What is your RC LiPo of choice in 2022

[Adiabatic]

My charger manual has this to say about IR measurement. Be careful about using IR readings to determine the condition of cells if you don't have a reference value measured the same way with the same charger to compare it to.

 

[JustAnOutcast]

Like I said before, I'm such a meathead, I have no idea what those numbers mean..but, I'm guessing since all 3 cells read the same, it's good? Call me stupid, but I'm going to ignore all this IR measurements and data logging

It’s all cool. Plenty of room in the world for both meatheads and data loggers.

Slowly I'm getting away from insane speeds and bashing. It's just not sustainable long term. Unless you have a sponsor or are making a whole bunch of money off YT. For regular folks, it will destroy your wallet. Unless you have a whole bunch of money in the bank.

Well said.

 

[JustAnOutcast]

My charger manual has this to say about IR measurement. Be careful about using IR readings to determine the condition of cells if you don't have a reference value measured the same way with the same charger to compare it to.

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Excellent information! Thank you!

 

[Hector_Fisher]

My charger manual has this to say about IR measurement. Be careful about using IR readings to determine the condition of cells if you don't have a reference value measured the same way with the same charger to compare it to.

View attachment 256823

Exactly right.

I would use it as a reference against itself. For example, using my Hota D6+, measure the IR initially and then continue to frequently measure IR aftewards at the same voltage, same circumstances, same charger. Only then would you have some reliable data.

 

[Armarookie43]

Here we go. PW sent me these for half the price. I'll try to make sure to treat them better, not overheat them, and such. The previous ones did take some insane abuse. Pictures of the battery values out of the box :

 

[Moirae]

Here we go. PW sent me these for half the price. I'll try to make sure to treat them better, not overheat them, and such. The previous ones did take some insane abuse. Pictures of the battery values out of the box :

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Wow 8 and 9 ohm already? I've never seen battery's start with such a high IR

 

[Diem Turner]

Wow 8 and 9 ohm already? I've never seen battery's start with such a high IR

My CNHL 4S 8200mAh Li-HV batteries were between 6-8mΩ depending on the temperature when they were new. I've read from other people that they don't do so well when it comes to speed running and I think this is an indicator as to why. Thankfully I got them for free, so I'm not too sore about it.

 

[Hector_Fisher]

Wow 8 and 9 ohm already? I've never seen battery's start with such a high IR

Couple of cycles on the charger or gentle uses in a truck and they should lower a bit. Supposedly lipos can have a little IR creep if they've sat on the shelf for a while. But some use and cycles can "refresh" them back down to where they were.

 

[jkflow]

Whatever you do, only compare values at the same level.
Typically, you compare when they are fully charged, those values will be lower.

8 mOhm is mediocre at best, even at storage. Nothing to brag about, even at the discount. Sorry

Typical for the 30C type packs that are marked up.

 

[Jcallesano]

Bought 2 SMC 4s 8200mah 150c ec5 batteries to try.

I'll let you know how they are guys.

Finally tried these yesterday in a brand new Outcast 8s with stock spur and a 29t pinion.

It was the first run but I hit full throttle here and there. I was not blown away by the 150C discharge rate but it's first run I know lipos needs to be broken in. Hopefully it gets more grungy as a charge and discharge them.

I have the max 5 in it and the spektrum 1250kv from my K8 in it. I think I need a different motor.

It doesn't do a standing backflip as almost all O8 owners say it's easy. It just flips on its lid.

I do have new 39/39 gears for it and will try those after I run it again - will be 2nd time using the SMC batteries.

 

[jkflow]

Lipo break in is only to condition the anodes, not the pack. Best to be done at 10C for about 5 cycles.

 

[Moirae]

Finally tried these yesterday in a brand new Outcast 8s with stock spur and a 29t pinion.

It was the first run but I hit full throttle here and there. I was not blown away by the 150C discharge rate but it's first run I know lipos needs to be broken in. Hopefully it gets more grungy as a charge and discharge them.

I have the max 5 in it and the spektrum 1250kv from my K8 in it. I think I need a different motor.

It doesn't do a standing backflip as almost all O8 owners say it's easy. It just flips on its lid.

I do have new 39/39 gears for it and will try those after I run it again - will be 2nd time using the SMC batteries.

IMO you should have went with qs8 connectors. My smc battery's are great. Make sure you have punch turned up too.

Tires also play a big part

 

[SrC]

Wow 8 and 9 ohm already? I've never seen battery's start with such a high IR

I have. Not a great thing. Normal for cheapo lipos however. Just run them as is. Not tragic.
Like @Synchronicity's manual sheet stated above, these IR's read off the charger are for more of a Horizontal comparison of all the cells when they are all balanced. The big picture. The actual IR's are not precise readings unto the cell itself.
How I understood this.

 

[jkflow]

www.lipotesting.com

 

[Hector_Fisher]

www.lipotesting.com

To be honest, while extremely informative and awesome that they've rigorously tested the listed packs and kept up this testing so long, I've never found those lists to be super intuitive to use. If I can't determine that I've matched my particular cells with the ones on the list, can I draw any valuable conclusions? What if I have a Liperior pack that doesn't match the C rating? Or the capacity? Or the "model"? What if I have a Zeee "Premium" packs instead of a standard pack? What if I have a brand like Hoovo or Ovonic? Should I attempt to extrapolate any data on the list to draw conclusions?

