Kraton Batt & Charger Options

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cronanzone

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Arrma RC's
  2. Senton 6s
Need some advise, just bought 2 new trucks - Kraton, and Senton. They are going under the christmas tree....I need to find a good charger that can handle multiple bat's and has good speed. Also...I need battery help, want batteries that can be switched between the 2 trucks - I don't know if fitment will be issue between the 2 rigs? Im leaning towards four(4) 2s batt's , and four(4) 3s batt's.....me and my son will be starting out w/the 4s set ups...then going 6s as we get comfortable with the trucks. which could be a while as this will be his first "real" truck...and I haven't had one in 20 years. Hope I made the right choices on these 2.....got both for 750 total over @ tower, felt that was the best deal for 2 trucks that are diff enough to have some variety but also can run together in similar terrain etc.

So, whats gunna be best bang for my bucks getting all of the batt's n charger, would be nice to get all @ same place...

Thanks in advance!
 
Congrats on the new RC's man! I've never owned an Arrma, but I ordered a Kraton from Tower Hobbies on Friday so it should be here in a few days. The Kraton has some really high praise and all the videos I've found have all been very positive. That Senton looks badass too. I currently run a Slash 4x4 so I love the trophy trucks.

The batteries I run are called gensacearespammers. They offer a 2S for only $28 and a 3S for $48. They have awesome reviews on Amazon and so far I love them. Best bang for the buck I've found. I recently bought a new duo lipo charger. It can charge 2 batteries at up to 12 amps. Here's a link to [Upgrade] Keenstone UP120AC 240W Duo Dual 2 Port (2x 12Amps, 2x 120Watts) AC/DC Balancing Battery Multi-Chemistry Multicharger for LiPo LiHV Li-ion LiFe NiCd NiMh Pb with 300Watt Power Supply https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HB7G6I4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_iA5tyb9X30CF6

Let us know how you like both your RC's!
 
What is the budget for batteries?

If you only have the 2 RC's, I would say get some 4s bricks and 6s bricks - save some trouble and hassle of needing 2 batteries charged for every run.

As far as what charger, I can fully recommend the charger I run... :) I have a Reaktor 2x 300w. Link to my review. Link to the Charger. There is also a 4 channel version. with my charger, I can charger 2 4s packs at 20A (if the battery can handle it) or 2 6s packs at 13A. Assuming 5000mah packs this would charge a 4s pack in about 20 minutes, and a 6s pack in about 40 minutes.

This is a DC only charger, so you will need a good, high power, power supply (PS). Lots of people convert 12v server PS to charger duty - used Server PSU's can be had for about $25, or buy them already converted for about $40.

If you really want to go the 2s/3s route, I would for sure look at a 4-channel charger. Hitec makes a great 4-channel charger. 50w/5a per channel will limit the charge power - about an hour per battery is the best it will do. Old version. New version. The pold version has been around for years, and is considered rock solid - loved by many. The new version allows power sharing between channels, and can take DC power to allow up to 100w per channel - a great option for 4s packs.

For batteries - I would recommend SMC - great batteries, great pricing. Both the Kraton and Senton can use the same batteries, so no worries there. I would say try to get at least 5000mah / 45c, but more mah is better if the budget allows.
 
Kalani938 said:
Congrats on the new RC's man! I've never owned an Arrma, but I ordered a Kraton from Tower Hobbies on Friday so it should be here in a few days. The Kraton has some really high praise and all the videos I've found have all been very positive. That Senton looks badass too. I currently run a Slash 4x4 so I love the trophy trucks.

The batteries I run are called gensacearespammers. They offer a 2S for only $28 and a 3S for $48. They have awesome reviews on Amazon and so far I love them. Best bang for the buck I've found. I recently bought a new duo LiPo charger. It can charge 2 batteries at up to 12 amps. Here's a link to [Upgrade] Keenstone UP120AC 240W Duo Dual 2 Port (2x 12Amps, 2x 120Watts) AC/DC Balancing Battery Multi-Chemistry Multicharger for LiPo LiHV Li-ion LiFe NiCd NiMH Pb with 300Watt Power Supply https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HB7G6I4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_iA5tyb9X30CF6

Let us know how you like both your RC's!
Click to expand...

Thanks man, yeah im pretty stoked .... think these are going to be a hit for sure. Anything that gets me out with my son is a great thing - I think the thing im looking forward to most, oddly enough, is actually fixing and maintaining them - lol. I love wrenching on things and I sold my hot rod about 6 months ago and I cant stand having something to tinker with. Total geek, I gotta mod list already going for these trucks, lol. Thanks for the info on the batteries / charger - im a big amazon person so I like the fact that I can get them there. I love that slash, too...I was on the fence as to which one to go with, was looking real hard at the platinum edition. Look forward to your feedback on the new Kraton, thanks again for the reply and advise!
 
