If you can start over, how would you do it?
03-12-2008, 11:51 PM
#26
RE: If you can start over, how would you do it?
ORIGINAL: ExFokkerFlyer
Jim,
Since you brought up the subject again, Hobby City has a new battery for sale within the last couple days.
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...idProduct=6499
Weight as posted comes out to about 42 oz for two 5000 5s packs, rated at 15 C. Price? $89 a pack. Quick calculations with shipping yields about $400 to your door for two sets. I haven't tried them yet, I am flying the 4100s that are about 38 oz a set and having good luck. The prices are indeed coming down.
Tom M
Jim,
Since you brought up the subject again, Hobby City has a new battery for sale within the last couple days.
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...idProduct=6499
Weight as posted comes out to about 42 oz for two 5000 5s packs, rated at 15 C. Price? $89 a pack. Quick calculations with shipping yields about $400 to your door for two sets. I haven't tried them yet, I am flying the 4100s that are about 38 oz a set and having good luck. The prices are indeed coming down.
Tom M
There appears to be two weights given for the 5000s. 586 and 628 grams. Otherwise that could be the best deal out there.
Jim O
03-13-2008, 12:43 AM
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RE: If you can start over, how would you do it?
Thanks for all the inputs, and that help a lot narrowing down my selections.
As far as the batteries concern, the Hobbycity Zippy-R seems to have some positive comments from few users, but not sure how well they perform under pattern application. I might consider getting a couple of Hyperion LCX to try, they sure resemble a lot of Flight Power EVO Lite batteries, but with more attactive pricing.
Kevin
As far as the batteries concern, the Hobbycity Zippy-R seems to have some positive comments from few users, but not sure how well they perform under pattern application. I might consider getting a couple of Hyperion LCX to try, they sure resemble a lot of Flight Power EVO Lite batteries, but with more attactive pricing.
Kevin
03-13-2008, 01:31 AM
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RE: If you can start over, how would you do it?
Just remember this K, most folk think their setup and everything they use is the greatest, and it may be. But it may not.. For the most part, we all do.. I have seen people boast about junk (IMO) on here. (And non junk, not going there)
Heck, I'm even guilty.. Just pick what is proven to start.. Unless you have the funds and don't care if your setup fails.. I had nothing but problems for the last year and a half, therefore costing me at least 10 contests, and killing my season last year.. Now, my motor has a weird sound, but was out of warranty before I installed it, so I just listen to it.. (I'm waiting for something to fail, but it won't, guess that's good).. I have a backup of everything that I fly, always.. It's a good idea.. If you buy one motor, or esc, buy a backup IMO.. If I go to the nats, I will take 2 backups to everything.. Maybe local contests also.. OCD??? maybe, lol.. haha But I have needed a backup in the past.. Even at the practice field.
So for those of you thinking of going E, yes, I made the electric plunge a few years back.. Yes I've had alot of problems with motors. Am I glad I went electric and would I do it again.. I probably would as it's been fun, but with today's glow motors, it has made me think about changing back.. If OS would just come out with a 170RX I would probably consider it..
This would make a cool article in the KFactor.. lol
Chris
Heck, I'm even guilty.. Just pick what is proven to start.. Unless you have the funds and don't care if your setup fails.. I had nothing but problems for the last year and a half, therefore costing me at least 10 contests, and killing my season last year.. Now, my motor has a weird sound, but was out of warranty before I installed it, so I just listen to it.. (I'm waiting for something to fail, but it won't, guess that's good).. I have a backup of everything that I fly, always.. It's a good idea.. If you buy one motor, or esc, buy a backup IMO.. If I go to the nats, I will take 2 backups to everything.. Maybe local contests also.. OCD??? maybe, lol.. haha But I have needed a backup in the past.. Even at the practice field.So for those of you thinking of going E, yes, I made the electric plunge a few years back.. Yes I've had alot of problems with motors. Am I glad I went electric and would I do it again.. I probably would as it's been fun, but with today's glow motors, it has made me think about changing back.. If OS would just come out with a 170RX I would probably consider it..
This would make a cool article in the KFactor.. lol
Chris
03-13-2008, 12:17 PM
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RE: If you can start over, how would you do it?
