HobbyCity Lipo Warranty - Important Information!

[simplechamp]

Originally Posted by lincpimp

Also with zippy lipos, you get what you pay for... They are cheap for a reason, so either toss the offending pack, or live with it. I could see complaining if you bought a thunderpower pack, but HC is not making much on these packs, and I can see why their warranty info reads that way.

I see the point you are making but I can't fully agree. Whether it's a $20 Zippy or $300 Polyquest, HC saying that the cells only need to be within 245mV of eachother is too big of a range. I wasn't complaining about the Zippy packs at all, it's the lipo warranty policy I don't like, and that applies to all the packs they carry, from the cheapest to most expensive. Also, I think HC is probably making plenty on the packs, they couldn't sell them so cheap unless they are also buying them cheap. The profit margin may be lower, but they most likely make up for it in volume. Honestly it would be interesting to see the true profit margins on all packs, from the most expensive brands to cheapest budget Zippy.

I still think the Zippy are great packs, it's the HC lipo warranty that is concerning. If anything, the HC warranty has made me more likely to buy Zippy. At least if I get a bad pack (and now given that returns are pretty much out of the question) I'll be out less money than if I ordered a Polyquest. Of course the other choice is to buy at LHS or US online retailers, which I am also seriously considering now.

EDIT: Also wanted to note that it's interesting to see that the last 2 people to review the same packs I got from HC gave them 1 star saying they were really screwed up and one even said one of their cells would only charge to 3.7V. Also interesting to note this comes at a time when HC only have 2 left in stock. Is it possible we got the "bottom of the barrel" so to speak, the ones that they had passed up before for better balanced packs, and now they are moving them out and getting new stock? Who knows? It will be interesting to follow the reviews on these packs (Zippy 2s 5000mah 30C in case you missed it) once they get more in stock.

This kinda fun because I was just talking to a relative of mine who lived in Hong Kong about this very subject & they said that the idea of warranty & returns isn`t a concept they understand their.

[KaztheMinotaur]

The battery came back to 4.2, 4.2, 4.2, 4.2, and 4.19.

[simplechamp]

Originally Posted by KaztheMinotaur

The battery came back to 4.2, 4.2, 4.2, 4.2, and 4.19.

Awesome! Maybe after a few more discharge and balance/charge cycles it will get all the way up to 4.20. Either way at least it's within 10mV. Now the main thing we need to look out for is how well our suspected problem cells stay in balance with the other cells after putting them through some runs.

[himalaya]

This looks more like a to-be-balanced pack rather than a bad cell.

I did experienced a bad cell that can never be charged to 4.2V, it stops at 4.07V while all other cells reaches 4.20V no matter how I charge it. I tried charge the bad cell individually through the balance tag, it maitained 4.07V and generate heat. This is a sign that the cell is destroyed, it refuses to convert electric energy into chemical form, but into heat. You know good lipo never heat up when charged.