Flyojumper

I'm looking at getting a good pack that will be able to later handle even good BL setups.
For now I have my attention on those:
BoomBoom Batteries IB3800 around 43$ + shipping
Cheapbatterypacks.com Elite 3600 (they claim those cells have higher avg voltage than IB3800 but less runtime) 32-36$ + shipping depending if you "upgrade" the soldering

I was actually very interested in the new IB4200 also but cannot find a place that offers them for less than $60 or so. Anywhere to find them cheap?
Which of these cells give the most punch?
Which of those cells/retailer are the best value? Can they all support a good BL setup?
Any other cell or place that would offer an even better value?

I also have a question on zapping and matching. Does zapping hurt the cell life? I heard some racers say that zapping reduced the life of the cell (or was it shorting? I have a doubt now...)
Will a zapped cell keep its edge over a non zapped cell over its whole life or will that advantage dissipate over time? (like becoming "unzapped"?)
Same question for matched cells, I heard they become unmatched anyway rather rapidly...

Finally, I was wondering how much better those cells are compared to the GP3300 packs from radioshack assuming those were disassembled and redone in a side pack with deans plug?

I know it's quite a few questions but I would really appreciate some answers to all those. Thanks!

-Inverted-

You can find the IB4200's on ebay. You may want to try some of the Maxamps 4k's

Flyojumper

I've looked on ebay but the IB4200 are $65+ shipping there.

Thanks for the advice on Maxamps, the assembled IB4200 with Deans is 67.5$ there though.
I'd really rather stay under 50$, I guess IB4200 is out of the question at this budget? Do they offer better punch than IB3800?

However I'm intrigued by the 4k cells on Maxamps and ebay. They advertise them as 1.21-1.25 guaranteed which is much higher than any other cell I've seen, and much cheaper.
Why are they not more popular and so cheap then? Seems too good to be true... What's the catch? Not reliable?

Doahh

Because the voltage drops form 1.25 to 1.14 within 30 secconds...
Get the BoomBoom's IB3800 assembled... Many people will probably seccond this

gm72

I have read information from people, including the president of boomboombatteries, that the 4200 cells have some difficulties. He was still testing them at his last post on the subject. IB3800s seem to be a best buy at the time. Basically I agree with Doahh.

Doahh

flyo what part of CA are you in?
I might be able to get you some local help if you are close to roseville

Flyojumper

Wait, I though the voltage value was the average of the voltage between the peak and the 5.4V complete discharge point. Isn't that the case? 1.25V per cell at peak would seem pretty small, my charger show my 6 cells sport pack to be at 8.2V after it has "calmed down" several minutes after the peak stop.

So ib4200 are having some difficulties? That's interesting, if anyone has some links, I'd like to read a little more on the topic.

Doahh, I'm in southern cali, Long Beach. We are not exactly neighbors... But that's very nice of you to propose that, what did you have in mind exactly out of curiosity?

Doahh

www.speedworldraceway.com and talking to Billy... He's very helpful... I got 20 bucks off of my XXX-S G+ because of him

Elmo6s

My Feedback: (1)

Hi,
I'm the Owner of Boom Boom Batteries. If you need any more info than the guys have already given, feel free to shoot me an e-mail! Also, check out the review of our batteries at: [link=http://www.beatyourtruck.com/prodreview-IB3800.html]http://www.beatyourtruck.com/prodreview-IB3800.html [/link] - we should also have a very nice one coming out on RCU today or tomorrow!
Alex

gunnut

Hey Elmo6, I'm looking at your packs, and have a question:
with the pre assembled IB3800, do I need to solder a pigtail on?
AND they're NiMH, correct?
Thanks!

Doahh

NIMH... just drop in you vehicle after charging plug them in and go

Elmo6s

My Feedback: (1)

Yep,
They come with the connector of your choice installed and ready to go! Yes, they are Nimh!
Alex

gunnut

Thanks! It'll be my next pack!

SS Pede

I've seen IB4200's for $55 INCLUDING shipping at offshorelectrics.com. I think they're sold out now, though. And I want to see how they do in the long run before I buy any.

jakjr

My Feedback: (18)

Not to be argumentative, but I would need some proof before I believe that.