Jerry-rigged said:
What is the budget for batteries?

If you only have the 2 RC's, I would say get some 4s bricks and 6s bricks - save some trouble and hassle of needing 2 batteries charged for every run.

As far as what charger, I can fully recommend the charger I run... :) I have a Reaktor 2x 300w. Link to my review. Link to the Charger. There is also a 4 channel version. with my charger, I can charger 2 4s packs at 20A (if the battery can handle it) or 2 6s packs at 13A. Assuming 5000mah packs this would charge a 4s pack in about 20 minutes, and a 6s pack in about 40 minutes.

This is a DC only charger, so you will need a good, high power, power supply (PS). Lots of people convert 12v server PS to charger duty - used Server PSU's can be had for about $25, or buy them already converted for about $40.

If you really want to go the 2s/3s route, I would for sure look at a 4-channel charger. Hitec makes a great 4-channel charger. 50w/5a per channel will limit the charge power - about an hour per battery is the best it will do. Old version. New version. The pold version has been around for years, and is considered rock solid - loved by many. The new version allows power sharing between channels, and can take DC power to allow up to 100w per channel - a great option for 4s packs.

For batteries - I would recommend SMC - great batteries, great pricing. Both the Kraton and Senton can use the same batteries, so no worries there. I would say try to get at least 5000mah / 45c, but more mAh is better if the budget allows.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was looking at those larger packs, too. I don't anticipate buying any other RC cars, at least short term so that is definately a good point regarding the lager batt's. Awesome review on the charger btw - very well put together, thanks for that. Def leaning towards that charger. I got on SMC a few days ago when I was researching batt's and I couldnt seem to find them in stock on their site - at least @ that time they are "pre order" status - that pretty normal for them - seemed like most of the options I was looking at were not avail? I wanna make sure I get them in by Christmas, so I don't know if I can go with an option on backorder. Thanks again for the reply and great write up on the charger, Jerry.
 
Jerry-rigged said:
What is the budget for batteries?

If you only have the 2 RC's, I would say get some 4s bricks and 6s bricks - save some trouble and hassle of needing 2 batteries charged for every run.

As far as what charger, I can fully recommend the charger I run... :) I have a Reaktor 2x 300w. Link to my review. Link to the Charger. There is also a 4 channel version. with my charger, I can charger 2 4s packs at 20A (if the battery can handle it) or 2 6s packs at 13A. Assuming 5000mah packs this would charge a 4s pack in about 20 minutes, and a 6s pack in about 40 minutes.

This is a DC only charger, so you will need a good, high power, power supply (PS). Lots of people convert 12v server PS to charger duty - used Server PSU's can be had for about $25, or buy them already converted for about $40.

If you really want to go the 2s/3s route, I would for sure look at a 4-channel charger. Hitec makes a great 4-channel charger. 50w/5a per channel will limit the charge power - about an hour per battery is the best it will do. Old version. New version. The pold version has been around for years, and is considered rock solid - loved by many. The new version allows power sharing between channels, and can take DC power to allow up to 100w per channel - a great option for 4s packs.

For batteries - I would recommend SMC - great batteries, great pricing. Both the Kraton and Senton can use the same batteries, so no worries there. I would say try to get at least 5000mah / 45c, but more mAh is better if the budget allows.
Click to expand...


I just picked up 2 of these - http://www.smc-racing.net/index.php?route=product/product&path=67_96&product_id=398

thinking about getting 2 of these, w/shipping (coming from hong kong) it works out to 2 for 207.49 https://hobbyking.com/en_us/graphene-6000mah-6s-65c-w-xt90.html

Thoughts? any fitment issues with either of these in either Senton or Kraton?

Thanks!

cronanzone said:
I just picked up 2 of these - http://www.smc-racing.net/index.php?route=product/product&path=67_96&product_id=398

thinking about getting 2 of these, w/shipping (coming from hong kong) it works out to 2 for 207.49 https://hobbyking.com/en_us/graphene-6000mah-6s-65c-w-xt90.html

Thoughts? any fitment issues with either of these in either Senton or Kraton?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I went ahead and pulled the trigger on those 2 6s Graphene that were on sale....vid below of a guy running those Graphene 6s 6000 in his Kraton and Senton, he did say he had to remove some "lugs" to get them to fit....he didnt really show the process though - but it didn't sound like he "moded" anything but that the tray has some kinda inserts that are designed to come out? Not sure as Ive never looked at these up close...

Main thing is I hope I can easily switch back and forth between the smaller SMC 4s (5.47 inch long, 1.89 inch tall) vs the bigger 6s Graphene (6.69 inch long, 2.72 inches tall), wondering if after I remove the "lugs" in the tray to fit the 6s the guy was mentioning in this vid @ 7:13 mark will the SMC's then be prone to moving around if im beating on it etc?

Hope im over thinking this...

