Kraton Need suggestions on lipo battery, chargers and storage

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hailo

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Hi all. Well, I am officially an owner of the ARRMA Kraton v3 from Tower Hobbies. I would like some suggestions on what batteries to use and which is the best recommended charger and storage kit. I would like to only use 4s. Thank you in advance for all your advices.
 
@hailo welcome to ArrmaForum and congrats on your new Arrma Kraton!

There are a ton of great LiPo batteries and chargers out there. I prefer SMC LiPo batteries but you can see what others recommend in our
What's your "budget" LiPo of choice? thread. As for recommendations on battery chargers check out Recommend me a battery charger.

I firmly believe everyone who uses LiPo batteries should be charging them in a LiPo Sack, be sure to get one.

To store your LiPo battery safely I would recommend using a metal ammo box. These can be purchased pretty cheaply and usually cheaper still if you have an old army depot store near by.
 
For batteries, most all of mine are SMC or Hobbyking.

For storage, 2x on the metal ammo can. get the 50cal size can. A "ROAR" size battery will perfectly fit sideways in a 50cal can. Remove the lid gasket, cut on one of the short sides, and reinstall the short piece in the front of the lid (acts as a spring for the latch)

For charging, DO NOT get a 50w charger. You really NEED 100w minimum for 4s. Personally I charge at 2c most of the time, so make that 200w. Also, that is wattage per channel, don't get confused by "200w" 4 channel chargers that actually only have 50w per channel.
 
I think many people run 2x2S or 2x3S packs in their trucks as well, so if you intend on doing that, going for at least a 2 port charger would probably suit you best.
 
I think many people run 2x2S or 2x3S packs in their trucks as well, so if you intend on doing that, going for at least a 2 port charger would probably suit you best.
I'd say if you are going 4s or 6s bricks, get a 2 port. If you want 2x2s or 2x3s, then a 4 port... LOL I hate waiting on batteries to charge.
 
I'd say if you are going 4s or 6s bricks, get a 2 port. If you want 2x2s or 2x3s, then a 4 port... LOL I hate waiting on batteries to charge.
I use 2 chargers and a Para board.
 
You might consider multiple single or dual chargers rather than getting a single multi output charger. In my case, I worry about mixing up the channels, and fubar'ing a battery as a result...

http://hitecrcd.com/products/charge...ni-ac-input-balance-chargerdischarger/product

That's what I have, only 60W but it is easy and straight forward, though I don't use many of the advanced features like saved settings or profiles yet.
 
For me, I run 2S in everything and I see the validity of at least running a 2 port charger especially if space is an issue. I have one spot for charging and lining up 4 100W chargers would take a lot more space than I have, so I got a 4 port 4x100w/4x10A charger and it's worked out really well for me so far. I also have a 2 port 2x150/2x12A charger that I have in my car to use when out bashing so I don't have to prepare so many packs before going out. I'm lazy and didn't want to have to lug my 4 port charger with me every time I went out, so the 2 port stays in the car all the time.
 
I have one spot for charging and lining up 4 100W chargers would take a lot more space than I have,

Fair enough, but it is difficult to commit that much at the start of a hobby. I've got two Granite Mega 4x4, and I just make do with 1C charging of 5000mAh packs. However, I'm switching to Li-Po soon, so I will loose the use of the stock packs that came with the trucks, so bashing time might be shorter.

Mainly depends on financial liquidity :p
 
Fair enough, but it is difficult to commit that much at the start of a hobby. I've got two Granite Mega 4x4, and I just make do with 1C charging of 5000mAh packs. However, I'm switching to Li-Po soon, so I will loose the use of the stock packs that came with the trucks, so bashing time might be shorter.

Mainly depends on financial liquidity :p
I definitely get that. When I started electric, I dove in a bit with both feet and got a traxxas brushless revo and the traxxas dual charger with their lipo's. Then found out their lipo's suck before I even used them and that running 6S was probably a bad idea, so I never actually used them. After getting some SMC 9000mah 2S lipo's, I found out quickly how insufficient the traxxas dual charger was as it would only output 5A x 2. Meant I had to run through the charge cycle twice as it would time out. Waiting 3 hours for a charge sucked. So, I bit the bullet and bought the 4x100 w charger. So, within the first 3 weeks of being into "electric", I had already wasted $200 on batteries and a charger that was insufficient.

