Finalizing my purchase/ best battery, charger, and steering servo...

[TooOldForThis]

It actually wasn't that long ago that I made the jump to Lipo after years away from the hobby. I found there are a lot of helpful Youtube videos that cover Lipo basics like minimum voltage, storage voltage, and charging safety.

[high plains drifter]

I'm finding that to be the case as well. Youtube has proved an excellent resource along with the wealth of information here on RCC. I don't feel that lipo battery maintenance is beyond what I can handle, just that it's taking some time to sift thru all this info to where I can understand, retain, and utilize it intelligently. "Back in the day" I was running nitro trucks and buggies so all that I had to worry about was charging receiver packs... boy that was easy although I sure don't miss the hassle of pull-starting and nitro residue everywhere lol.

[magic_yeti]

Xt60 are easy to solder,

Send by my Pixel 2 XL with Tapatalk

[Inspector86]

Originally Posted by eric113

Charger wise. I would look at quad charger. Meaning you can charge 4 battery’s at once. It sucks charging one battery at time.

I have a Prodigy quad charger for my drone lipos and it is great when flying with a 10-12 minute air time. I can rotate batteries on charge to maximize my air time. However, I can crawl for nearly 4 hours before hitting the low voltage cut off. So for crawling, I use a single AC680 charger and it is more than sufficient to keep up with my crawling power demands. A comp crawler might find a quad charger necessary but for the casual hobby crawler a quad is overkill.

[eric113]

Originally Posted by Inspector86

I have a Prodigy quad charger for my drone lipos and it is great when flying with a 10-12 minute air time. I can rotate batteries on charge to maximize my air time. However, I can crawl for nearly 4 hours before hitting the low voltage cut off. So for crawling, I use a single AC680 charger and it is more than sufficient to keep up with my crawling power demands. A comp crawler might find a quad charger necessary but for the casual hobby crawler a quad is overkill.

Quads are nice if one decides to try or is in other segments of the hobby. I also race boats. So I need quad charger but I also comp. but even don’t race or comp, it still nice not to have to stay up late waiting on battery’s. I been very happy with protek 610 quad ac charger.

Hobbyking makes few good quad chargers.

[Inspector86]

You just made my point. A quad charger is nice if you are involved in multiple segments of the RC hobby, and/or high demand segments like race boats or drones. But for someone like the OP who is new to the hobby with a single crawler, a quad charger is overkill and an unnecessary expense for someone just getting into the hobby.

[eric113]

Originally Posted by Inspector86

You just made my point. A quad charger is nice if you are involved in multiple segments of the RC hobby, and/or high demand segments like race boats or drones. But for someone like the OP who is new to the hobby with a single crawler, a quad charger is overkill and an unnecessary expense for someone just getting into the hobby.

I didn’t make your point. Even If I was just a basher I still look hard at getting quad charger. Why would you buy single charger if you could afford quad? It not overkill. If you have a buddy you could charge his battery’s too Or when the OP gets Lipo collection going Or getting ready for GTG’s. In the long run it more than pay for itself.

[high plains drifter]

I completely understand both sides of what y'all are suggesting. I have no doubt that for now it will suit me best to stick to the middle ground... so dual-port chargers are what I'm zeroing in on. I'd really like to have the ability to simultaneously charge a couple lipos or a lipo and a nimh since I'm still using nimh for my 1/16 crawler.

I think that one of the mental obstacles that I'm facing, is that I sincerely don't want to have to cut into the electronics on the vehicle. That's why I'm looking at getting a couple of these:

AMASS male xt60 xt-60 connector to female trx adapter with 14awg wire.



That way I don't need to modify the wiring on the vehicle if I ever were wanting to use a Traxxas battery at some point. Plus I wouldn't have to worry about soldering anything for the time being. Fwiw I have done a good deal of soldering so I've got some experience with all that... just that I don't much want to try my luck with soldering connectors that will be running lipo current thru them... not on a brand new vehicle and not at this time anyway.

Yes? No? Besides resistance, my concern here is fitment of the connectors. I mean... it says that this adapter is specifically for the TRX but the shape of the black connector is rectangular as opposed to what I've seen with all current Traxxas vehicle connectors which are more of an elongated hexagonal shape. Any input on this?

