Where do you buy your Lipo batteries ?

[Nigel R]

On 26/11/2021 at 17:14, Paul Turner 2 said:

my understanding is that I will get import charges

 

The difference is duty kicking in at £135. You're liable for VAT either way.

 

Personally, I would assume HM Customs might take more interest in higher value parcels. You know, in the unlikely event that they're swamped with the increased workload these days.

[Nigel R]

 

On 27/11/2021 at 09:24, SIMON CRAGG said:

At least as good as Turnigy, no puffing up, and no import tax sillyness.

 

Do they have a UK warehouse?

[Paul De Tourtoulon]

5 minutes ago, Nigel R said:

 

The difference is duty kicking in at £135. You're liable for VAT either way.

 

Personally, I would assume HM Customs might take more interest in higher value parcels. You know, in the unlikely event that they're swamped with the increased workload these days.

May be in the UK but anything in France that comes from the UK is hammered by the customs and UPS,,, even for 9€ !

[SIMON CRAGG]

All the info here: https://chinahobbyline.com/

[Trevor Crook]

I heard a good report today of HRB batteries, available from Amazon. Anyone tried them?

 

Ditto for the Radient packs now sold by Rapid RC.

[leccyflyer]

2 hours ago, Trevor Crook said:

I heard a good report today of HRB batteries, available from Amazon. Anyone tried them?

 

Ditto for the Radient packs now sold by Rapid RC.

Yes - have tried the HRB batteries recently and was impressed with the service and pack build quality. Haven't had enough flights on them to comment on longevity, but they performed well in the few flights so far.

[Dickw]

3 hours ago, Trevor Crook said:

I heard a good report today of HRB batteries, available from Amazon. Anyone tried them?

 

Ditto for the Radient packs now sold by Rapid RC.

I bought 2  x Radient 3s 2700 packs and found both packs had an IR of 54 mOhms (yes, 18 mOhms per cell ?) even after cycling a few times. Not much use for the application I had in mind.

To replace them I bought 2 x HRB 3s 2600 packs - both of these packs have an IR of 9 mOhm per pack even after using a few times in anger. Good batteries so far ?.

 

I have no use for the Radients I bought - they would be OK for a transmitter or receiver, but not much use for a motor.

 

Dick

[Trevor Crook]

Thanks chaps. Disappointing news on the Radients, Dick. I'm looking at getting some 6s 4000 packs for my Freewing Venom, so they need to deliver decent punch. I probably won't fly the model again before the Spring, so I can deliberate for a couple of months yet!

[Capt Kremen]

I can further confirm Dick's findings re the 'Radians'. I bought two packs of 3000mAh 3S in 2200mAh size.

Yes, I was rather surprised and doubtful from the off about that description of capability. 

However, they fit exactly in the battery bay of my Vintage Model Company 'Cub'.

OK, they flew the model, no high current draw required but their IR was very high from the start and hasn't subsequently improved.

Still think there are only a few actual manufacturers and in reality the quality can be pot luck per batch, even of same brand/type.

Incidentally, I've just received some 4S & 3S packs from the Dutch warehouse of 'MotionRC'. Delivered by FedEx in 3days, under £135, no extras to pay AND cheaper than certain UK supplier. So far so good, decent IR and capacity. Seems to be as per pack label as well as holding up well for sports flying current draw.

[Frank Skilbeck]

I'm after a couple of 4000 6s batteries for an EDF, China Hobby Line have some in stock in the UK warehouse, but the notes on their page say they are not responsible for the batteries or any tax that maybe due once they have left their warehouse, so does that mean the warehouse is just a drop shipping facility and I might get stung for VAT and the collection fee.

 

Also anybody used the GNB batteries from Hobbyrc.co.uk?

[colin wray 2]

Ialso had bad results with 3s 2200 radient lipo had good results with hobbyking

 

[EvilC57]

Most of mine are Turnigy Nano-Tech from HobbyKing, many of which are several years old and still going strong. However, I recently bought two Radient 800mAh 3S lipos to replace the E-Flite ones which came with my Blade 200S heli. One of the new Radients lasted for two flights before swelling up, going over voltage on my charger, and nearly exploding - despite me always carefully checking that the charge rate setting on my charger is correct. And the other new Radient is already showing signs of being rather fragile, with flight times on the Blade 200 being below what I would expect; so won’t be buying them again in a hurry.

 

As I’ve already alluded to, two E-Flite lipos I’ve had also didn’t last very well, however I have some very old Hyperions which are still OK after more then 15 years.

[SIMON CRAGG]

I have been using CNHL 6s 3300mah 60c Lipos in my Hawk / Meteor / Skyfun, with issues at all. All around the 100 mph mark.

[Alan Hilton]

On 11/12/2021 at 23:27, Dickw said:

I bought 2  x Radient 3s 2700 packs and found both packs had an IR of 54 mOhms (yes, 18 mOhms per cell ?) even after cycling a few times. Not much use for the application I had in mind.