Knowing that, whenever I see someone getting into things for the first time, I try to suggest things that helps avoid wasting money like I did. Then again, the difference is, they don't know if they will like it yet. 2 weeks into brushless running and I was hooked. Knowing I liked it, I knew I had to upgrade my charger or I'd just be annoyed with it. The 4 port charger plus 2 more balance boards, plug adapters, balance board extensions so I could lay the packs out in front of the charger ran me around $250.

I still have the traxxas 3s lipo's in a drawer and never used them, 18 months later. I sold the charger at a minimal loss, but noone ever wanted the batteries.
 
After getting some SMC 9000mah 2S lipo's
I don't want to derail things here, but that 9000 mAh pack is probably a 2S2P pack, right (series and parallel respectively)? How do those work out for you? I've been interested in some monster packs, but am wary of how well they charge and how long they last compared to a/multiple regular 2S pack.
 
They lasted me 14 months in my brushless revo and savage flux in series. One out of 4 dropped a cell on me a month or so ago. Other than that, they charged fine. Granted, the past 3-4 months, they take longer to charge, especially the one that died. I'll still use the pair that charge in my savage flux, but they have puffed a little bit and don't fit well in the revo anymore. Not sure what I'll do with the 3rd one. I always ran them in the same pairs. I'd just alternate which was in which side every other run. It will shoehorn into my converted ejato, so perhaps just run it in that until it dies.

I've since ordered 4 more of the 7400mah 2S packs. They have a higher c rating and they fit in all of my trucks whereas the 9000's only fit in 2 out of 4 of my trucks.
 
I've since ordered 4 more of the 7400mah 2S packs. They have a higher c rating and they fit in all of my trucks whereas the 9000's only fit in 2 out of 4 of my trucks.

Thanks, that is helpful. My LHS stocks and recommends gensacearespammers so I'm giving them a try. There is an SMC reseller in Quebec, but the selection and configurability just isn't there.

Are the XT90 connectors on SMC packs the spark arrest type or just regular XT90?
 
Thanks, that is helpful. My LHS stocks and recommends gensacearespammers so I'm giving them a try. There is an SMC reseller in Quebec, but the selection and configurability just isn't there.

Are the XT90 connectors on SMC packs the spark arrest type or just regular XT90?
I don't know. I get the traxxas type connectors, which is what I started with and I never changed to anything else.

My buddy gets the gensacearespammers ones from a LHS for his talion. I never tried anything but SMC, so don't have much to compare it to other than the 3 or 4 versions I've bought over the past 18 months.

I've used the following:
4 x SMC 2S 9000mah 60C - no longer offered - have had for ~ 16 months, 1 dropped a cell voltage after 14 months, remaining packs taking longer to charge and getting less run time.
2 x SMC 2S 9500mah 150C Extreme - no longer offered - have had for ~ a year, used twice, don't know why I didn't use more
4 x SMC 2S 7200mah 90C - no longer offered - have had for ~ a year, still performing well and charging well
4 x SMC 2S 7400mah 90C - currently available - have had for a month

The 90C packs seem to give more overall punch throughout the entire charge than the 60C packs, which is expected. The run time between the 9000 and 7200/7400 isn't that big of a difference, 4 minutes on average.

I don't know why I didn't run the 9500's much. They have good punch from start until LVC kicks in. The 9000's tend to drop off the last 4 minutes or so, more so now than they did when new. You can really tell when they are getting close to the end of the run.

I run the 7200/7400's in all 4 of my electric RC's. I run them in series pairs in my savage flux and ERBE. I run them singly in my ejato and 4x4 stampede vxl.

ERBE - Traxxas MXL6S/2200kv
SavageFlux - Castle MMX/2200kv sensored
Stampede -castle sct sv3/3800kv
ejato - vxl3s/3500 combo

I use a Dynamite DYNC2050 4x100w/4x10A charger in the house to charge/storage charge and a HTRC 150AC/DC Duo 150Wx2/12Ax2 charger in my car to charge. I do storage charge when I get home after every bash session and charge every morning when I plan to run.

Probably way more info than you or anyone wanted.
 
The max amps one seems like a total waste of money. Even if it was any better performing or lasted a while longer, I can't see it lasting more than 3 times as long.

I've been using SMC packs for 18 months and they have served me well so far.
 
I have a pair of those SMC 5400 135a batteries. Not a lot of cycles so far, but they seem great.

Maxamps - that is a lot of money for a bashing battery. If you were a hard core top level racer, then yeah. Or a speed run guy trying to crack 150mph, then yeah. Outside of that, I'd much rather have 3 of the SMC packs.
 
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