Notorious Lipo Batteries and Chargers

[TadB]

Hi Guys
Need a bit of help regarding lipo batteries and chargers. I,ve been running nitro monster trucks for years but am new to electric trucks. I,ve just bought my first electric truck a Notorious 6 bls and need to buy lipo batteries and a charger. Can anyone tell me a) is it best to run the truck on x2 3s batteries or just x1 6s, b) what is a good make of lipo battery, c) what is a good make of charger/discharger. Cheers TadB

 

[jondilly1974]

It’s easier to run a single 6S IMO but neither is right or wrong. Brands of lipos are going to depend on where you live. Not all brands are available world wide. My favorites are Turnigy Graphene Panther (speed runs), SMC (bashing), and Reaction (bashing). There is also CNHL (China Hobby) that is very popular too. That will be my next purchase when I need a pack. As far as chargers, that’s a really personal choice. Tons of great options.

 

[Slevin]

To echo @jondilly1974, the brands he mentioned are great. I’ve ran all of those and use CHNL for drones, among others, and they are great. I’ve also used Ovonic and Zeee which can be picked up on Amazon for cheaper and they are good for a cheaper option.

It seems like there are just as many brands of chargers as there are lipos and they all seem to be clones. Get one with great reviews and you’ll be fine. The biggest difference is AC vs DC. With AC, these chargers run an internal power supply and will be limited in wattage meaning they will charge slower, not that that is a bad thing. I prefer a 24v PS and running a DC charger so I can charge at 1c with my big lipos. This is going to be more expensive depending on what AC charger you are looking for.

 

[rflx]

With 2x3s, keep in mind that you need two charging ports or have to wait twice as long for charging. Charging up a single 3s Lipo takes just as long as charging up a 6s (if you have a solid charger).

Chargers are mostly terrible at discharging, and only deliver something like 5 watts. Its better than nothing, but takes half a day for a single lipo. I realized that I'm having to discharge quite frequently, so I ordered an ISDT FD100 discharger yesterday. Simple, cheap, and from what I have read does exactly what I need it to.

For charging, I am very happy with my G.T. Power V6 Duo. It plugs directly into a wall outlet and supplies 200W - which has been plenty for me. You can also run it on DC power from something like a car battery. The great user interface is a nice bonus. The only thing I dislike is that it doesn't have an off switch, you have to disconnect the power to turn it off. Still, would definitely buy again! If I ever need more power, I can hook up an external PSU to go up to 400W.

*Edit: Make sure your charger has enough balancing power. Otherwise the balancing will slow down your charging, no matter how much total power the charger can provide. 1.0A balancing current would be great, 0.5A is probably still alright.

 

[vpr5793]

My current favorite battery is a 6s 45C Turnigy Graphene. I've also got 2 Spektrum 6s 5000 50C batteries, but my opinion of them is degrading the more I use them.

I like to run Powerlab chargers because they are highly configurable, and tend to emphasize safety over everything else. They are more expensive and require a separate AC-DC power supply, though.

 

[olds97_lss]

I use dual packs because 2 of my 6S trucks require that, so instead of having single 6S for one truck and 2 3S for another, I just run 2 3S in all 3 of them. Doing that means I don't need as capable of a charger regarding watts to charge at 1C. My primary chargers are 4x10A/4x100W and 2x20A/2x200W. On the second charger, I use parallel plugs on it to charge 4 packs at a time on it as well as I typically charge up at least 8 packs to go out and run.

In my car, I also have a 2x12A/2x150W charger and a isdt q6+ with a dual plug for parallel charge or to use to top off my transmitter or receiver/glow plug in my nitros if need be.

 

[Jimbobjr]

I run a single 6s pack around 5000mah. I have a variety and have had good luck with all the brands I have tried. Hobbystar, Vant, HRB, and this year been using a lot of Ovonic batteries. They sell a 4500mah pack that goes on sale for 2 for 97$ free shipping (US). It’s a nice light weight pack for big air and I don’t notice a difference from it and my 5000mah bats. As stated above, if you plan to have some 3s trucks then run two packs.

There are lots of chargers, the highest toted one is the Hota d6. https://www.smc-racing.net/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=447 (you may need leads and a balance board) It looks really nice and if mine takes a dump I might try one. If you are like me and don’t want to turn charging batteries into a whole other hobby just get one you can take out of the box and plug it in. Chargers can get complicated with external power supplies and battery boards....I use the Sky RC dual. https://www.skyrc.com/Charger/D400_Charger It will charge two 6s packs at 9amps maybe more if I push it. (Comes with pretty much everything you need but I made some nice long leads) Most batteries will say right on them 2c charging which for a 5000mah battery is 10amps. 6000mah 12amp...my spare is a venom pro duo which is less power but again simple to use and if youre not in a hurry works just fine. https://www.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?I=VNRP0685. For the money the Hota would most likely be best, you may just need to buy leads and balance boards. When you buy your charger buy a lipo charging bag. Some take lipo safety to the extreme with safes and lockers...I just charge mine in a bag and store them in a cheap metal ammo can.

There’s a lot of lipo paranoia but tbh i had more problems blowing up NiCd and NiMh batteries on the charger and never had a lipo fire. Out of thousand and thousands of post and threads on here there are maybe two threads about it if that. Not counting millions of teenagers charger lipos in the world there just isn’t that many problems. if you don’t drive a nail through, saw in half or shoot them with a gun they are safe.
Good luck with the truck!
Jim

 

[Mickyfix]

• Mickyfix​

• Feb 21, 2022

Hi , I am a newbe . I have purchased a Thunder power Lithium/polimer super charger along with a thunder power li-poly v smart auto balancer TP-210v. I have also purchased a JST-XH/XT^) 40A Parallel charge board. The seven leads and socket that came with charge board don't fit in the auto balancer.I would appreciate any advice that any of your members can give .
.Kindest regards
Mick

 

[slick2500]

• Mickyfix​

• Feb 21, 2022

Hi , I am a newbe . I have purchased a Thunder power Lithium/polimer super charger along with a thunder power li-poly v smart auto balancer TP-210v. I have also purchased a JST-XH/XT^) 40A Parallel charge board. The seven leads and socket that came with charge board don't fit in the auto balancer.I would appreciate any advice that any of your members can give .
.Kindest regards
Mick

Can you post pictures of what you have? It sounds like you bought a bunch of super old charging tech as most modern chargers have a built in balancer and do not require an external balancer.