fw190

My Feedback: (37)

Can I use my 3s1p batteries in series for the 500? will it fit? If I use them in series will there be any problems if some packs perform better than others or some packs may hold more charge and destroy the other battery?

RussWisc

yes you can use 2x3S too make a 6s ,,, you can use 4s 5s 6s in the 500
Packs your looking for are total weight 350-500Gms i am useing 4S-3300 packs but i am looking for long flight times sport flying ... if you want crazy 3-D you want 6s more power shorter flight times ... i am looking now at 5s to have a good balance sport and 3D .. but over all Align made the 500 so all the 450 owners can use the packs they have now X2 ... they have gears 12t---17t and depending on the 4-5-6S your useing is what gear you use ,,, the kit comes with 12t-13t for 6S packs

The Hedgehog

Yup, that will work fine.. Did anyone finish theirs yet? I just finished the building have to do the programming now. Running mine on 6s.

BoysToys

My 500 should be here today or tomorrow. For batteries I am going to be wiring two of my exhisting Flight Power Evo25 3S 2170 packs in series to get me started. Just be sure that your packs are similar in age and usage or you will eventually kill the older/weaker pack. I have also ordered one [link=http://www.rchover.com/inc/sdetail/118807]Flight Power Evo25 6S 2500[/link] pack. Once I get mine built I am also going to check out a MaxAmps pack. I think that one of their 6S 3000mah packs should fit under the canopy and still balance relatively well.

Cleared2Engage

Make sure to use packs with the same rating and capacity. Also make it a point to pair up your good packs so you avoid possibly messing up a good one. I haven't noticed one bad pack affecting another while running in series on my Hurricane.

fw190

My Feedback: (37)

Thanks for the replies, I am by no means anywhere near capable of 3D'n as this will be my 4th heli in about a month. I have 6 lipo packs for my B400 which I am considering using for the 500. I might consider the H550 also, that is a nice heli but I havent seen it in person.

Is there a way to balance the two packs together just before using it?

rob-atl

The TP 210 balancer can take both 3s packs & balance together.
I think you just have to be very careful if you are charging at the same time, that the balance plug associated with the NEG charge wire on your Deans Series connector goes in a specific balance plug on the 210. If you are just going to balance AFTER charging, either hole works for either battery (USE ONE BANK of 2 balance plug receptors ONLY-ONE END OF 210 AT A TIME)

TheBum

Just to emphasize the seriousness of rob-atl's warning, I mistakenly connected two 3S packs to my Maxpro X6 charger/balancer incorrectly and managed to burn up the balance connector on one of them. Luckily, the pins on the balance plugs sacrificed themselves before the battery cells were damaged.

chris b

Oh its not fair... I am still waiting for mine to arrive - got caught in the backorder, so... []

fw190

My Feedback: (37)

I dont have mine yet either [], just getting info on batteries. Believe me I cant wait for it!

The Hedgehog

Its a wonderful kit you will like it. [sm=thumbup.gif]

fw190

My Feedback: (37)

Is there a way to balance the packs together before using them? Or maybe I just need to pick up a 6s charger/balancer to add to my collection of chargers []

The Hedgehog

You could do that, you can charge them with the Y plug adapter you use, but you would need two separate 3 cell balancers to use at the same time. You would have to do this because when using two separate packs it is highly recommend to balance them as one pack is more likely to be slightly out of balance as the other. I usually charge thems eparately with a charger that can handle multiple packs. Here is a link to an easy no frills charger I would recommend....

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXKAU0&P=SM

fw190

My Feedback: (37)

There seems to be many ways to do this but I am confused on how this is all hooked up.

With the link you gave me will charge 2 (or 2 sets of 2) lipos at one time but they do not balance all the cells in both packs and I am suppose to hook up the tp210 balancer to both packs while charging to equalize the charge. Will a AstroFlight "Blinky" Lithium Polymere Cell work the same way?

I read somewhere that not all lipo packs can take a charge from the discharge connector, is this true? So far I have only been charging single packs via JST tap connectors.

Anyone got a picture of how they are doing this?

The Hedgehog

I have about 30 lipos and I charge them all from the discharge connector, I have never heard this info, but have yet to have a problem. And yes you are correct you will charge both packs through the discharge connector while hooking them both to a balancer at the same time.

credence

My Feedback: (2)

Certain batteries, like the electrifly packs, have their own built in protection circuit, and so have dedicated leads, one for charging one for discharging.

I'm not sure what would happen on these batteries if you tried to charge through the discharge plug, but it probably wouldn't be good, and they say as much in the instructions.

fw190

My Feedback: (37)

Well it looks like I might try and power it with A123 batteries. I am not ready for all out 3D anyways and I just want as much airtime as I can get. I have read a few forums but I can't figure out if I need to change the ESC to run A123 batteries. I went to home depot and picked up MAKITA BL1830 18V LXT BATTERY to play around with, this is basically a 5s2p batteries at 3000ma, after openning the pack it weighs in at 465g without connectors, I just need to solder in a cable and a deans connector. The pack will not need a tap connector as they are normally charged via discharge cable. I also have heard that each cell can withstand 10C normal discharge so in 2p will be 20C. So basically the pack will be a 5S2P at 3000ma and its not much bigger than my two 2200 3s1p lipo pack. Darn it! I got a battery pack and no heli and I wont know how many minutes I can fly with it! [:@]. I will post exact dimension tonight when I get home.

Anyone using these cells?