To replace them I bought 2 x HRB 3s 2600 packs - both of these packs have an IR of 9 mOhm per pack even after using a few times in anger. Good batteries so far ?.

 

I have no use for the Radients I bought - they would be OK for a transmitter or receiver, but not much use for a motor.

 

Dick

I have thought about measuring internal resistance but I don’t have a fixed resistor .What value would be appropriate for 6 s lipos .

[Dickw]

4 hours ago, Alan Hilton said:

I have thought about measuring internal resistance but I don’t have a fixed resistor .What value would be appropriate for 6 s lipos .

Many Lipo chargers will measure the IR of packs and individual cells for you, I know mine do. I can’t confirm the absolute accuracy of the measurements, but they are repeatable so are adequate for comparing packs, or for monitoring a single pack over time. Have you checked the manual for your charger?

 

When you say “appropriate value for 6s lipos” do you mean the IR of a 6s pack, or a suitable resistor to provide a load for measuring IR?

 

A decent 6s Lipo should have an IR of about 20 mOhm, and my very old well used packs are between 40 and 45 mOhm (but don’t forget IR is variable with temperature and state of charge as well as age).

 

If you mean for a fixed resistor load on a 6s Lipo then something in the 25 Ohm 25 watt to 12.5 ohm 50 watt range would work, or just put a couple of car head-light or tail-light bulbs in series. You need to measure the current and voltages anyway.

 

Dick

[Geoff S]

You don't need a resistor.  All you need to do is measure the terminal voltage on and off load for a fair approximation - so just run the motor.  The IR is given by the voltage difference divided by the current.

[Alan Hilton]

9 hours ago, Geoff S said:

You don't need a resistor.  All you need to do is measure the terminal voltage on and off load for a fair approximation - so just run the motor.  The IR is given by the voltage difference divided by the current.

Thanks Geoff I remember measuring ir in a level physics ,it was a bit of a performance 

[Jonathan M]

On 13/12/2021 at 09:37, EvilC57 said:

However, I recently bought two Radient 800mAh 3S lipos to replace the E-Flite ones which came with my Blade 200S heli. One of the new Radients lasted for two flights before swelling up, going over voltage on my charger, and nearly exploding - despite me always carefully checking that the charge rate setting on my charger is correct. And the other new Radient is already showing signs of being rather fragile, with flight times on the Blade 200 being below what I would expect; so won’t be buying them again in a hurry.

 

That's not good to hear.

 

The only Radient LiPos I have are a couple of single cell 700mAh ones for a new bungee 2mRES, so far unused.  Swelling won't be a problem on 1s, but will be interesting to compare their in-flight capacity and longevity to my old but still good Nanotech ones.

[PatMc]

On 13/12/2021 at 16:41, Dickw said:

 

A decent 6s Lipo should have an IR of about 20 mOhm, and my very old well used packs are between 40 and 45 mOhm (but don’t forget IR is variable with temperature and state of charge as well as age).

 

@Dickw Surely the capacity of the battery is also a major factor. If other variables are the same then I think the resistance should be inversely proportional the the capacity of the battery.

[Dickw]

11 hours ago, PatMc said:

@Dickw Surely the capacity of the battery is also a major factor. If other variables are the same then I think the resistance should be inversely proportional the the capacity of the battery.

You are correct of course, and I should have included capacity in my list.

 

Having said that, I have never bought different capacity packs of the same brand/time so have no way of confirming the actual effect of capacity on IR - i.e. "other variables are the same". If anyone does have such data I would be interested.

I usually buy based on what will physically fit and what currently has a good reputation for performance. Most of my packs seem to have come with broadly similar cell IR values leading me to believe that other manufacturing variables are at least as important as capacity - witness the IR values of the similar capacity Radient and HRB packs I quoted earlier. Definitely a case of the other variables not being the same ?.

 

Dick

 

 

[aidan mcatamney]

On 25/11/2021 at 12:10, Lima Hotel Foxtrot said:

Overlanders from my LAM Addlestone Model Centre. 

 

I've never had a problem with those batteries compared to the cheaper  turnigy ones I got from hobbyking. 100% worth the money. 

Totally agree.

[aidan mcatamney]

I've only ever used Overlander and Gens Ace and never had a problem.  I like them both.  

[Andy Gates]

I have just picked up 2 x Radient 3s 2700 packs after a club mates recommendation. After their first charge the cells came up with resistances between 1 & 3 mOhm.

Yet to use them, so I will let you know.

[Ian Whittaker]

I’ve bought a few cheap ones off eBay. Two were awful- I sent them back and got a full refund.  Another brand - Zeee - were good value for money in my opinion. Yes, they aren’t as good as my expensive packs but they’re about 50% of the cost. I don’t know if they’ll last as well long term but I use them in a EDF Hawk and helicopters, both current hungry beasts, and they’re fine. I’ve bought a few now, they’re ok for the money! (6S, 4000mAh). 

[Trevor Crook]

Ian, I had a look on Ebay and the only Zeee 6s 4000s at present are 25C rated. Is this rating the same as the ones you use?