Lipo ?
 

I am going to be getting a crawler and will need to get some lipo's and a charger. I'm having trouble picking what brand to go with.
Here is the question.. Is their a diff when buying a max amps or a battery from hobbyking such as the turnigy battery's ? Is the smart 6 a good battery charger ?
The only battery stuff I have ever had is nimh and nicd cells with a duratrax intellipeak charger.
Thanks for any info and or help on this. P.s. I am looking at a xr or the scx.

There is a difference between cells in a Lipo, how much capacity they hold and how well they maintain their voltage during the run. There are also differences in pack construction, qualit of the solder joints and case. Really Maxamps is a ripoff TheJang over on URC has done some side by side tests and while they cost a lot more them the hobbyking and hobbypartz batterys they don't out perform them.

The batterys I primarily use in my Scx are Gens Ace 2s 20c 2200mah packs from Hobbypartz, cost about $20 and provide more mah then the label states and are just great all around batterys.

As far as a charger look into the Thunder AC680 on hobbypartz. Good solid charger with an internal AC power supply and a pretty good charge rate.

Thanks... Will look that charger up !

Yes, there is a difference between brands & types of LiPO batteries.

While I've never used a lot of different brands, it appears MaxAmps is overpriced.
There are a few brands from some overseas websites that are inexpensive and do OK. Occasionally you get a bad pack and the cost to return it is not worth it, but the upfront price covers it. Gens Ace, Sky Lipo, Blue Rhino, etc. seem to work OK and are easy on the wallet.

As to pack info, you really want packs with a 25C to 30C rating at a minimum, 40C+ is better. This is how fast a pack can supply power, low numbers are fine for a radio but are poor for a motor.

I always run packs from CheapBatteryPacks.com, never had an issue and I started using them back in my NiCad days (still get NiMH packs from them).

I just got into Lipo's myself. I went with a couple of Thunder Power 2S 2250mAh 45C packs from CheapBatteryPacks and charge them with a Thunder AC6. Couldn't be happier with these choices. 45C is pretty high for a crawler, but comes in handy when I run any of my other rigs. Rule of thumb, if you can afford high discharge, go for it. Gives you versatility.

Aside from chargers and batts, make sure you purchase a Lipo pouch and make double sure you have some kind of low voltage cutoff either in your ESC or wired inline. Safety is key with Lipo's.

-B

Thanks for all the info guys, you have given me a lot to think about.
I want to get the best bang for my buck as we all do but at the same time I didn't want to order junk, since this will be my first crawler and lipo's at the same time I want to do it right 8)

I just got into Lipo.

I got an AC6 charger, which not only is cheap (45$ or so), its a great charger for Lipos and works good with your NiMH and NiCD (My NiCDs are very old, and work better from the discharge/charge cycles on the AC6).

I ended up with Sky Lipo's, 2 3000mAh 3s's and 1 3000mAh 5s. I cant really vouch for these, havent used them yet. They look solid though, the quality looks good, and I got all 3 for around 60 bucks.

that's a good deal. You can't get a charger from maxamps for what you paid for the whole setup. I know they say you get what you pay for but it's starting to look like maxamps is the John deer of battery's ( good product but no better then any other name brand and cost 2 times as much ).

I believe you have provided a good description of what I've heard of MaxAmps.:lmao::lmao:

This is my first year with lipo batteries and I don't think it's wise to go cheap unless you absolutely have to and no one will change your mind. I've got mostly Thunder Power. My 2.2 comp rig is using Thunder Power 3s 850mah 45c and 65c. Amazing little batteries, 30 minutes of runtime with a 55t and the punch is awesome.

I run TP 3s 2250mah 45c in one of my scalers.. The runtime is a couple hours and the punch and instant throttle input is impressive. For $50 these are amazing batteries in a scaler IMO.

On the cheap side,I've also got a couple Venom 3s 20c packs, a 5000mah and a 5400mah and while the runtime is phenominal and the power is still good, the truck feels a little more sluggish in the throttle response area. But I wasn't willing to spend $100+ for a 5000mah, which I use for easier going trail runs anyway where that instant power isn't neccesary. Oh and I've noticed the TP batteries balance way faster than the Venom.. Thinking cell quality is the primary reason?

This is a good reason not to go Venom, not a good reason to avoid affordable bateries. TheJang on URC does lot of great tests on batterys and the inexpensive Gens Ace packs beat the more expensive packs and exceed their advertised capcitys. Why spend more money if you don't have to?

Thats what I'm thinking. I know not to buy the cheapest stuff around but at the same time I know you don't have to buy name brand to get a great product !

Venom has had a bad rep over their batteries for a long time, their nimhs were terrible. Their Lipos are okay but don't last as many cycles as a Lipo should.