Thanks!

 
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The graphene packs in your link are long - 170mm. I am not sure if they will fit even with the lugs clipped out.

The lugs are in the front of the battery tray, next to the radio box. Look at 7:14 in the video above - you can see them. They are not designed to be removed, I just clipped them off with some tin-snips. With them off, the battery length is still limited by the radio box. My ROAR sized packs have room to roam - I will normally mount them all the way forward, and cinch the straps down as tight as I can. I don't think they move... LOL
 
Jerry-rigged said:
The graphene packs in your link are long - 170mm. I am not sure if they will fit even with the lugs clipped out.

The lugs are in the front of the battery tray, next to the radio box. Look at 7:14 in the video above - you can see them. They are not designed to be removed, I just clipped them off with some tin-snips. With them off, the battery length is still limited by the radio box. My ROAR sized packs have room to roam - I will normally mount them all the way forward, and cinch the straps down as tight as I can. I don't think they move... LOL
Click to expand...

Well, I'll have to hope it all works out because they already shipped those batteries from Hong Kong....

Hopefully I can modify it for correct fit, I'll have to do it to both trucks though because I know my son is going to want to use both of them and I'm not gonna let them put a 6S in that until he is proven he can handle it with 4S

The guy in the video that I linked has videos of him running both the kraton and they senton with that same 6s graphene brick - so I know it's possible, question is just how much I'll have to Jerry rig it, Jerry. Hopefully not much.... and hopefully the smaller ones won't be too loose after the modification

Fingers crossed....
 
This is where I get all of my batteries:

http://www.smc-racing.net/

They don't advertise it but they install XT90 connectors if you ask on the order comments.

This is my charger:

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXFTFV&P=ML

I'm very happy with it. They make a 4 channel too but I'd rather have 2 of the 2 channels than 1 4 channel because if a channel fries, I only have to replace half the chargers instead of all 4 and I also still have a way to charge packs while I wait on the replacement.
 
I like to use a powerful charger and about a 24 volt power supply. I like to parallel charge my batteries off one charger but you have to follow a few rules for that.(easy to learn) I go to Progressive RC for everything. You can ask any question you want and they will answer it. If you order something...chances are, it will be at your house the next day if its in stock. Get the most powerful setup that you can. Progressive has everything fused and thermal fused....All the harnesses you need etc. Top notch place for chargers. Not having a good powerful charger sucks..

I'm also positive that a Turnigy battery is rated at 5C charge rate... So a 6S 6000 mah can be charged at 30 amps. You need some power to do that.

You can only do this with the same cell count batteries. or you will need another port or another charger to do a another cell count.

This is extreme but I prefer to charge about 4 batteries at once and always supervised. If you let the batteries sit on that parallel board..they will all equalize in a few minutes also. You can charge different mAh packs within reason as long as they are the same cell count.

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Vanning said:
I like to use a powerful charger and about a 24 volt power supply. I like to parallel charge my batteries off one charger but you have to follow a few rules for that.(easy to learn) I go to Progressive RC for everything. You can ask any question you want and they will answer it. If you order something...chances are, it will be at your house the next day if its in stock. Get the most powerful setup that you can. Progressive has everything fused and thermal fused....All the harnesses you need etc. Top notch place for chargers. Not having a good powerful charger sucks..

I'm also positive that a Turnigy battery is rated at 5C charge rate... So a 6S 6000 mAh can be charged at 30 amps. You need some power to do that.

You can only do this with the same cell count batteries. or you will need another port or another charger to do a another cell count.

This is extreme but I prefer to charge about 4 batteries at once and always supervised. If you let the batteries sit on that parallel board..they will all equalize in a few minutes also. You can charge different mAh packs within reason as long as they are the same cell count.

View attachment 4411
View attachment 4427
Click to expand...


Many thanks for the recommendations. I took your advice and opted for a 24 V set up. although I don't intend on racing these cars, I want do to maximize the time my son and I are actually using them -- not charging batteries.
I ended up going with the ISDT 620 with a 600 W 24 V PS. I went with progressiverc, they really seem to be a fantastic company as you indicated. Chad was super helpful over there. my only disappointment is they did not have in stock a 6X parallel cord with xt90. I could've of course bought the XT 60 cord and changed at all the connectors, but I need to have this thing ready Christmas morning and will not have the time next week. So, I ended up buying a balance board with multiple XT90s on it from Amazon that already had an XT60 Male on it so I can plug directly into the ISDT charger. all in all I have about $210 in the set up and should be able to charge these larger batteries safely and relatively quickly.

The biggest concern I have at this time after purchasing all the stuff is that I'm afraid I have purchased too big of batteries in the 6S variant (graphene 6000). My son really wants to jump these trucks hard, and I simply wasn't considering the added weight factor of those 170mm bricks, they are 2.37 pounds! hoping that this added weight doesn't render them useless in the air....or cause excessive damage because the load., or throw the balance off etc. Esp on the senton as its smaller than Kraton. Thoughts?