In a way, it often feels like it leads to more questions in answers. My background of work would teach me to throw up red flags about guesstimation for a good reason. Perhaps there's something I'm missing here. But most of my packs are not on this list (at least explicitly), so I have no idea what value the list has to me.

 

[jkflow]

He is only testing flight packs of a certain capacity. Every year he has some other flavors like Zeee and other Amazon/eBay style 'junk'.
You answered your own question in a way, everybody has a different definition of 'best', hence the strange ranking.

He is testing every year and over time you will find that there are steady performers while others are truly hit or miss. A miss also means that in the same batch (every ~3 month) you have wide variations in performance, while you are guaranteed to have good performers at the stable brands.
That is where brand names come in handy.

For relative selection.
Pick the longest time to 3.5V discharge, take price and weight into consideration. End of selection.
Pick that brand name and stay above that tested C -rating, and you are generally ok.


Example: One of the worst vs best in 35C from performance
SMC 6200 HV 117s (~2 min) to empty $110
Panther 5000 55s (~1min) to empty $117 - Used to be top of the list ~ 2years ago. Hobbyking Lipos are nowadays poop. The actual distributor founded his own company (Liperior)

Also, CNHL completely sucks in the below 65C category, they are just like all other low cost providers. They are better in their higher C rating types.

Stick to the bolded as a guide.

 

[Hector_Fisher]

He is only testing flight packs of a certain capacity. Every year he has some other flavors like Zeee and other Amazon/eBay style 'junk'.
You answered your own question in a way, everybody has a different definition of 'best', hence the strange ranking.

He is testing every year and over time you will find that there are steady performers while others are truly hit or miss. A miss also means that in the same batch (every ~3 month) you have wide variations in performance, while you are guaranteed to have good performers at the stable brands.
That is where brand names come in handy.

For relative selection.
Pick the longest time to 3.5V discharge, take price and weight into consideration. End of selection.
Pick that brand name and stay above that tested C -rating, and you are generally ok.


Example: One of the worst vs best in 35C from performance
SMC 6200 HV 117s (~2 min) to empty $110
Panther 5000 55s (~1min) to empty $117 - Used to be top of the list ~ 2years ago. Hobbyking Lipos are nowadays poop. The actual distributor founded his own company (Liperior)

Also, CNHL completely sucks in the below 65C category, they are just like all other low cost providers. They are better in their higher C rating types.

Stick to the bolded as a guide.

Fair point. Should have figured they would focus on flight packs. Especially when not all the packs sizes and C ratings were sounding super familar. So really, the value to take would be in terms of generalities. Like somewhat of a quality testing for the manufacturer. Meaning, if you purchase a Turnigy HD of a different capacity than on the list, you should get roughly similar performance rating against the competing lipos in that same mah range. More of a validation, than anything.

I've always wanted to do my own lipo testing and post numbers for everyone. As a way to attempt to try and keep manufacturers honest. More knowledge would only help people cut out waste in the industry and allow people to spend more on the real stuff keeping the companies we want in business longer.

Thanks for the clarification, it at least adds some perspective and context I was missing.

Speaking of Liperior, I have a pair of them on the way. I'll be keen to try them out based in what you said about Turnigy.

 

[Armarookie43]

Couple of cycles on the charger or gentle uses in a truck and they should lower a bit. Supposedly lipos can have a little IR creep if they've sat on the shelf for a while. But some use and cycles can "refresh" them back down to where they were.

There goes that idea. I did some backflips with them inside my XRT . Maybe 15 ft high jumps, but not too many. They didn't feel hot though and they didn't get hot at all. They were between 85- 90F when I checked the temp on them with my temp gun.

Wow 8 and 9 ohm already? I've never seen battery's start with such a high IR

The previous ones endured more than a year of abuse. They are the only batteries that have done it. They rest of the cheap batteries I tried lasted way less than that. Heck the new Zees only lasted one run with my XRT jumps (one of the cells went dead after the bash ).

 

[Armarookie43]

Couple of cycles on the charger or gentle uses in a truck and they should lower a bit. Supposedly lipos can have a little IR creep if they've sat on the shelf for a while. But some use and cycles can "refresh" them back down to where they were.

After like two runs. Fully charged.

Exactly right.

I would use it as a reference against itself. For example, using my Hota D6+, measure the IR initially and then continue to frequently measure IR aftewards at the same voltage, same circumstances, same charger. Only then would you have some reliable data.

When I tested my brand new Gens pro bashers that I just got today, one of the cells was supposed to be at the value of 36. I'm like, that can't be right, so I swapped the batteries from the channels, then I got readings that make more sense. So yeah, I'm going to try these out on my 8s Arrmas. They are less tall but longer than the PW batteries. The gens got thicker 8 gauge wiring . Check it out :

 

[Johnny b]

Seems like a very subjective subject...such as Ford vrs. Chevy. I don't know to much about different brands but currently using a smc 5200 135c. If it holds a charge, doesn't puff up or explode and gives me a decent run time, I'm happy.