Bought a new K8S and I think I'm having battery issues...

[Mercenary911]

Hey folks. So I recently bought a new Kraton 8s and the truck is awesome. I like it a lot...except for how freaking heavy she is Anyway...I think I'm having battery issues. I went a head and bought a IMARS D300 charger but I could only afford some Amazon batteries at the time. I went with the Zeee 6200 mAh 80c batteries and I've run into issues. The truck rips for a while and then it seems to hit LVC. It just stops wherever it's at and sits there beeping. The steering still works. The fans for the ESC and motor are running....but no throttle at all. If I power down the truck and then fire it back up again....it goes good for a bit and then the whole cycle starts over again....

I'm thinking that my Zeee batteries might be the issue. I'd like to buy some new LiPo's anyway just to have more time to bash between charges but I'm leaning towards buying actual Spektrum batteries instead of going with an off brand. My question is will my IMARS D300 charger actually charge Spektrum Smart batteries without the balance lead or do I need to buy a Spektrum charger as well?

 

[King blitz]

Hey folks. So I recently bought a new Kraton 8s and the truck is awesome. I like it a lot...except for how freaking heavy she is Anyway...I think I'm having battery issues. I went a head and bought a IMARS D300 charger but I could only afford some Amazon batteries at the time. I went with the Zeee 6200 mAh 80c batteries and I've run into issues. The truck rips for a while and then it seems to hit LVC. It just stops wherever it's at and sits there beeping. The steering still works. The fans for the ESC and motor are running....but no throttle at all. If I power down the truck and then fire it back up again....it goes good for a bit and then the whole cycle starts over again....

I'm thinking that my Zeee batteries might be the issue. I'd like to buy some new LiPo's anyway just to have more time to bash between charges but I'm leaning towards buying actual Spektrum batteries instead of going with an off brand. My question is will my IMARS D300 charger actually charge Spektrum Smart batteries without the balance lead or do I need to buy a Spektrum charger as well?

I allways heard spectrum smart batteries need a spectrum smart charger.i think it's also because they both share the same plugs .lipo batterys should all be balanced.. as for your kraton I believe it's going into low voltage cut off mode..your ESC is probably still in default settings.you can change that .get your self a battery cell checker with a alarm and set it to 3.8 and plug it into your balance port of one of the lipos .I run two of them .when the lipos hit 3.8 ,the alarm goes off and you won't run the chance of ruining your lipos .. get a heat gun .this helps knowing what your temps are also motor and ESC..

When I run my kraton I get about 20 minutes and I don't do any bashing like jumps . basically high speed passes

 

[lipo-joe]

Why not invest in Gens@ce G-Tech smart batteries?
I have been very impressed with the D300 charger and have been phasing out my older LiPo packs with G-Tech smart batteries.

 

[Mercenary911]

When I run my kraton I get about 20 minutes and I don't do any bashing like jumps . basically high speed passes

Which batteries are you running King Blitz?

Why not invest in Gens@ce G-Tech smart batteries?
I have been very impressed with the D300 charger and have been phasing out my older LiPo packs with G-Tech smart batteries.

The D300 charger is great. Seems to work just fine and I like how you can adjust the parameters to suit each type of battery. Great charger for sure.

As for the gensacearespammers batteries....I like them too and have heard great things about them. I might bite the bullet and pay the money for a couple of them. You can never have too many batteries...right?

Hopefully my truck likes them too. Gotta be better than the Zeee brand batteries.

 

[King blitz]

I'm running 2x 3s 5200 80c Goldbatts.nothing speacial but I've been using this brand for over 10 years and never had one puff up on me and they are reliable and affordable . I have from 2s 3s and 4s multiple packs I use them in all my rigs .I'm very happy with the quality..I charge mine allways slow never fast charge

 

[Hammer Down]

More mAh!!!!!!

 

[Moirae]

6000 mah is nothing in a kraton 8s tbh.

