ORIGINAL: jimweda
Hey HelisRule! I wouldn't worry too much about getting an expensive Lipo charger. Just get something in your budget and go with that. No need to get all the bells and whistles just for a battery charge. As for Lipo's I also use the TP1320's but also have some Impulse 11.1v, 950's and they both work great. I've upgraded all my battery connectors to Deans Ultra's including the one on the e-board of the heli. Higher capacity, easy to solder and makes a nice, tight connection and is higher capacity rating than the JST that comes with the heli. Get whats in your budget and have some fun. I'd love to see some pictures of your old plane and heli if and when you get it fully built. That would be pretty nastolgic to say the least. Might even make your dad proud to finally see if out of the basement. hehe Good luck and happy flying. Oh, also, for a 3 cell, even though I do have a balancer, I don't think you really need to get one. You could go at least a couple of months before you need to worry about balancing a 3 cell, especially if you get some pretty descent batteries. About 12 mins safely, without discharging below 11v is what I'm getting on my TP's.
I'll definitely post some pics of the 'old' stuff. I may pick them up this weekend if I get to it. My rotor blades should be in today or tomorrow. Not sure how the flying is going to go. I played around with the pots on the e-board to try and adjust the tail prior to the latest mishap, and the last time I tried to fly it, I couldn't even get it off the ground. I had thought I had gotten the pots back to where they were from the factory before the last attempt. I'm assuming the fact that I can't get lift has more to do with the blades being damaged than the stock batteries going bad after less than 10 practice sessions. I didn't see any other damage but I'll take a closer look prior to the next flight. Probably should have done that before placing the blade order but I didn't see anything jump out at me. I guess I'll know more when the new blades arrive, then I'll go from there. I've been practicing in the garage and having a real problem trimming it out. But I may be suffering from ground effect more than anything, as I'm a bit skittish to get it up in the air in the limited garage space, given how erraticly it moves around on the floor.