Will lipo batteries make a big difference vs the nimh?

[Nobody79]

I finally got the 2 gen 7 sports ordered. I know they come with nimh batteries but should I go ahead and get lipo batteries? Is there any other gain besides speed?

[the_law_man01]

Oh yeah. But, I'm going to be replacing my batteries with 3s LiFePo4 as they die. Sager than lipo and a little easier on electronics than 3s lipo but with more punch than 2s lipo or nimh.

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[Browneye]

Everyone I've heard of that have been crawling for any length of time run 3S lipo. I'm never going back...a 3600mah 3S will run my Axcender for longer than I ever crawl - seems to still have about 50% charge after a couple of hours of running. I don't think a NiMh can keep up with that.

Verify that your ESC can run on 3S - if so you'll get much better wheelspeed, and still very good crawl. If your battery tray is full length you can get a 5Kmah batt for about $45. You'll never run it out.

[Smokin' Joe]

If you want to upgrade to lipos, I'd recommend 3S over 2S. I have a couple crawlers that are currently on 2S (similar voltage to your NIMH) and a couple on 3S. The ones on 2S have a decent top speed, but suffer from a lack of torque in low speed crawling. I could gear them down to give decent grunt, but then they would be slow. I have 3S in couple other of my crawlers. This allows you to gear them to have both good torque and a decent top speed.

The biggest downside to 3S is it is harder on your ESC's internal BEC. If you upgrade your servo at all, you will need an external power source for your servo (BEC or battery) or a better ESC.

[holycaveman]

I have ran 4s through the stock esc without a problem bypassing the bec. It's a decent esc for certain. Lipo = power!

[Jim85IROC]

It depends on how you use the truck. I do trailing and low speed crawling in the woods behind my house or on local hiking trails, and in those cases, I really didn't see much difference between the stock pack and a 2S lipo. In my case though, I don't generally need quick bursts of speed or a lot of torque. For those same reasons, along with the fact that my 8 year old would tear the hell out of it, I haven't run 3S in the Gen7 yet.

[Trevit86]

Get a 3s, like others stated, good low speed, and plenty of wheel speed, you wont regret it.

[Browneye]

I have actually geared up a little, a tooth or two more than the stock pinion, and on 3s throttle is very sensitive and there's enough power to break things. So I see why they recommend the weaker setups for stock rigs and noobs. I don't lend out my fastest trucks - they can get broken.

3S just works SO well it's easy to see why experienced drivers go that way. My 2S are strictly for Class1 comps, where that's what they limit to for the class.
The hobby shop sold me 2s, then once you try 3S you wonder why they sell you that. The you realize they set you up as a noob so you don't break your shit before you even get going.

There's enough speed to roll it if you crank the steering over at full throttle. So you learn not to do that.

And then you realize how a programmable drag brake comes into play.

[Luke.jeffrey]

I was thinking on upgrading my 3000 mah nimh to a 6800. Would I be better off going lipo? I heard they're a pain to charge and store, like should be at 50% not full and don't run good in the cold. I'm not looking for more power just a real long run time

[Nobody79]

Thanks everyone. We ended up with gen7 pro trucks. After about a month of the 3k nimh packs Im finally going LIPO . My son will stay nimh so he will have 2 packs. They seem to last about 1 hour or so.

I just cant decide 2s or 3s. Dont want to be breaking stuff alot. So far we havent hurt the rigs at all on nimh..

If I went 3s, would I need 4000mah or bigger to last atleast 2 hours trailing and crawling?

[the_law_man01]

My 3s 4500 mah lasts 2hrs or so. My 2s 5000 mah seems to last about 3 hrs.

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[high plains drifter]

Originally Posted by Nobody79

Thanks everyone. We ended up with gen7 pro trucks. After about a month of the 3k nimh packs Im finally going LIPO . My son will stay nimh so he will have 2 packs. They seem to last about 1 hour or so.

I just cant decide 2s or 3s. Dont want to be breaking stuff alot. So far we havent hurt the rigs at all on nimh..

If I went 3s, would I need 4000mah or bigger to last atleast 2 hours trailing and crawling?

I easily get 2 hrs with my 5000 3s... probably 1:30 or so with my 2700 3s.

I wouldn't worry about breaking stuff running 3s. As long as you're conscious of how you drive, I don't see having any issues. I agree with the consensus regarding 3s but if you're still finding yourself curious about 2s vs 3s ( as I initially did), you can pick up a decent-quality 2s like a Turnigy 2200mAh for under $12. It was worth it for me to get one to try along with a couple of 2700 & 5000 3s packs when I was getting into the whole lipo game. I don't care for it [at all] as much as the 3s packs but it makes a great space-saving spare to carry on the trail and it gave me the opportunity to try one for very little expense. Just fwiw.

[Feldhege]

I used a 2s 5000 that I had from my Rustler. Lasted about 4 hours with my TRX4. My two boys both have gen 7s (one sport, one pro) as for 2s not being fast enough, on our courses here it is plenty. They have a 17T motor in them and so the speed is no issue. I can't imagine trying to crawl (at least with a stock setup) in 3s. We bumped my older boys up to a 27T which helped alot. He still can run for a couple hours. I am trying to put a 35T into the other one. I would say get either and you should be fine. They don't last forever anyway so you will probably be ready for the upgrade at that time.

[2mtech]

I switched over to LiPo fast after getting into this three years ago, and was happy with the 2S 5000 mAH's 2 hour run times and performance. Then I tried a 3S 5k GensAce a year and a half ago and was thrilled with the increased wheel speed and run time. We stayed on the mountain trail till well after dark trying to run the pack out in a mildly upgraded SCX10...took just over 5 hours, right near the end of the girl's second pack running the same mAH 2S.

Now everything runs on 4k or 5k 3S and I hardly ever carry a spare anymore. I get about 4 hours out of the smaller 4k pack in a CFX. Have yet to replace an ESC, even the less expensive ones.

[Browneye]

If your rig is too slow or fast on your battery and motor setup you can go up or down on the pinion gear to adjust speed for trailing or crawling. Just FYI.
3S is the way to go, at least for SCX10, Ascender, or TRX4. I have zero info on any other brands or rigs.

[dacaur]

If you run mostly with your son, and he is going to be using nimh, I would go 2 cell lipo.... I have a barrage gen2, and my daughter got my old maxtone 10. Both on 2 cell lipo. Its not that the barrage is neccisarily "fast", but the maxtone is SLOOOOOOW. They put a 70t motor in it. Crawls great, but sooooo slow... I am constantly waiting for her to catch up.... Thinking of putting a 35t motor in the maxtone....

My point is, if you normaly run with someone, its best to keep your rigs at about the same speed. Go 2 cell.

[Neal3000]

If you go with a smaller lipo pack there is a significant weight savings there over the stock nimh

[Masonsteeler]

Had my nice sticky crawler tires wheels break so had to run my shitty monster truck tires on my crawler, rgt Rock Hammer, while waiting for rim I got a 3s in mail the extra power almost compensated for tires. When using shitty tires on Nimh not fun, 3s seriously upped the performance....got rim yesterday, pumped for maiden run 3s with good tires!!!

Kinda gives enough burst to hop up on rocks, that without wheel speed would be impossible to get on. Can almost jump lol.

[bmxbryant09]

could anyone post a link to the lipo they are using and what charger do you use to charger it.

[Browneye]

Originally Posted by bmxbryant09

could anyone post a link to the lipo they are using and what charger do you use to charger it.

For a REdCat??