A few Crawler battery buying tips
 

With the ammount of new people comming not only into the RC Crawling scene, but just the RC scene... I have been recieving alot of emails and calls with different questions regarding batteries for their crawlers. So I thought I would post some helpfull tips when buying batteries off our website or just in general. I have been in the RC world for 10 years and been in the crawlers alot recently so I have seen alot of crazy batteries and made thousands. Unfortunately I am seeing alot of people being mis-informed about a few things as far as battery size, configuration, assembly, and brand. Hope you all can find this helpfull...

1. Keep it low and forward. We do alot of custom battery packs which gives people alot of options for battery placement. Avoid putting them high or on the rear axle. From my personal experience they tend to crawl better with all the cells low and up front.

2. One thing I have noticed that is bringing alot of people into the RC Crawling scene is the insane runtimes. There for I have seen alot of people trying to order the largest pack they can. The Elite 1500mah cells are a great little cell. I experienced 1-1/2 - 2 hours with a brushless truck I built. Grant it, results will vary depending on gearing, electronics, and how heavy your throttle finger is. But you don't need to sacrafice performance for a few more minutes of runtime. So a smaller battery can be your friend.

3. Don't go lipo for the sake of it. The only problem I have with lipo's is that there are less options for custon configurations. Otherwise I love em'. There is really only one way to build them. So is some cases on crawlers, depending on how they're built, Nimh is really the best choice... Especially if you have to invest in a better charger. I still use mostly Nimh on all my crawlers but will only put a lipo in my fast cars.

4. With the recent flood of orders for our AX-10 cofigured packs, I have noticed alot of people ordering it with our upgrade option(soldered with battery bars rather than the small nickle tabs) and large wire. In reality crawlers draw next to no current and do not need huge wire or the upgrade. I have never hand soldered any of my packs for my crawlers and all the locals that come to see me dont use it either.
Save yourself the money and just order the pack WITH OUT The upgrade and use 16awg wire at the largest. The only exception is if you were to use the same pack in a high performance truck. This kind of applies to any crawler pack for that matter. If you're intended purpose is a crawler... Then order it without the upgrade and save yourself the money"thumbsup"

5. Snip off those stock Tamiya plugs and simply use deans. Not that you will hurt the plug with the current draw, just the design of the pins makes them wear badly then they have a really bad contact creating high resistance and heat. I also see this alot with people ordering all the upgrade and big wire off our website but want a Tamiya plug put on... It really defeats the purpose of buying the extra goodies(hand soldered, huge wire) if you use the Tamiya plug. It's like a bottle neck effect.

6. Stick with name brand goodies. I have recieved alot calls from people being burned by numerous brands, hobby shops, or websites selling them a pack that was junk or way over rated. If you stick with a name brand battery pack or cell and not a no namer, house brand, or a brand that is commonly not known for quality, you will not have that problem. They all have true rated cells in the packs. And with lipo there are a few brands that are several generations behind on the current lipo technology. Here are a list of some brands that I would recommend that we have tested to be top notch quality:

Nimh:
a. Elite
b. EP (East Power)
c. IB (Intelect)
d. GP (Gold Peak)
e. Sanyo

Lipo:
a. Pollyquest
b. Polly RC
c. Thunder Power
d. Hyperion
e. Elite

7. Because crawlers do not draw alot of current you do not need a super high average voltage Nimh cell or a really high C rated lipo cell. Save you self the money on a lipo and get aroung a 10-15c pack and you will be just fine. On the Nimh side, the lower average voltage cells (1.16-1.18 )are way more stable and have a way better shelf life. The high average voltage racing packs self discharge on the shelf alot if you don't use them a few times a week you risk having to replace the pack

8. Buy a good charger. I see too many people cut corners on the charger when they buy a nice battery. It really defeats the purpose of a nice battery if you have a cheap charger. I swear by Hyperion chargers. They are most current on lipo charging technology and provide the most thurough and accurate charge. If you have a cheap charger... and not cheap in price... just quality, then the pack will not recieve the best charge that it can.



I hope this helps some of you out there. Alot of these tips will also help save alot of money in the long run.


Edited 9-30-08:
One thing I would like to add(I am editing this into my opening post too) is that I see alot of people who are inquiring about lipo because it's there. They want to go lipo because they have friends that have them, but only are willing to spend 10 bucks....


This is a problem beause you cant have a cheap lipo or cheap charger without risking damage or fire. And I mean cheap in quality not price. Some are poor quality buy over the top expensive.