I agree Chris, and that is why I want to take the time and learn how I should proceed with electric. I have got my share of problems with glow setup last season, mainly the engine I was running - or not running…so during the winter, I got two planes ready, hopefully that will be enough to last through the season, meanwhile, I started to investigate whether electric can be a better alternative, especially on the reliability side. Having spares or backups is a good idea, and I will also check into the warranty terms further as you have suggested on different component choices. From the timing standpoint, I will be starting with some testing on various components I have been collecting or going to get, and wait until later part of the season before I fully engage myself in the electric. I just don't think I will have enough time to learn the equipment, get used to how they fly, and be able to feel comfortable before season starts. So far, I still feel electric offers more reliability, even on the spare parts along, it requires less total parts count than glow, and that is very attractive to me already. What I do need is accelerate my learning curve so I can adopt sooner.
Kevin
Kevin
03-13-2008, 02:17 PM
#33
RE: If you can start over, how would you do it?
ORIGINAL: OhD
Tom, thanks for the info. My friend has a pair of the 4100s and they look very good.
There appears to be two weights given for the 5000s. 586 and 628 grams. Otherwise that could be the best deal out there.
Jim O
ORIGINAL: ExFokkerFlyer
Jim,
Since you brought up the subject again, Hobby City has a new battery for sale within the last couple days.
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...idProduct=6499
Weight as posted comes out to about 42 oz for two 5000 5s packs, rated at 15 C. Price? $89 a pack. Quick calculations with shipping yields about $400 to your door for two sets. I haven't tried them yet, I am flying the 4100s that are about 38 oz a set and having good luck. The prices are indeed coming down.
Tom M
Jim,
Since you brought up the subject again, Hobby City has a new battery for sale within the last couple days.
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...idProduct=6499
Weight as posted comes out to about 42 oz for two 5000 5s packs, rated at 15 C. Price? $89 a pack. Quick calculations with shipping yields about $400 to your door for two sets. I haven't tried them yet, I am flying the 4100s that are about 38 oz a set and having good luck. The prices are indeed coming down.
Tom M
There appears to be two weights given for the 5000s. 586 and 628 grams. Otherwise that could be the best deal out there.
Jim O
Tom, I had been flying with the Spin 99 and it was working pretty good. I had a special technique for starting but it still wanted to start backwards quite often. This is not a big deal with direct drive motors but not desirable. I also started to like the brake but it does require some new throttle management to keep the speed up in certain maneuvers. Anyway it died between flights the other day so it is going back to Jeti. I kind of remember them having instructions for the import duty tag but I don't recall what they said to call it or what value to put on it. I've emailed them but not heard anything yet.
The old Hacker/Jeti ESC starts perfectly every time. Flip the switch and it is idling between 400-500 rpm. Wish they could make the Spin work like that.
Jim O
03-13-2008, 04:39 PM
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RE: If you can start over, how would you do it?
And when you copy someone elses setup copy it exactly down to the connectors, mounting methods, wire lengths...as much as possible. If you have a problem that way you can say so and so's works fine; and have a basis for sending back a part or a good thing to compare notes with.
03-13-2008, 07:16 PM
#35
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RE: If you can start over, how would you do it?
Jim,
Sorry to hear that the Spin went kaput. I tried and tried to get one of those to work and never had much success. The regular Jeti is bullet proof. Between my Dad and I, I think we have owned half a dozen of the Jeti 90s, and never had a problem. Actually, i take that back, there was one issue, and I did have to return one, but out of the dozens I sold, that's not too bad I don't think. We replaced it under warranty and Jeti wanted it sent back to take a look at it as it was so unusual. Never did hear anything back. Good product, good company. I have tried a couple of the cheap Chinese knockoffs, and they have some neat features. But it seems that even with the little experience we have with them, cooling is much more critical. I also burned up one of the smaller motors on a plane not too long ago with just a dozen flights. Like I said, it's early, and that stuff shows promise, but we need more experience with it before it can be "pattern certified".
We have a set of the 5000s coming and will be able to say whether they are at their advertised weights. That said, i still have some VERY well used Flight Powers that have some life in them yet, so I will be flying all of them.
Tom M
Sorry to hear that the Spin went kaput. I tried and tried to get one of those to work and never had much success. The regular Jeti is bullet proof. Between my Dad and I, I think we have owned half a dozen of the Jeti 90s, and never had a problem. Actually, i take that back, there was one issue, and I did have to return one, but out of the dozens I sold, that's not too bad I don't think. We replaced it under warranty and Jeti wanted it sent back to take a look at it as it was so unusual. Never did hear anything back. Good product, good company. I have tried a couple of the cheap Chinese knockoffs, and they have some neat features. But it seems that even with the little experience we have with them, cooling is much more critical. I also burned up one of the smaller motors on a plane not too long ago with just a dozen flights. Like I said, it's early, and that stuff shows promise, but we need more experience with it before it can be "pattern certified".
