So I have a Felony. Using Traxxas batteries, and charger.

[blaster27]

So I think it's time to upgrade my batteries and charger to Arrma. My LHS is 1hr away. I am thinking of getting a Limitless roller for Christmas. Any thoughts on the correct batteries and charger? I am looking for a charger that will be simple to operate, yet accomplish what I need. Thanks, Mike.

 

[SrC]

Not any $Spektrum$ Smart chargers or Lipos.
Wanting "easy and simple" running On road stuff is probably a mistake. You are better off with quality Dumb lipos for this.
The ISDT K2 Air charger is fairly easy and Intuitive to operate. What I use now. Your LHS is probably going to push Spektrum chargers and Lipos, like they all do when selling Arrma/HH models. A HH Marketting thing. Many LHS's are either not "in the know", or care to know better. They just need to sell HH stuff. It's just a business.
New Hobbyists won't know better, usually relying on the LHS.
The good stuff is only available online for the most part. And usually found for much less than the Spektrum stuff.
The Lim, much like your Fel., is an expert level Arrma platform, especially when it comes to dedicated speed running. You want more mainstream and better quality higher capacity lipos. There are many to choose from. If not sure where to go, start with Amazon.

 

[Luke66]

my spectrum batterys arent THAT bad......

 

[blaster27]

I have to go to the Dentist. Not my Favorite. Will be back in 2 hrs. Ha. Sucks to be me. Back later.

 

[ross_jsy]

I can't recommend Onyx for batteries enough, both for performance and customer care

 

[SrC]

my spectrum batterys arent THAT bad......

Maybe not "that bad" in a Vendetta. And Bad is a relative term.
With a heavier way faster Lim platform, far from the best choice most of the time.

 

[#ARRMArcfanboy4life]

For bashing, I recommend CNHL batteries. If you want to speedrun, I think Onyx is best. Stay away from maxamps, spektrum, and gens-ace-r-spam for the sake of your wallet.

 

[KnowAir]

What are you currently using? Any LHS is likely only going to have TRX or an HH branded battery and chargers. Not terrible, not great either. There's better to be had for the price.
Don't be intimidated by chargers and batteries, it's really not that complicated. You must determine what your needs are first. If you're intending on speed running seriously, you'll need some decent quality, high discharge capable batteries for sure. I don't do the speed or even high powered off road myself, but do some reading here and around the net. The charger @SrC reccomended is a fine unit, much better than the price would suggest, especially compared to TRX and Spektrum. TRX chargers are really low on features, and so-so power. Spektrum is better, but way overpriced. The smart batteries are really intended for simplicity and can't really be used with any other chargers due to lacking balance connectors. In my experience, TRX batteries are better than Spektrum but TRX makes odd sized packs that often won't fit in "other" brands of rc's. I buy whatever fits my needs (and budget) off amazon for batteries, I don't find much variation with brands..

 

[Dan B.]

If you’re not seriously speedrunning I would suggest getting the charger of your choice and installing XT90 or larger connection on your ESC. Lots of good battery choices with this connector and will handle 6 or even 8s unless you’re running amp load up to the ragged edge.
If you are, or you want to seriously get into speedrunning (over 150mph) there is really no substitute for QS8’s. The cost of your batteries with this connector pre-installed just jumped up quite a bit, though. But you could always buy whatever batts you want and solder on the connectors yourself.
If you go Traxxas or Spektrum and want to retain Smart systems you have to be married to overpriced batteries with performance that could be had for much less money. The systems are designed for people who have either no knowledge of how to use LiPo’s or don’t wish to go the small extra step to learn and use it to their advantage.
If it were me, I’d go XT90 (no “smart” gimmicks would be used) as your choices would be quite large with whatever need or price point you wanted to subscribe to.

 

[KnowAir]

If you’re not seriously speedrunning I would suggest getting the charger of your choice and installing XT90 or larger connection on your ESC. Lots of good battery choices with this connector and will handle 6 or even 8s unless you’re running amp load up to the ragged edge.
If you are, or you want to seriously get into speedrunning (over 150mph) there is really no substitute for QS8’s. The cost of your batteries with this connector pre-installed just jumped up quite a bit, though. But you could always buy whatever batts you want and solder on the connectors yourself.
If you go Traxxas or Spektrum and want to retain Smart systems you have to be married to overpriced batteries with performance that could be had for much less money. The systems are designed for people who have either no knowledge of how to use LiPo’s or don’t wish to go the small extra step to learn and use it to their advantage.
If it were me, I’d go XT90 (no “smart” gimmicks would be used) as your choices would be quite large with whatever need or price point you wanted to subscribe to.

Agreed.. my brother has himself right in the middle of a $hit sandwich.. a boatload of TRX "id" batts, chargers..Spektrum smart crap too.. a dozen of each I'd say
AND a healthy sprinkling of amazon batteries. Traxxas id, large and small plugs, IC5, EC5, IC3/EC3..what a mess!! I call him "adapter Max", cuz he's constantly riffling through his toolbox looking for adapters..LOL. Not to mention all the "brownouts" every time one of his rigs takes a hard hit an comes unplugged..good gawd. I use XT90 on everything. Nothing against EC5, just chose XT90's and stuck with them. Life is soo much easier when everything has one type of connector. He knows, I suspect he's gonna ask me to do the honors of changing everything over, LOL.
Problem is, no balance wires with the "smart" stuff, well, not enough wires actually..

