gp100

I was just curious what brand of battery people think is best for their needs..

In my case, I use the 7.2v 5000mAh from Racers Edge.. I have used several different ones over time, and at least for me, Racers Edge seem to last longer and hold a charge better than some others.. I'm sure there are other good battery companies out there. But for me, these do seem to give me more run time by about 10 minutes longer on my tank.. And that's with everything running.. They appear to be great batteries. And I thought the 1 year warranty on them was really good..

Any opinions?

Rebellion13

I have used gens ace and turnigy batteries. For lipos I use turnigy nano techs, dirt cheap from hobbyking. Times have changed when I can get lipos cheaper then nimh.

Cheers
Wade

gp100

Very true,

Times have changed indeed.. I tried a few off brands of niMh batts at times, but quickly discovered in my attempt to save a few dollars, that it just wasn't worth it.. My attempts to buy a cheaper substitute only found me frustrated with batteries that wouldn't hold a charge, or fell far short of the run time. Then I was just browsing Amazon once, and found the Racers Edge batteries that had excellent reviews. Figured what the hell? I already burned up so much money on junk, what's one more? But these wound up to be great batteries.. $32 a pop though. But you really do get what you pay for at times.. Sometimes you just can't cheap out.

Never used a Turnigy battery.. But if they work good, then if I ever have an issue, I'll take a look at them. Thanks for the heads up. Always good to know.

TheBennyB

I've got a couple Hyperion Lipo and they perform well holding balance/consistent voltage, though their outer covering tends to wear quickly. For the most part I go Turnigy since i'm not one for battery maintenance, so if a Turnigy goes south no worries dumping it and grabbing another. For Nimh whatever is on sale and have heard of. Last Nimh purchase were Venom. Your absolutelly right on "you get what you pay for" especially in electronics.

ausf

Love the Turnigy Nanos for lipo (Ketten, Schwimm, Kubel) and Onyx NiMH for everything else. I even use the older 1800 NiCads to power my house deck lights.

Jeff489

My Feedback: (12)

I like the Hyperion 3800 LiFe batteries. Cost 40 bucks a pop. They work great, and have a longer life (i.e. more cycles) than LiPos.

Tried the Hobby King batteries, but they were all just Puff-O-Matics. 100% puff within 2 years. I even kept one stored at 40% in the refrigerator as a "control" group. Still puffed.

Rebellion13

^^^ not disputing your claim, but that seems unusual....still sucks either way. I have around 10 turnigy nano techs and so far only two have puffed in the last three years. So I guess that is a 20% failure rate, but around $15 or so a battery I can live with that. And besides I just fully charge the puffed ones and take them out to my pasture and shoot them and watch the real fireworks, so basically it’s a win win. Oh and I don’t even storage charge them, I charge em run em throw them in the ammo can.

cheers
Wade

Jeff489

My Feedback: (12)

Just to clarify, they were HK Turnigy LiFe batteries. I was in pretty deep, with many dozens of them in tanks, so I really hated to change brands. The puffage of some damaged the tank (puffed and spread the tub apart so much, the upper hull screw mounts were broken). Mainly Pershings and T-55s.

TheBennyB

This was my point with the Turnigy stuff, it's so cheap you just get new ones every year or two. Then you can just bash them. For me I always have the case where I think I'm going to run some r/c, charge batts, but something comes up and I can't. No way in hell I'm spending the time to discharge so they stay charged and go to crap in 2-3 yrs after the cycles of charged not used, top off-drained, charged-drained, etc.

ausf

Exactly. I buy them from Hobby King in batches, use the hell out of them (these are all smallish 2 cells for the record), but there is no way in hell I'm going to do any type of storage voltage, etc. I just watch that I don't go below 3 per cell.

I'm in this hobby for the fun, once things become either difficult, overly fussy or too precious that I feel I couldn't damage it, I'm out.

I know this guy who builds the most amazing 1/3 and 1/4 scale AC from scratch. It takes him about a year each, he only builds planes that he can have access to so he can measure and consistently wins awards with them. The details down to gauges on the IP, etc. are incredible and I've been going to modeling shows for about 15 years now, this man is by far the best out of static, RC or anything. That said, he flies them too. My first question was, "How?" and his answer was simple, as soon as he decides to build something, he knows the countdown clock is ticking. If he can spend that much time/money of something he assumes will be destroyed, there is no way I want to worry about an $800 tank.

philipat

Do the LiFe batteries work in HL or Taigen? Any concerns with using them instead of NiMH?

A quick search turns up 6.6V batteries. HL and Taigen use 7.2V batteries. I didn't expect them to work. Would be cool if they do.

Jeff489

My Feedback: (12)

Yes, I've tried them in both. Fully charged, they are about 6.9v. I suggest you try one as a test, and if it works for you, then acquire more.

Flora

I like to recommend Gens Ace LiPo packs. I think they're the best value for the money. I've used them for years. They last. Quality, balanced cells.

philipat

Cool, thanks for the info. I've seen all of the charger requirements (balancing, safe bag, etc) and operating concerns (low-voltage cutoff or alarm, etc) for the LiPo. Same thing for the LiFe batteries?

Jeff489

My Feedback: (12)

Life batteries are pretty safe. No fire worries like LiPo, so no fire bag, can or clay pot required. They have less voltage than a Lipo, but they work fine for all of our tanks. I use them in my rock crawler, buggy and boat too. They can short out just like any other battery, but I've had no problems with them for 5 years running now.

Just make sure they physically fit the HL battery compartment (like you would with any battery). My personal favorite is the Hyperion 3800mha battery. Rock solid. Hobby King LiFe batteries I've tried seem to puff up in 2 years, no matter what. The green Hobbico LiFe ones puff too, although not so fast as the HK. Hyperions seem to work better for me. I pay $40 each for them. Never a puff yet, and I've had one for 5 years.

philipat

Good to know. I'll have to try one. Thanks.

Will I need a balancer to charge them? Or, do they charge like NiMH batteries? Right now my chargers are designed for NiMH batteries.

gp100

On the topic of LiFE Batts,

I've actually been considering them myself.. I find them much safer than Lipo, and they give pretty good performance from what I've seen.

They do take up less real estate than a 6-cell NiMh battery. And every bit of space you can save in a tank already crammed with electronics, can help..

Just my opinion though. Your mileage may vary on this subject.

Jeff489

My Feedback: (12)

Yes, they use the typical charger leads PLUS a small balance tap lead connected to charge up a battery.

Uriwood

Thanks for your posting. I will try to use Life.