mazjag

Hey guys,what are some of the best brands of li-po batteries.I have seen a lot of packs on Ebay and wonder if they are any good.Is a helicopter battery the same as a plane?thanks...jason

toyman15

My Feedback: (10)

Hi A brand of battery that I have had very good luck with is Commonsense RC Thier lipo batteries work better than E-Flights, are as good as Thunder powers and cost less than both the other brands. And very importantly thier customer service and support is the best.
Check them out at commonsenserc.com Mike

Fliprob17

General rule, for the most part, is you get what you pay for. I would highly recommend staying away from the E-Bay cheapy specials

I run a decent amount of testing, the new V2 Extreme packs from Thunder Power seem to be capable of delivering a bit more power, and hold their voltage under load better so that power stays pretty consistent. I currently do not have any commonsense packs, but if you search around, good things have been said about them.

SackOHammers

Commonsense packs might be good... but you've got to think twice about a recommendation from a guy who only has one post on these boards... and that post is basically an endorsement of a product. I would do more reading, as adchobbystore said, there are comments to find, just google 'em.

I'm trying out maxamps LiPos. I've heard several people recommend them. I just bought a new plane, and the guys that were testing these planes out, trying several different motor/battery/esc combinations... posting their power/voltage graphs during flights, etc... said they had great success with the Maxamp batteries. They also seemed to be a touch lighter and just a bit less expensive than the Thunderpower.
They ship fast. I did have some difficulty getting a detailed answer on a question I'd asked. I wanted to know differences between going with a 11.1v 3100 mah 3S2P battery versus going with a 11.1v 3000 mah 3S battery. The 3S2P was lighter and provided just a hair more power, but was only a few dollars more expensive. When asked about the differences and which might be better.. I got a very simplified answer ["Use the 3S, its better for planes"]. Plus, the answer I got via email was different than the one I got while chatting with their support["either one would work"]. Other than that, things look good.

I'd be wary of the cheap ones on Ebay. You get what you pay for. The batteries might not deliver the C ratings they post... or those C ratings aren't sustainable, etc.

DMyer

My Feedback: (2)

Well - durability and ability to stand serious abuse is a must in my household. My son flies electric 3D in our backyard park - he flies literally nonstop pack after pack and despite my many lectures on LIPO battery care still pushes each pack to the brink virtually every flight. My son will put our stable of batteries through 800-1000 torture test a year - poor packs won't last more than a month or two. Two packs I have found to hold up are thunder power which I no longer buy because they are too expensive per unit of output and the wiring is too light (that is what failed from crashes - not the cells) and Poly-RC 20C packs. I get the Poly-RC from Northeast Sailplane Products for a very reasonable price considering the high output and durability. They are not the lightest pack, but the are robust and handle my son's abuse very well. They are the only pack I have used that last more than a year for my son besides the Thunder Power. For the best batteries you must consider your own circumstances - what you are flying, how much current do you need and for for how long as well as how often. What may suffice for user A may be a poor choice for user B. I know there are many other very good packs such as Max-AMP which I also intend to try one day soon. I also would avoid the EBAY bargain batteries unless it is a known quality brand. Good luck.

Dan

maiden-crash

The Enerland cells are the best I belive... Flight Power, Hyperion, Poly-Quest, although I have no experience with Poly-Quest. Ive had a issue that Im trying to get resolved with my Evo-Lite, but my 2170 and Hyperion 1200 perform flawlessly.

budokaiboy

You're better off just buying your lipos from max-amps. That way, if there's a problem you have some recourse. I get all my lipos from maxamps. I learned the hard way. I've had good and bad luck with e-bay batteries and e-bay purchases in general. If you have a problem on e-bay, you're pretty much at the mercy of the seller.

Red Scholefield

My Feedback: (9)

I have found that FMA Revolution packs are a good value. You can't beat this deal "NOW WITH A 60 DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE. NO QUESTIONS ASKED"

jmir

My Feedback: (1)

Has anyone tried the Zippy li-po packs?
Even with the high shipping cost, the prices are way below most other batteries.
They are advertising heavily in the major RC magazines.

I've had very good luck with Thunderpower batteries and with Dualsky batteries.

jeffharris75

I am with Red, I like the FMA cells and their chargers. I have many flights on 3 2100s that I bought last year. I use them in planes as large as my 3d hobby shop Yak powered with E-Flight Power 10 with no deterioration in performance or capacity. Good price and the charger can safely recharge at 2c-3c.

In contrast, I have had four Thunder Power 2100s including an extreme bubble up on me on the same aircraft.
[:'(]
Jeff Harris

ffdq

My Feedback: (4)

hey guys,has anybody heard of LM Loong Max,ABF and ZIPPY li po batts.They are on hobby city web site and are cheep.I just loss

two thunder power batts and looking to replaced them, but dont want to pay big bucks for them.
thanks Fred

timothy thompson

My Feedback: (1)

prodigybatteries.com

ffdq

My Feedback: (4)

hi Tim,thanks for the info
Fred

Kilo.Hotel.Alpha.Lima

Perhaps some are going to disagree, and perhaps they'll disagree vehemently, but my flying buddy and I've had no trouble with the "cheapie" ebay special batteries. Specifically, we've used the 'Mystery' batteries that are supplied out of Hong Kong through ebay (various sellers). They have always been delivered promptly and in good condition, with Deans Ultra connectors already soldered on (a bonus for me, 'cause that's what I use). I use 'Mystery' 3S, 12C - 15C batteries ranging from 2200mAh to 2400mAh.

The reason I ordered these batteries is obvious Price! They cost a third or less of the off-the-shelf price of a "known" brand battery, i.e. three batteries for the price of one!