 

[slick2500]

Agreed.. my brother has himself right in the middle of a $hit sandwich.. a boatload of TRX "id" batts, chargers..Spektrum smart crap too.. a dozen of each I'd say
AND a healthy sprinkling of amazon batteries. Traxxas id, large and small plugs, IC5, EC5, IC3/EC3..what a mess!! I call him "adapter Max", cuz he's constantly riffling through his toolbox looking for adapters..LOL. Not to mention all the "brownouts" every time one of his rigs takes a hard hit an comes unplugged..good gawd. I use XT90 on everything. Nothing against EC5, just chose XT90's and stuck with them. Life is soo much easier when everything has one type of connector. He knows, I suspect he's gonna ask me to do the honors of changing everything over, LOL.
Problem is, no balance wires with the "smart" stuff, well, not enough wires actually..

I prefer Xt90s over EC5 for the simple fact that it is much easier to reuse the connectors. I use xt60s on all my 1/14 stuff because deans suck.

 

[blaster27]

If you’re not seriously speedrunning I would suggest getting the charger of your choice and installing XT90 or larger connection on your ESC. Lots of good battery choices with this connector and will handle 6 or even 8s unless you’re running amp load up to the ragged edge.
If you are, or you want to seriously get into speedrunning (over 150mph) there is really no substitute for QS8’s. The cost of your batteries with this connector pre-installed just jumped up quite a bit, though. But you could always buy whatever batts you want and solder on the connectors yourself.
If you go Traxxas or Spektrum and want to retain Smart systems you have to be married to overpriced batteries with performance that could be had for much less money. The systems are designed for people who have either no knowledge of how to use LiPo’s or don’t wish to go the small extra step to learn and use it to their advantage.
If it were me, I’d go XT90 (no “smart” gimmicks would be used) as your choices would be quite large with whatever need or price point you wanted to subscribe to.

All I want to do is see how fast I can go in a 132ft. Or less. No bashing or speed runs. Drag racing runs . If that makes any sense.

 

[KnowAir]

All I want to do is see how fast I can go in a 132ft. Or less. No bashing or speed runs. Drag racing runs . If that makes any sense.

Definitely makes sense. I know what drag racing is of course, but rc drag racing I know nothing about. Same logic, still need batteries that won't sag out on ya, even more critical they don't I would suspect since it's over in seconds.

 

[blaster27]

I might just stay with what I have. It's working. Might try Spectrum. Who knows. Thanks all.

 

[parcou]

I might just stay with what I have. It's working. Might try Spectrum. Who knows. Thanks all.

In 2021 I was all Spektrum on batteries and chargers. Do not use those batteries anymore. Most of the 5000mah failed me quickly. I am a fan of the 200-watt charger, but there are better. Use CNHL batteries now with that charger. There are so many better battery options out there over Spektrum. Even if you are using Amazon sold LIPO batteries still outlasted my Spektrum smart batteries.

 

[john 8s]

I use Power Hobby and Lectron Pro. No complaints so far.

 

[SrC]

I prefer Xt90s over EC5 for the simple fact that it is much easier to reuse the connectors. I use xt60s on all my 1/14 stuff because deans suck.

+!!
All my stuff is XT60 or XT90. (2s/3s and 4s/6s rigs respectively)
Yea they are reusable/ resolderable quite easily.
8s def. needs QS8's IMHO. I don't have any 8s rigs here, but if I did.....

 

[KnowAir]

I even use XT90 on my 2s 1/10 scale, 8s Xmaxx, everything. Overkill for 2s but, I often use 2x2s in my 4s rigs also. Just works for me. Xmaxx has Max6 with stock vxl motor, the XT90's have no problems feeding it.

 

[blaster27]

What ever charger I get, I need it to be simple and easy to use. I currently have a duel Traxxas charger and a single. Does up to 3s. All of my RCs are Traxxas. And I have a Felony. So I have 6 Traxxas, all 3s and 1 Arrma. All my batteries are Traxxas. I like Traxxas because it's so easy. Thanks, Mike. P.S My Sledge is 6s so 2 3s batteries. If I get a Limitless I will need to upgrade to a 6s or8s charger.

 

[KnowAir]

What ever charger I get, I need it to be simple and easy to use. I currently have a duel Traxxas charger and a single. Does up to 3s. All of my RCs are Traxxas. And I have a Felony. So I have 6 Traxxas, all 3s and 1 Arrma. All my batteries are Traxxas. I like Traxxas because it's so easy. Thanks, Mike. P.S My Sledge is 6s so 2 3s batteries. If I get a Limitless I will need to upgrade to a 6s or8s charger.

By all means, if you're happy with them, why not? If you were to stick with TRX batteries and charger, you'll need their big charger, 2973 which is 4s (x2) capable. For the limitless you would be using 2x4s to make 8s. So the charger only need be 2x4s capable. That's assuming you'd like to stick with TRX. I like their batteries TBH, they hold up well long term, and easily put out as much power as the Spektrum so called 100C packs. You can add TRX connectors to any esc, or just buy a VXL8S. Not the best esc but, mine and my brothers are both still working fine after 2 years so many options out there. Like I said before, lipo batteries and chargers really aren't as complicated as Spektrum and TRX will lead you to believe.