It's simple... Unless your willing to invest into lipo the right way, just save your self the time and money and stick with Nimh/Nicad. This I see alot in the crawler world, brushless fast cars, and airsoft guns. A guy will spent lots of coin on making his car faster and stronger but is not willing to spend the money to buy the right stuff or research to buy the right stuff. If you put so much money into building a sweet car or gun, why would you not power it properly? I mean you dont build a race car with a nasty powerfull engine and put in crappy gas do you? Then why put crappy batteries in your model?

This means buying a nice Lipo capable charger, ballacner(For ballancing while charging if the charger doesnt already have it), and a reputable battery. It can be spendy, but well worth it when your not killing batteries all the time. It eventually pays for itself. I recommend Hyperion or Elite chargers for all hobby batteries. And I would ONLY buy the brands that I have listed because they are the only batteries on the market that are truly rated.

good timing on this!! I am buying a new pack today. Great info...Sticky maybe"thumbsup"

Excellent info....thank you ...i always wondered if i should get that battery bar update,and was always confused about what gauge wire...now i know....appreciate the info ...thanks again

THANX FOR ALL YHE GREAT INFO. IT HELPS TO HEARE THE PRO'S AND CONS ALL IN ONE FORUM. IT CAN BE HARD TO GET ALL THE INFORMATION WHEN YOU HAVE TO JUMP AROUND. THANX"thumbsup"

Puuurfect post. Thanks for the info...

Tkanks. Just saved me alot of money.

I certainly agree with all of the above. Takes somebody in the battery business to really know the ins and outs of batteries.

I would like to add that since crawlers don't have much needed for amp draw, that cheaper lipo can be used with success. The downfall to using cheaper packs tends to be shorter pack life. I have been using vislero 15C packs for quite a while now and just had my first one start to puff a bit. I have been using them for about a year pretty hard, balancing at least 1/2 the time. If I had bought a nicer pack I have no doubt that it wouldn't be puffing. However, it is much better than the cycles that I get out of nimh anymore. I seem to be lucky to get 150 cycles out of current nimh.

I will add this to the battery sticky at the top of the forum. Doh! Griz beat me to it!

:mrgreen:

great post. answered alot of question i had about batts.. thanks"thumbsup"

Very good info hopefully this will stop the what battery question and maybe get some of the people who don't know what a search is to read is then again.

So you're saying i don't need a high mah rating?

great post.. just a note on #5... Have you tried the traxxas TRX plugs? I was a deans man myself (all my planes use deans) but the guy at my LHS recommended I try the traxxas connector so i said what the heck and got a set for my wheely king and WOW. I have to say, way better than deans! the ONLY problem I have with deans is how hard they are to get apart. The traxxas connectors come apart so easy its funny (but not easy enough that they would EVER come apart on their own) Also not needing shrink wrap is a HUGE bonus. I cant tell you how many times I soldered on a deans and then realized I forgot the shrink wrap.....

anyhow, give them a try, you will like them! I know I will be switching over all my planes this summer.... I think that eventualy the TRX connectors will replays tamiya connectors as the standard for most hobby grade RTR's... A lot of MFG's are already making packs with the choice of tamia or TRX....

thanks for all the info"thumbsup"

Depends on the setup. Some crawlers will burst 30 amps or more.

?. Is there an advantage of soldering the batteries toghether with bars or tabs instead of using say deans wire? Besides holding the battery toghether. Asking because I have lots of shorter pieces of Deans noodle and need to make another pack and I have no bars left.

Between battery bars and wire, 12awg would be about the same if not better than bars. Soak them with solder and the wire will become solid.

I havent found them to be any better. The deans IMO are better because of the fact that they hold together tighter. That causes less resistance than if they were to be looser. I bet if you were to do tests of a hi-dran battery at about 100 amps, you would likely get better numbers with the deans.

Chris I'm on your website now and going to order up a couple battery packs. Ill be ordering a 4-3 split pack of the 1500 Elites.

I thank you for the recommendation of skipping the upgrade, very nice to know.

How about wire, what is the reccomended wire size? do I need to run larger then a 16 awg or is it just over kill? "thumbsup"

Not sure if it matters but this is going on a Goat/R2D (w/ 14t pinion) and tlt's.

Quick question,

What will a 4c 4200mah pack be comparable to in runtimes and performance?

For example, is it comparable to a 6c 3000mah pack??

thank you in advance....

P.S. I want to run a 17.5 brushless system, but don't have a lot of space in my scale rig...."thumbsup"

k, im sold ! im putting in my order right now
i definatly need to get this 6cell off of the stock battery tray and lower the cg of my ax10

any promo or coupon code you wanna pass along to a newbie crawler?