 

[hobo]

I use centro 7600 mah 4s lipos only used them four times but they seem ok and not too expensive

 

[KnowAir]

I had basically the same issue with the the Zeee batteries in my K8S. I bought a pair of 4s 120C 7200mah, ran several cycles on them in a stock Xmaxx, no problemo. Put them in the K8S, fell flat on their arse, just like you described. They were fine, until I hit full throttle for more than a second, then the throttle would cut out. Sometimes it would even go into reduced speed, like when a battery first hits LVC, you have like half power.. but, with mine, if I let the truck sit for a few seconds, it would take right off again like all was fine. I sent the Zeee's back for a refund. Zeee was quick to refund me, so I won't condemn them by any means. I've had good luck with their batteries up until that, and I have a bag full of Zeee batteries.
I do own a pair of G1 Spektrum 4s 100C 5000mah batteries, the G1 have a balance connector, G2 do not. The G1 Spektrum can be charged on any lipo charger, G2 requires a Spektrum "smart charger" with proprietary connectors.. I won't say they aren't good, but there are better for the price IMO. Such as Gens or SMC.
The Spektrum 5000's I have power the K8S just fine, short run times, but they do not drop out at all like the Zeee's did.
I feel obligated to add that the 2 4s 5000 Spektrums I have were part of a Spektrum 8s "power pack", or whatever Spektrum calls it.. so it included the Spektrum S2100 2 channel charger. It worked fine for a month, then lost output at channel 2. My brother gifted the power pack to me after I turned him onto the sale they were on.. he also bought one of the power packs for himself. Since my bro had gifted it to me, I didn't want to hassle him about the charger with a dead channel.. I just continued to use it as a one channel charger. Fluke? Maybe.. but guess what? His Spektrum S2100 went completely dark after 6 months, and he has 3 of those chargers, so it didn't get much actual use before it quit. I cannot recommend the Spektrum chargers, I will never buy one, that's for sure. Especially given how pricey they are.

 

[Hector_Fisher]

Yeah your batteries need more oomph.

A buddy is running two 5500mah 4s hoovo's in his xmaxx and has the same issue. Run times aren't very long before LVC. I'd be shooting for 8000mah, 100c+. If you can return the zeee's, i'd be tempted to do so. I know that leaves you with no batteries for a while, but i think it would be worth it in the long run to get some more zing for your truck.

Alternately, you could try gearing down the truck in the mean time to see if that eases up on the power draw and make the batteries last slightly longer. Not the optimal path, but just throwing out some other options.

 

[KnowAir]

More mAh!!!!!!

Yep!! Higher mah capacity can help mask overstated C ratings.. which ALL manufacturers claim these days. Even TRX, they claim 25C..which is closer to the truth than most, LOL.

Yeah your batteries need more oomph.

A buddy is running two 5500mah 4s hoovo's in his xmaxx and has the same issue. Run times aren't very long before LVC. I'd be shooting for 8000mah, 100c+. If you can return the zeee's, i'd be tempted to do so. I know that leaves you with no batteries for a while, but i think it would be worth it in the long run to get some more zing for your truck.

Alternately, you could try gearing down the truck in the mean time to see if that eases up on the power draw and make the batteries last slightly longer. Not the optimal path, but just throwing out some other options.

I myself am not too concerned with actual run time, anything over 10 minutes is acceptable to me. I run those 5000 Spektrum's I previously mentioned in my Xmaxx(stock) along with a pair of Socokin 6500 100c all the time, plenty for the Xmaxx. I bought a pair of CNHL G+ 6000 70C for the K8S, they were fine for several cycles, but now I have a cell dropping out in one of them. After a run to LVC, which I think is under 10 minutes, one cell is down to 3.2-3.3 while all others are near 3.7v.. bummer. At least they were cheap, $100 for the pair. What sucks is the G+ 6000's are an odd shape, so I have no use for one of them. Won't fit in any of other rigs..

 

[Mercenary911]

Yeah your batteries need more oomph.

A buddy is running two 5500mah 4s hoovo's in his xmaxx and has the same issue. Run times aren't very long before LVC. I'd be shooting for 8000mah, 100c+. If you can return the zeee's, i'd be tempted to do so. I know that leaves you with no batteries for a while, but i think it would be worth it in the long run to get some more zing for your truck.

Alternately, you could try gearing down the truck in the mean time to see if that eases up on the power draw and make the batteries last slightly longer. Not the optimal path, but just throwing out some other options.

I just bit the bullet and bought 2 Gens-----11000 mAh a couple of minutes ago. Found a good deal on them so I pulled the trigger. Just gotta be patient as they're being shipped from across the country....

 

[LazloZ28]

SMC 11300mah 150c. Massive batteries but they handle the amp draw and last 30-40 minutes.

 

[KnowAir]

SMC 11300mah 150c. Massive batteries but they handle the amp draw and last 30-40 minutes.
View attachment 363959

OMG!! The SMC make the Hoovo look tiny!! LOL! I was soo close to pulling the trigger on the SMC 10600's @$75 a piece myself, but after seeing/hearing about how badly my bro disliked his 9000's (Zeee), I went with a pair of 8000's. The 9000's are too heavy he says, and I can believe it.
It really depends on how we use them as to what tickles our fancy. I want handling, and willing to sacrifice runtime to get it.
Enjoy brother!!

