilage of buying it from a UK retailer.

Now granted, there are factors such as shipping method, exchange rates and profit margins to concider, but I kinda doubt people would be willing to pay that much extra just to support Mike, when he already sell plenty of lipos that perfom just as well or indeed much better, for a similar kind of price once you factor in shipping costs to get the Zippies direct, let alone after he's had to add on his own costs and profit margins; you might as well buy what he already has if you just want good quality, fair priced batts.

I love my zippies too, but I wouldnt pay over the odds by that amount just to support BRCHobbies for example, I'd rather import the batts and still save money, or look for a different brand already based in the UK (Flightpower/Trakpower for example).

{/economics lesson}

hmmmm........I stand corrected......those neu 5s are worth the extra bucks for sure
although I like the performance and price of the zippy h and r batts the enerland cells do out perform them emencely

Nice to see those prices. :) The Neus have come down quite a bit. I originally bought a 4S 30C 2500 pack for ~$110 or something last year. I see its $75-80 now. The 25Cs are quite reasonably priced too. The 30Cs are still $$$ for the larger mah tho. I can't spend $200+ on a battery that I could easily ruin thru bad luck or momentary stupidity. A dead $80 batt I can live with, but that's just me.

FWIW tho, I got a zippy-h for my .5. a 25C 4S 2100 pack was $40 and I do like it quite a bit more than the 30C Neu. The small mah zips seem to be much more reliable than the large mah stuff. The 2100 packs rarely needs balancing, but the 4000mah always do. I won't charge them w/o a smart balancer. I'm not sure I've ever had to balance the Neu packs.