We have a set of the 5000s coming and will be able to say whether they are at their advertised weights. That said, i still have some VERY well used Flight Powers that have some life in them yet, so I will be flying all of them.
Tom M
03-14-2008, 10:51 AM
#36
RE: If you can start over, how would you do it?
ORIGINAL: ExFokkerFlyer
Jim,
Sorry to hear that the Spin went kaput. I tried and tried to get one of those to work and never had much success. The regular Jeti is bullet proof. Between my Dad and I, I think we have owned half a dozen of the Jeti 90s, and never had a problem. Actually, i take that back, there was one issue, and I did have to return one, but out of the dozens I sold, that's not too bad I don't think. We replaced it under warranty and Jeti wanted it sent back to take a look at it as it was so unusual. Never did hear anything back. Good product, good company. I have tried a couple of the cheap Chinese knockoffs, and they have some neat features. But it seems that even with the little experience we have with them, cooling is much more critical. I also burned up one of the smaller motors on a plane not too long ago with just a dozen flights. Like I said, it's early, and that stuff shows promise, but we need more experience with it before it can be "pattern certified".
We have a set of the 5000s coming and will be able to say whether they are at their advertised weights. That said, i still have some VERY well used Flight Powers that have some life in them yet, so I will be flying all of them.
Tom M
Jim,
Sorry to hear that the Spin went kaput. I tried and tried to get one of those to work and never had much success. The regular Jeti is bullet proof. Between my Dad and I, I think we have owned half a dozen of the Jeti 90s, and never had a problem. Actually, i take that back, there was one issue, and I did have to return one, but out of the dozens I sold, that's not too bad I don't think. We replaced it under warranty and Jeti wanted it sent back to take a look at it as it was so unusual. Never did hear anything back. Good product, good company. I have tried a couple of the cheap Chinese knockoffs, and they have some neat features. But it seems that even with the little experience we have with them, cooling is much more critical. I also burned up one of the smaller motors on a plane not too long ago with just a dozen flights. Like I said, it's early, and that stuff shows promise, but we need more experience with it before it can be "pattern certified".
We have a set of the 5000s coming and will be able to say whether they are at their advertised weights. That said, i still have some VERY well used Flight Powers that have some life in them yet, so I will be flying all of them.
Tom M
Speaking of the Spin programming box, it really has a couple nice features like servo testing, pulse width measurement, etc. I use it all the time to help guys set their TXs up to match the endpoitns for the ESCs.
I have not tried the Castle Creations controllers but I hear many are having success with them, mostly on the right coast. I know there were some initial programming snags but they seemed to have worked them out.
Don
03-14-2008, 01:47 PM
#37
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RE: If you can start over, how would you do it?
My experience with the United Hobbies/Hobby City packs so far are that I'd stay away from the Hextronic 4100's (they call them the D9 G2 15-25C). I have a set with 15 flights. They swell up slightly after the flights now and don't have the power they did when I started with them. I got a set of the new Zippy-R 4500's and only have a couple flights. The power so far is great (seems similar to my FP 5350's). They seem to charge better than the Hextronics. The TP balancer got almost too hot to touch when charging the 4100's, but the Zippy-R packs charge like my flightpowers and the balancer stays pretty cool. The way I look at it, I will use my two sets of Flightpowers and treat them carefully so they'll be my contest packs. I'll use a couple sets of the cheapo packs to extend my practice flights. That way, I keep at least 4 flight packs going, I'll extend the calendar life of my FP's, and I don't mind crunching the cheaper packs as long as they last past the cost threshold. If the Zippy-R pack lasts then I'll get another one. The Flightpowers are clearly the best pack I am running, but at +2x cost you have to think hard about getting more.
03-16-2008, 04:04 PM
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RE: If you can start over, how would you do it?
Just a quick note,
I too have tried the Zippy cells from United. I have two 5s 5000's in my model. So far i have 13 cycles on them, and so far touch wood they have been great.
I cannot see any power differences when compared to my Thunder Power Extremes (version 1). My Thunder Power balancer is just getting warm.
All in all I'm pretty happy with these cells. Especially when they are nearly one third of the cost of name brand cells
Chris
I too have tried the Zippy cells from United. I have two 5s 5000's in my model. So far i have 13 cycles on them, and so far touch wood they have been great.
I cannot see any power differences when compared to my Thunder Power Extremes (version 1). My Thunder Power balancer is just getting warm.
All in all I'm pretty happy with these cells. Especially when they are nearly one third of the cost of name brand cells
Chris