[high plains drifter]

Not to be talking to myself here lol, but along with my post above...

What's the best way to accomplish what I'm wanting to do... which is to run aftermarket lipo batteries ( preferably batteries that utilize the XT60 connectors) and still retain the original Traxxas TRX4 wiring??

I'm really stumped here... especially after looking at Natedog's pictures where it looks like the yellow connector coming off the battery is an XT60, yet the black connector on his vehicle looks like ( or similar to) a Traxxas factory plug?

I know that I'm missing something here... ugh. Apologies for the ignorance but as possibly rudimentary as this might be, I'm having a hard time figuring it out.

[Natedog]

I've got a couple four packs of those adapters from HobbyKing and use them occasionally when I'm in a hurry to run something or might sell the original ESC. Using the adapters allows me to just plug n play and then if it's not what I want to keep, it's still unaltered and will sell to a wider audience who does not solder anything. I'm running only XT-60 plugs on most everything.

[high plains drifter]

@ Natedog; So when you say that you have a couple 4pk's of those adapters, are you referring to the image that I posted above?

And that adapter will allow me to use an XT60 battery connector with the stock TRX connector?

I don't mind upgrading the ESC at some point and I'm sure that as I learn more, that I'd absolutely like to run the WP1080 on my TRX ( really cool programmable options!) but for now, that's just $42 more that I don't want to have to add to the list.

Thanks for your patience with me, guys!

[high plains drifter]

Besides a couple lipo charging bags and the TRX4 vehicle, this is the list...

WGCD 2 PCS XT60 Male to TRX Female Connector Adapter for RC Lipo
SummitLink Pack of 2 XT60 to Traxxas TRX Connector Adapter
Turnigy 2200mAh 2S 25C Lipo Pack
ZIPPY Compact 2700mAh 3s 60c Lipo Pack
Hitec RCD 44232 X2Ac Plus AC/DC Charger
Tower Pro MG995 Metal Gear 13kg/55g Servo
Jx Pdi-6221mg 20kg Large Torque Digital Coreless Servo

Look good?

[StomperCrawler]

Originally Posted by high plains drifter

Besides a couple lipo charging bags and the TRX4 vehicle, this is the list...

WGCD 2 PCS XT60 Male to TRX Female Connector Adapter for RC Lipo
SummitLink Pack of 2 XT60 to Traxxas TRX Connector Adapter
Turnigy 2200mAh 2S 25C Lipo Pack
ZIPPY Compact 2700mAh 3s 60c Lipo Pack
Hitec RCD 44232 X2Ac Plus AC/DC Charger
Tower Pro MG995 Metal Gear 13kg/55g Servo
Jx Pdi-6221mg 20kg Large Torque Digital Coreless Servo

Look good?

Looks good to me!

[Natedog]

Originally Posted by high plains drifter

Besides a couple lipo charging bags and the TRX4 vehicle, this is the list...

WGCD 2 PCS XT60 Male to TRX Female Connector Adapter for RC Lipo
SummitLink Pack of 2 XT60 to Traxxas TRX Connector Adapter
Turnigy 2200mAh 2S 25C Lipo Pack
ZIPPY Compact 2700mAh 3s 60c Lipo Pack
Hitec RCD 44232 X2Ac Plus AC/DC Charger
Tower Pro MG995 Metal Gear 13kg/55g Servo
Jx Pdi-6221mg 20kg Large Torque Digital Coreless Servo

Look good?

Looks good to me, but I'd just skip the 2s and buy all 3s, more fun and hard to go back once you've run 3S lol.

[high plains drifter]

@ Natedog Thank you for that bit of info! Y'all have been so accommodating of my inquiries and inexperience, that I'm honestly humbled to be a part of this community. I can't thank y'all enough!

I went ahead and grabbed a cheap ( but recommended) 2S because I wanted to really get an accurate idea of the differences between 2S/ 3S and so that I can "practice" using/ charging/ discharging/ storing a battery that if it fails, I'm not out much expense. I also have a couple of Zippy 2700 60c 3S batteries on the way so that I may quickly adapt to using those as I learn more about battery characteristics and charging functions.

ALL INITIAL ORDERS HAVE BEEN PLACED AND I'M SUPER EXCITED!

[high plains drifter]

Wanted to break down the list... the items and the reasons ( right or wrong) for the choices that I've made.

