swatson144
10-13-2006, 06:11 AM
My spring investment in lipos has pretty much reached it's end of life. I've been looking for replacements and thought I'd share what I found this year. These pairs have seen 100-150 cycles, which I consider good. Mind that I'm mostly talking about the end of their life here and the service over the life. Packs were new when purchased (I never buy used packs!)
a pair of apex 2100 3s 15c bought for 80$/pair. Good service good price. Both packs are still identical in every way. The IR is up and I get into the lipo alarm often after the first 3mins of flight, easing off on the demand the alarm silences. Flight times are down to 6 mins in the x400 and 7 mins in the coronnas vice 9 and 12 mins to 3v/cell (normal flights were timed at 8 and 9 mins). These packs had pretty decent punch but nothing outstanding from the get go. I'd certainly buy another pair.
A pair of commonsenserc 2000 mah 3s 8c budget packs bought for 45$ a pair. The x400s would eat these alive so they never saw use other than in my coronnas. Boy did they see some use in them! Functional and fun flying packs with out much punch when new. Now they are also still identical in performance though having the laggy voltage high IR sypmtoms of being worn slam out. Pretty much the same as the apex. My friend bought 4 packs and his are doing well also. 1 died prematurely and CSRC replaced it no hassles. I'll be ordering another pair of these though lack of "punch" new has me concerned about how they'll fly in the winter, but "I gots to know". 22.5$ a pack if I have to store them through the winter so be it.
Late commers were a pair of poly-tronics 2100 3s pro lite v2 bought for 110$ a pair. I use mostly on the x400s They only have about 20 cycles on them and are still going like new. Lots of punch. Fly to the alarm (3.2v/cell) and still the alarm is winding down after landing. Nothing soft about these. Some others have had problems with this brand but I'm liking them. We'll probably see them worn out this winter. Manufacturer claims >200 cycles I think they may exceed it.
My normal use of lipos is pretty gentle. I make sure the rating exceeds the use by as much as possible (well except maybe with the really cheap packs). I charge at ~.8c (I gave up on changing for the 2000 from 2100 mah pretty quick though). They get a good cool down period before charging. Every charge is a balance charge with blinkies. I determine flight time by flying about what I think is close and then hovering until the alarm sounds constant at 3v/cell. Mark the time. ~12.5 mins on my corona for a 2100. I set the count down timer to 8 mins and the countup to 9 mins (timer linked to throttle 10% and the timers start). New packs land at the 9 min mark. once they get older to the point of the alarm sounds before the 9min mark they get landed at 8 mins. After that they are on the way out and I fly to the lipo alarm just to get it over with. When the alarm is going on and off in flight depending on the load they are done. I could probably get a few more cycles by lowering the timer settings and charge rates, but then I'd have to run the timer up for newer packs and back down again. too much hassle and little return. Flight times on the x400s are done much the same way. Flight times on the micros are simply to the alarm at 3.2v/cell.
Pls post your experiences with your packs.
Steve
a pair of apex 2100 3s 15c bought for 80$/pair. Good service good price. Both packs are still identical in every way. The IR is up and I get into the lipo alarm often after the first 3mins of flight, easing off on the demand the alarm silences. Flight times are down to 6 mins in the x400 and 7 mins in the coronnas vice 9 and 12 mins to 3v/cell (normal flights were timed at 8 and 9 mins). These packs had pretty decent punch but nothing outstanding from the get go. I'd certainly buy another pair.
A pair of commonsenserc 2000 mah 3s 8c budget packs bought for 45$ a pair. The x400s would eat these alive so they never saw use other than in my coronnas. Boy did they see some use in them! Functional and fun flying packs with out much punch when new. Now they are also still identical in performance though having the laggy voltage high IR sypmtoms of being worn slam out. Pretty much the same as the apex. My friend bought 4 packs and his are doing well also. 1 died prematurely and CSRC replaced it no hassles. I'll be ordering another pair of these though lack of "punch" new has me concerned about how they'll fly in the winter, but "I gots to know". 22.5$ a pack if I have to store them through the winter so be it.
Late commers were a pair of poly-tronics 2100 3s pro lite v2 bought for 110$ a pair. I use mostly on the x400s They only have about 20 cycles on them and are still going like new. Lots of punch. Fly to the alarm (3.2v/cell) and still the alarm is winding down after landing. Nothing soft about these. Some others have had problems with this brand but I'm liking them. We'll probably see them worn out this winter. Manufacturer claims >200 cycles I think they may exceed it.
My normal use of lipos is pretty gentle. I make sure the rating exceeds the use by as much as possible (well except maybe with the really cheap packs). I charge at ~.8c (I gave up on changing for the 2000 from 2100 mah pretty quick though). They get a good cool down period before charging. Every charge is a balance charge with blinkies. I determine flight time by flying about what I think is close and then hovering until the alarm sounds constant at 3v/cell. Mark the time. ~12.5 mins on my corona for a 2100. I set the count down timer to 8 mins and the countup to 9 mins (timer linked to throttle 10% and the timers start). New packs land at the 9 min mark. once they get older to the point of the alarm sounds before the 9min mark they get landed at 8 mins. After that they are on the way out and I fly to the lipo alarm just to get it over with. When the alarm is going on and off in flight depending on the load they are done. I could probably get a few more cycles by lowering the timer settings and charge rates, but then I'd have to run the timer up for newer packs and back down again. too much hassle and little return. Flight times on the x400s are done much the same way. Flight times on the micros are simply to the alarm at 3.2v/cell.
Pls post your experiences with your packs.
Steve