With my 4K's I don't see any major performance degradation until about 3 minutes and 30 seconds into the run, at which point speed drops about 3mph and I can't get wheelies anymore. This level of performance is maintained until about 5 minutes and 30 seconds into run at which point speed drops another 4mph or so, after that they start slowly petering out until about 7 minutes and 15 seconds into the run at which point they begin dumping.

This is with a starting top speed of 42-43mph and using a Neo 3 star brushless motor.

I'm pretty sure my setup is drawing over 30 amps (based on my runtime, I would say it must be drawing around 34-35 amps), and as I said I see no noticeable performance drop until 3:30 into the run, so I really can not see how there would be THAT big of a drop within 30 seconds on a 30 amp discharge. If there was, my speed would be dropping from 42-43 down to 38-39 within 25 seconds or so.

Who knows, maybe I just got a good pack. Frankly, I don't care, all i know is that it runs fine for me and I like it.

Flyojumper

jakjr, do you have some IB3800, IB4200 or GP 3700 also by any chance for the sake of comparison?
I'd like to know how all those cells perform in punch delivery on a relatively high amps BL setup.

jakjr

My Feedback: (18)

The only other packs I have that I use in my cars are matched GP 3300's, unmatched GP3300's, and a matched set of IB 3600's. Also have some sanyo 1500's and panasonic 1700's but I only use them in my Clodbuster.

The IB3600's I have totally blow, that's why I don't have any IB 3800's or 4200's, I didn't want to take the chance of possibly being out another $50+ on another crap pack.

I didn't bother trying the GP 3700's as when I figured it up they were only going to give such a small runtime increase that I decided I'd just stay with the 3300's I already had until something else came along.

Comparing to my matched 3300's: Speed is basically the same, acceleration is better with the 4k's, runtime is better with the 4k's, the 3300's hold their punch longer. Simply put, for bashing the 4K's would be my choice, for racing the GP3300's would be my choice.

That0neGuy

My Feedback: (-1)

Yea they are.Oh yea there a catch alright there crap.

Elmo6s

My Feedback: (1)

I'm not sure how you can make claims about a new cell with no basis for comparison... There is a huge difference between the run time and performance of an IB 3800 pack over the GP3300s even if they're matched...

jakjr

My Feedback: (18)

I'm not sure how anybody else can make there claims either, considering I'm the only guy here with a Maxamps 4K pack in hand

Team Dominion

Along the lines of battery talk I have a few questions here. I've been building and running 1/10 trucks for a couple years now but don't really know all that much about it. I just put em together and run the hell out of em till they break then I fix em and do it again.

My questions are;

I have a Traxxas Rustler with lots of aluminum upgrades ( shock towers, tranny case, A- arms (extended on the front) caster blocks, an aluminum front bumper/skid plate (my own design), and a rear skid plate (also my own design( the rear skid plates will prolly be available for sale soon( both are made from 1/16 in. thick 6061 aluminum stock) and steering knuckles). I'm using a Novak Super rooster esc with the stock reciver and radio, I have a 16 turn speed gems motor in it. I can't recall the gear ratio at the moment. I have two Venom ( I know cheap crap but I'm poor leave me alone!!! lol) 3300's I am not getting near the run time I would like out of them ( about 7 minutes). Ok now to the point, can I run both packs in parallel without damage to the esc?

The esc is equipt with the "brake light" option... When I hooked these up (breifly), I discovered they are more accurately reverse lights. They don't come on during "braking" but only once the truck actually goes into reverse. Is this a programming thing or is that just the way they work?

jakjr

My Feedback: (18)

Yes that can be done with no ESC damage. Hooking them up in parallel only increases the capacity of the pack and how much current it can handle, the ESC sees no changes. The only way the ESC could be damaged by doing this is if it you ran it so long that it overheated, but most all ESC's will cut off once they reach a certain temperature so that shouldn't be a problem.

As far as the lights go, I have no idea.

Elmo6s

My Feedback: (1)

I have the same exact cells that were sent to me for testing/ I didn't stock them because of the voltage drop...

jakjr

My Feedback: (18)

Strange, I guess yours look exactly like this then?

EDIT---

My final word on the subject: you run and sell what you want, and I'll run and buy what I want from who I want.

I'm not going to argue about this.

jakjr

My Feedback: (18)

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