First and foremost...

Vehicle: I love to wrench and I've really enjoyed building vehicles in the past but regardless of being RTR, the TRX4 simply ticked so many boxes as compared to the Vaterra Ascender and the Axial SCX10 II. It was the features... the 2speed, the lockers, the portals, the scale look incl the detailed Defender body ( I love both colors equally btw) and the way it appeared to crawl and trail so well in video after video. I know that it's not the perfect vehicle but after I absorb the initial investment, I'm sure that I'll be making mods and upgrades as warranted. This wasn't an easy decision as the Ascender and SC10 II appear to be simply incredible vehicles as well.

Batteries: Being so new to the lipo game, I was overwhelmed with all the choices and configurations that exist. It indeed took a LOT of time researching and learning about these technologically amazing shrink-wrapped packages of sheer power and efficiency. So much more for me to learn but I at least now know much more than the average Joe lol. Went with a lower 2200mah 2S and a higher 2700mah 3S. Both are apparently reputable ( Turnigy & Zippy) and the Turnigy pack was cheap enough that it won't be a huge deal if I somehow damage it. Eventually I'm sure that I'll get a couple more 3S packs... possibly other brands/ different specs but I want to start slow and learn as I go.

Charger: Difficult decision but I ultimately chose the iMAX B6AC Version II. I was really close to pulling the trigger on the Hitec RCD X2AC but ultimately decided to try to reduce initial cost and go with a $56 single port as opposed to a $100 dual. I just like what I've seen in the demos and for the price I figure that I can either just get another one ( assuming I like it) or go a different route and wind up with two lipo chargers. Anyway... not sure if there's more ease using a dual charger but there's nothing to say that I can't eventually charge two packs simultaneously using 2 different chargers. For now I'll be limited to charging one pack at a time but I really don't expect that to be a huge inconvenience initially.

Servos: I picked up a couple cheap-o servos to have on hand if/ when the factory steering and shift servos give out. Neither of these are intended as upgrades but rather inexpensive replacements. I really don't doubt that I'll drop about $100 on a decent steering servo at some point but again, for now I'd like to keep from spending too much money yet still have a couple spares on hand. The extra steering servo is an $18 ANNIMOS 20kg dig HT/ FMG waterproof unit and the extra shift servo is a $6 Tower Pro MG995 13kg/ 55g HS/ HT digital. I really wanted a Bluebird for shifting duty but it was a hassle to find and order one here in the US.

Connectors: For the time being, I wanted to refrain from modifying any of the on-board electronics so I decided that adapters were the solution to run my XT60 equipped batteries. I went with two different types... a pair of WGCD XT60 male to TRX female lipo conn/ adapters and a pair of SummitLink XT60 to Traxxas TRX conn/ adapters. Wanted to try a couple different kinds and these were a relatively inexpensive part of the total purchase so why not? Eventually I plan to upgrade the ESC to a Hobbywing WP1080 but for now I'd like to get familiar with the vehicle before jumping ahead too quickly.

Battery bags: Trying to keep with the theme of reducing initial costs, I went with another relatively inexpensive choice... a couple of BlueCell medium-sized charge/ storage bags for under $10. I figure they either work or they don't but hopefully I'll never even have to evaluate their integrity.

That's it for now. You guys have successfully ( intentionally or not lol) pulled me into the awesome world of 1/10 feature-packed crawlers and lipo batteries. Again... my sincere gratitude to you all!

[TooOldForThis]

Originally Posted by high plains drifter

Wanted to break down the list... the items and the reasons ( right or wrong) for the choices that I've made.

...

Well nobody can accuse you of not doing your research

That all sounds great, I'm sure you'll have a blast with it.

[high plains drifter]

Lol. I'm obviously a bit enthusiastic about all this but there's just so much to take in! Anyway... despite that there's not really a need to "document" all the details, I figure if it helps out another prospective TRX owner, then why not? Thanks all for putting up with my long-winded rambling lol!

[Inspector86]

Your task now is to drive your TRX4 and upgrade it as you learn it's limitations and decide how you want it to perform. BTW, we love pictures (hint hint).

[svt923]

The good thing with selecting the Imax charger is once you get the control menus down, the interface is the same for like 75% of chargers on the market.