At this point I'm pot committed, so I will have to hope for a good outcome I guess.
 
I use a parallel board for my kids 2S rigs. i got them a bunch of 2S packs. With enough power supply and a good charger, it's great. I like to plug all the batteries into the board, main plug only, and let them sit a few mins. You will find that they all become the same voltage. Then plug in the balancing plugs. Then I start the charger. But make sure they are all in about the same state of charge or discharge. In other words... don't put a fully charged bat on with a full discharged one. Just a good practice. Progressive rc has some insane setups. I hate to spend on charging, but in reality.... it makes the hobby more fun.

In my opinion, the batteries you got look a little large...the brand is excellent but you may have to modify. Make sure it's snug, use high quality Velcro on the bottom of the tray, and the battery. Watch that the battery doesn't contact the center diff gear. I double side tape a pice of plastic to the side of my batt. Where it may contact the gear.
 
Another great site to buy batteries from is dirtcheaprc.com Very well priced for high mAh and C ratings. I use the Vant ones. They even solder on the connector of your choice.
 
Vanning said:
I use a parallel board for my kids 2S rigs. i got them a bunch of 2S packs. With enough power supply and a good charger, it's great. I like to plug all the batteries into the board, main plug only, and let them sit a few mins. You will find that they all become the same voltage. Then plug in the balancing plugs. Then I start the charger. But make sure they are all in about the same state of charge or discharge. In other words... don't put a fully charged bat on with a full discharged one. Just a good practice. Progressive rc has some insane setups. I hate to spend on charging, but in reality.... it makes the hobby more fun.

In my opinion, the batteries you got look a little large...the brand is excellent but you may have to modify. Make sure it's snug, use high quality Velcro on the bottom of the tray, and the battery. Watch that the battery doesn't contact the center diff gear. I double side tape a pice of plastic to the side of my batt. Where it may contact the gear.
Click to expand...

So I got the trucks in and looked @ the bat trays, those 6s 6000 mah are gunna be too long, I could mod the tray to fit - but i really don't want to. I think im gunna return them (they haven't arrived yet), and buy something else.

I did get my SMC's in and they fit nice (after moving one of the lugs in the tray), I also had a question on these SMCs I bought - are they ok i.e 90c 131 amp etc.?

Would like to just get more from SMC, but they only have the 3600 mah in stock, and I really want the 4300 minimum. Ideally, I would like to find a 5000 in stock somewhere at a reasonable price....not having much luck, though.

Jernberg06 said:
Another great site to buy batteries from is dirtcheaprc.com Very well priced for high mAh and C ratings. I use the Vant ones. They even solder on the connector of your choice.
Click to expand...

Thanks - checking them out now....
 
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RcJuice has some perfect batteries for the Kraton. They have the Kraton in their shop so they know what works, I have a 5S 5200 mAh pack from them and they installed XT-90 for me....I changed it to XT-90S anyway. Some of my favorite packs, believe it or not, are Turnigy. I have been running 3 of them for a few year now. I like the Nano Tec and the Heavy Duty's. They can be hard to find in hard cases but they are out there. I get them from Hobby King. For 6S I change the connectors to XT-90S anyway all from Hobby-King . It's the anti-spark connector. I love not hearing the big pop when connecting a 6S. Here is a 6S I run in my Kraton.

https://hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy-heavy-duty-series-5000mah-6s-60c-LiPo-pack.html

My next batteries will be the Graphine's. If you look at the charge rate, its 2C for the Heavy Duty Turnigy and a similar Graphine says 10C charge rate. Jeez !!! This all could be a slick numbers game they play because I've been over charging the Heavy Duty's real fast for 3 years. But I feel better doing high power charges on batteries that are advertised as capable of taking a high charge rate.

A high C discharge is always good...the battery has low internal resistance. In reality, you only need 40-50 as minimum in a Kraton on 6S....I ran mine on 35C for a while . With 4S...more discharge is better. Overkilled discharge rate is always good...stay above the minimum and purchase as much as you can.

If you want to parallel charge on a parallel board worth of packs....its better to have a strong charger. So say you have 4 5000 mAh's on there and you send 20 Amps. Each pack will be charged at 1C. It will take some more time but you charged 4 packs nice and smooth. 1C charge rates will make the packs last a long time. With my Kraton, I do 2 6S at 30 amps. 15 amps each. My Kraton will run over 1/2 hour each pack.

It's also nice to have a pack that can take a 10C charge. It charges real fast....I find it better not to use a parallel board for one pack. I use a dedicated cable all fused on a single balancing board with one connector for doing that.

Sometimes you just want to charge on pack fast and just go. Some chargers have a program for High power, fast charge.
 
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