My buddy and I were given the usual horror spiel by the owner of LHS when we suggested we were going to order one, "Oh, you're taking your life in your hands ordering those!" and, "Hmm, no-one really knows how the quality is..." etc...
Well, now I know how the quality is and I can tell you it's just fine (at least that particular brand from a particular seller). The total is 7 batteries and counting, all but one still in service (after nearly a year for the original two that were ordered) and the one that died was crushed in a nose-in, no fault of its own.

Now, just so the haters don't flame me too badly, I also have bought and used a Thunder Power 3S, 15C, 2200mAh(?) battery and a FlightPower "EVO 25" 3S, 25C, 2170mAh(?). No problems with either battery, they were great. Unfortunately the Thunder Power died in wreck, so I never got to evaluate it long-term. But I still have the FlightPower and it is still going strong (at least one year later...). The FlightPower battery is amazing! So much juice it's ridiculous! It outlasts my 'Mystery' batteries by, I reckon, about 50% and delivers a higher power that you can actually feel when flying! The only drawback is because of its larger size, it doesn't fit in the ParkZone P-51D that I'm currently flying. I'll have to build-up my Stryker again and use it for that.

So, that's my $0.02. Hope it helps. But bear in mind, as always, it's Caveat emptor...

Swift427

And where in your house do your store your seriously abused LiPos?

bdavison

My Feedback: (1)

One word....VAMPOWERPRO.

I am not sponsored by them.. but I completely TOTALLY favor their lipos, even to the point Ill do anything I can to tell other people about their lipos.

I got a 3cell 2250mah lipo from them a long time ago at the District 5 Jamboree event. Ive had the lipo for over 3 years, and its flown 640+ flights in anything from Trex helicopters, EDF's, Seagull Extra, GP Yak, SebArt Katana, Helios 10e, MX400, and tons of other planes.

Its performance just started to degrade after 650 flights, and I retired it.

I turned right around and bought two more VamPowerPro 3cell 2200mah platinum's at SEFF, and Ive already put around 25 flights on each of them and they are performing even better than my original one.

During this time I also had ThunderPower, Tanic, Kokam, CommonSense, Etec, etc, and NONE of them lasted even half as long as the Vampy packs.

Any lipo that can hold up to 650 flights before dieing has got my loyal support till I die.

jijohans

Neu batteries.. See what the guys in F5B uses... Have also good results with FP Evo...

Red Scholefield

My Feedback: (9)

And who sponsors the FB5 flyers?

Idare2bdul

Trinity has entered the airplane Lipo market. So far their offerings are only in the 2s and 3 s sizes. Trinity has built a solid reputation on quality products and has been around for longer than a lot of the companies selling batteries to the RC airplane market. They have an online site that I just found that has some very good deals. [link=http://www.teamtrinity.com/shop/product.asp?c=0&l=Batteries+%2D+Lipo]Trinity Lipos[/link]

You might also check out their inexpensive balancing charger. For less than $40 it looks like a great deal!

I'm buying a couple of their new batteries that are the same size as a stick pack to use in my powered gliders and in a Prarie Bird.

lostalot2

flightpower for me.

lostalot2

flightpower for me.

infanterene

If your son abuses the lipos look at the kong packs. You can safely run them below 3 volts per cell. Hyperion told me they use the same cells.

Stuntguy13

Has anyone used the Swang Hobby brand of Li Poly battery? They are fairly low cost but I think they manufacture the batteries, this would allow them to offer them at a very low price and still have a quality produce. I know that the general rule with batteries is you get what you pay for, but it also depends on where in the sales chain you are purchasing from. In general every time a produce changes hands (i.e. manufacture to wholesaler, wholesaler to retailer) it doubles the price.

jmir

My Feedback: (1)

I have been using ZIPPY li-po's and have been very impressed with them.
Noticeably more power than Thunder Power and Dualsky which I have been using in the past.
I placed my second order about 3 weeks ago and received the new li-po's a couple of days ago.
They come directly from China.

They are very inexpensive. Got two 1350 mah's and one 2200 mah (20 - 30C) for less than the cost of one 2200 mah Thunder Power. And that included $16 freight.

Check them out at www.hobbycity.com. Click on "zippy lipoly" to see all the ones being offered.

da Rock

Haven't found who sells them.

OK, found FMA Direct.

No surprise, my Triton and Elite seem to be somewhat incompatible with them. Have to buy yet another special device to use these. You know, it is really tiresome, the way this electric retailing is done.

BTW, the manufacturer doesn't seem to be selling Revolution packs now. lol OK, I think they list one.

I frankly don't see picking up yet another brand of batteries that needs it's own special in-line piece. And since I've already got an FMADirect battery that doesn't use the device, having two different setups to charge LiPos that look alike but don't charge with the same setup seems less than safe to me. Too easy to make a mistake. And since FMA isn't even selling what I have, and what you've just now recommended, it really looks like THEY can't make up their minds. I can't see investing deeper into a mfg that has already blown off two of their product lines. And having to spend additional money to buy a device that's dedicated to their stuff just doesn't seem sensible.

If I have to buy another device just to be able to buy their products, I'm going to opt for a mfg that is a bit more accessable. Truth is, the ElectriFly line LOOKS to have the same look as FMA and that often is a clue to mfg source. (And I think I bought the FAMDirect from Tower a year or so ago.) They also require a charger interface for my two chargers, but at least ElectriFlys would be a lot more available to me. And Tower's constant barrage of discount coupons is attractive.....

You know, the electrics side of this hobby can really wear a modeler down..............