What batteries to buy and why?

[captain harlock]

I guess it's a matter of flavour and preference.

I've been considering both the Kokam and flightpowers because they are about the same price. I know that many have been touting the flightpowers here lately, but the Kokams are premiere cells in their own right too.

I don't know about GD, but from my perspective, the wire routing coming out of the Kokams are what I need, and from what I understand, the Kokam cells are of a safer chemistry and are more tolerant to overdischarging. The Kokam cells are also supposed to be pretty tough.

Since I've destroyed so many lipo packs, maybe a heavy duty pack is just what I need.

I'd also consider running two of the trakpower packs in series, but I don't want to sacrifice the convenience of the charger/balancer interface that I have with the tp 1010C and balancer.

BTW, can two of the flightpower packs be charged in series? If so, is there a way to wire up the packs with a more conventional balancing tap so that I can use my tp balancer?

[glassdoctor]

Originally Posted by skellyo

Why would you buy the Kokam 4800's instead of Flightpower or Trakpower packs? They're pretty close to the same price even.

I can get a special deal on the Kokams...

How cheap can we get the flightpower 4900s? (4s)

[skellyo]

Originally Posted by AAngel

I'd also consider running two of the trakpower packs in series, but I don't want to sacrifice the convenience of the charger/balancer interface that I have with the tp 1010C and balancer.

BTW, can two of the flightpower packs be charged in series? If so, is there a way to wire up the packs with a more conventional balancing tap so that I can use my tp balancer?

I would think it wouldn't be a problem to charge them in series if you can put together the proper balancing adapter. If you know what sequence the TP balancer wants on the cell taps on the connector, you should be able to make one up yourself. However, you'll still need the Trakpower harness adapter for balancing since the pack uses a plug versus having a connector hanging out.

[skellyo]

Originally Posted by glassdoctor

I can get a special deal on the Kokams...

How cheap can we get the flightpower 4900s? (4s)

If you can get the Kokams cheaper than tower prices, you'll probably do better pricewise with them versus the Flightpowers. The 4S 4900 pack from atlantahobby.com is $244.99. I don't think you'll find it any cheaper than that. I've yet to find them available from a place that uses discount codes like tower does.

[glassdoctor]

Yep... quite a bit cheaper than tower....

[skellyo]

Originally Posted by glassdoctor

Yep... quite a bit cheaper than tower....

Sounds like a good deal to me.

[glassdoctor]

Ok... well I ordered some Kokam 4800s so I guess we will see how they stack up. Now if I just had another $250 for a Flightpower... :)

[glassdoctor]

for the Flightpower junkies here: :D

Just wanted to post an amazing discharge graph of a Flightpower pack. The 5000 is by far the best of graphs shown on atlantahobby's site... it has an incredible voltage curve at 20-30c... where several other sizes of the flightpowers fall off.

http://www.atlantahobby.com/images2/...geCurve_lg.gif

[skellyo]

Originally Posted by glassdoctor

for the Flightpower junkies here: :D

Just wanted to post an amazing discharge graph of a Flightpower pack. The 5000 is by far the best of graphs shown on atlantahobby's site... it has an incredible voltage curve at 20-30c... where several other sizes of the flightpowers fall off.

http://www.atlantahobby.com/images2/...geCurve_lg.gif

The 4900's have the best discharge curve of the Flightpowers at 20C IMO:

http://www.flightpower.co.uk/core/da...0curve_600.jpg

vs. the 5000's:

http://www.flightpower.co.uk/core/da...0curve_600.jpg

[glassdoctor]

Cool.. a couple of the graphs didn't show up on the site.. I wondered about tehe 4900. (the site linked the 3300 graph which isn't very good)

[skellyo]

A backdoor to the Flightpower 20C graphs, among other things:

http://www.flightpower.co.uk/core/da...ts/20C_Graphs/

[skellyo]

Another handy chart showing size and weight of all the Flightpower packs:

http://www.flightpower.co.uk/core/datasheets/WXD.jpg

[BP-Revo]

4900's are my next battery :D

I just gotta sell my current ones.

[glassdoctor]

The 5000s do hold the capacity a little better at 20-25c but the voltage drops sooner at lower rates. Both are very good though.

I'm reading that the same Enerland cells are used in:
Flightpower Evo
Hyperion LVX
Polyquest XP
TP Extreme