LIPO Batteries

[mhcrawler]

Hi all,I just got my first rock crawler (Axial AX10 ) and I am in the process of putting it together now. So far I have a Integy 55T motor, Hitec ultra torque steering servo and a Novak Rooster Crawler speed control . My question is which battery to use. I hear that a smaller compact battery is what to use for rock crawling and that LIPO gives you light weight and longer run times. What size mah do i use and what voltage for long run times and what brand do you you guys recommend ? Thats for the help.

By the way I have a LIPO charger already , the MRC Super Brain 977

 

[PROTOTYPE]

Holmes Hobbies

I just jumped into the Lipo world.

I have a 2100mAh 11.1v , VISLERO battery. I run it in my Super Hustler (with all the goodies) . Run time is good and hard ;-). I would say when I had my first comp with it, With hard driven like a comp I got about 30 mins strong. I did practice with the rig before hand so I actually did not finish the 3 supers course . Just 1.5 of them :-(. I would of had PLENTY of power , run time to finish the entire day if I did not practice before hand or the night before . :lol:

I'm not going to push you towards this battery , Cause this is MY FIRST . but so far its great for what it does. And can't beat the price. 8)

 

[Chris_The_Battery_Man]

Well you're going to want to make sure that you have an LVC(low voltage cut off) to keep the cells from dropping below 3v per cell. Then you will want a good lipo charger. I honestly would not trust the 977 to charge lipos right. I highly recommend the Hyperion Eos5i. As far as size goes, that is all based on where you want to put it and how many volts your esc can handle. Most people that run lipo's are going brushless because they all have the built in LVC and can handle more volts. Seens how you're running brushed I would have to say go with a 2/3A Nimh Elite1500 pack and go lipo when you go brushless. I am running an 8 cell Elite1500 pack on my tuber and get over an hour runtime with a mamba 25 and little outrunner.

 

[DANALLY]

I Run A Tlt With A 55t Axiom And A Rebel Speed Control. I Run A Thunderpower 7.4 Volt 2 Cell Lipo 2100 Mah. I Have Run Times Well Over An Hour On One Charge And Rarely See It Drop Below 7 Volts. It Has A Ton Of Power And Is Super Small.

I Split The Power Lead At The Speed Controller And Run My Servo Off Of The Same Battery At 7.4 Volts And A Y-harness. My Steering Has Never Been Better. A Great Saving Of Space And Weight.

 

[Grizzly4x4]

My advise, if you want to go LiPo is to go with Holmes Hobbies. The packs JRH sells have been used and tested in crawlers so there is no guess work. After you become more familiar with them you can experiment.

Because of the Rooster, you are limited to a 7.4V LiPo. I'd look at this one:
http://holmeshobbies.com/product.php?productid=92&cat=10&page=1

Like Chris said above, I would not recommend charging a LiPo with the 977. When I was shopping for a LiPo capable charger I was told by a few people that the MRC was not a good choice. I use a Triton2. You will also need a balancer. Some people say you don't need one, I was told you can use a LiPo for a while without balancing but at some point you should.

The low voltage cutoff on your Rooster should work fine but be sure to set it properly.

Another good option for you would be to run a battery pack like these six cell 2/3A packs:
http://www.tcscrawlers.com/home.php?cat=123

or contact Cheap Battery Packs for a 7 cell pack
www.cheapbatterypacks.com

I get an hour of run time on a 6 cell 1500mAh 2/3A pack and close to 2hours on a 7.4V 2100 mAh LiPo.

 

[mhcrawler]

Thanks for your help

Thanks for all your replies . I needed to have some good advice. I think i know what i want to do now!

 

[fishmasterdan]

I am running a 900 mah 3s 20c pack. In a 5 minute run I use roughly 300 mah out of the pack.

In another ax 10 were are running a 730 mah pack. My theory is any weight I can save above the tires I can put in the tires.

 

[offmyaxials]

li-po in ax10

i am using orion avionics 7.4v 1500mah with the same again hooked up in parallel in my ax10, this has given me 3000mah @7.4v. i am waiting for what seems like an eternity for my crawler brushless so in the mean time i am using a tamiya teu101 (£10 over here) and an integy lathe motor, with m-hi cells i got 45m run time under extreme driving so i now limit my run time to30m with the li-po until my bruhsless set up arrives, no problem what so ever

hope this helps."thumbsup"oma