 

[Snacktime]

Like other I think your seeing voltage drop from to much current draw, need batteries that can sustain higher draw. I would turn down your throttle to 75% and see if you get through a set of battery. The other side is the ESC will have to work harder as the voltage drops since the amps climb.

I found that Zeee, Ovonic, Hoovo, Goldbat really don't perform well in my MT8. Once you have enough weight to create enough current draw the low price batteries are noticeably slower and motor temps are much higher. I have 2 mid range CNHL packs that are out of this world better.

 

[KnowAir]

Like other I think your seeing voltage drop from to much current draw, need batteries that can sustain higher draw. I would turn down your throttle to 75% and see if you get through a set of battery. The other side is the ESC will have to work harder as the voltage drops since the amps climb.

I found that Zeee, Ovonic, Hoovo, Goldbat really don't perform well in my MT8. Once you have enough weight to create enough current draw the low price batteries are noticeably slower and motor temps are much higher. I have 2 mid range CNHL packs that are out of this world better.

I agree, I've always gotten away with the lower spec batteries since my rigs are generally stock, plus I rarely hit full throttle for more than a split second. Once I did hold the throttle down though, the Zeee's in my K8S fell flat off the mark..
Interestingly, I can't find the SMC HCL-HP 11300 on SMC site. No matter, too much battery for me. I've decided 8000 is my limit (high), 6000 (low).
I'm running a track though, so I don't have the space to really hit top speeds.

 

[Mercenary911]

I think I got enamored with the high speed runs Rich Duperbash does with his 8s trucks on his channel. I was hoping to do the same...without all the crashing and destruction I thought that as long as I had batteries with a high enough discharge rate then I'd be fine. Lesson learned. 8s trucks need power and decent batteries.

 

[KnowAir]

I think I got enamored with the high speed runs Rich Duperbash does with his 8s trucks on his channel. I was hoping to do the same...without all the crashing and destruction I thought that as long as I had batteries with a high enough discharge rate then I'd be fine. Lesson learned. 8s trucks need power and decent batteries.

I feel like it comes down to how you run it more than the size of the rig, though higher ah batteries can help buffer the ripple effect created by heavy amp loads in batteries with questionable or lower "C" ratings. In situations where the throttle isn't being held full, or near full for extended periods, the demand isn't as high so the lower quality batteries can suffice for some (me). I can respect everyone's right to use as they see fit, and equip accordingly. Thankfully my use doesn't require the big investment that others do.

 

[ScaleJunkie]

https://www.smc-racing.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=67_96
You won't regret it. I've been running the same 6s baytery for 5 years, HARD.

Yep!! Higher mah capacity can help mask overstated C ratings.. which ALL manufacturers claim these days. Even TRX, they claim 25C..which is closer to the truth than most, LOL.


I myself am not too concerned with actual run time, anything over 10 minutes is acceptable to me. I run those 5000 Spektrum's I previously mentioned in my Xmaxx(stock) along with a pair of Socokin 6500 100c all the time, plenty for the Xmaxx. I bought a pair of CNHL G+ 6000 70C for the K8S, they were fine for several cycles, but now I have a cell dropping out in one of them. After a run to LVC, which I think is under 10 minutes, one cell is down to 3.2-3.3 while all others are near 3.7v.. bummer. At least they were cheap, $100 for the pair. What sucks is the G+ 6000's are an odd shape, so I have no use for one of them. Won't fit in any of other rigs..

10 mins! My Noto runs an hr at a time, I know the k8s is a different animal, but I would hate only running 10 mins at a time.

 

[KnowAir]

https://www.smc-racing.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=67_96
You won't regret it. I've been running the same 6s baytery for 5 years, HARD.


10 mins! My Noto runs an hr at a time, I know the k8s is a different animal, but I would hate only running 10 mins at a time.

An hour? C'mon.. I find that hard to believe. Regardless, I like to turn and jump with my rigs, 10000mah batteries don't fair well in that regard. Then there's wear and tear. Nah, I already went larger than I like on capacity for the K8S. in 2,3,4 and 6s rigs I run 5-6ah, which I find perfect.
TBH, after a 10 minute session on my K8s the motor is temping at around 140f in 70 degree ambient temps. Be careful with those extended runtimes, it can bite ya!
Happy bashing brother!!