Battery and Charger Upgrades and basics?

Tyork_tex

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Okay guys second thread here, I still haven't gotten around to doing an intro.

I've searched the internet and still can't get any definitive answers. I want to upgrade my battery with an emphasis on run time over power, and kind of a short education on batteries and chargers in general.

1. Would it be worth it to go Lipo or stick with NiMh?
2. Will my factory motor/electronics handle an upgrade?
3. What kind of charge/run times can I expect?
4. What does 2s 3s etc. mean?

If yall don't mind include recomendations as far as brand and size battery and charger.
Also I want something small enough to stick on my front servo for better weight distribution and a lower COG if that's at all possible. I've seen it done on Losis and they say it makes a big difference. Thanx!
 
Well i dont know to much as im still new to the rc game but from what i understand and have experianced is lipos give you more power and better run time. But as far as being compatible with stock electronics i think you should be fine. A guy in the temper section ran the 2s on the stock and said it worked fine.
 
@Tyork_tex - what ECX RC do you currently have?

In a nut shell:
  1. Pending if your ECX supports LiPo, then yes it's certainly worth the upgrade.
  2. Some ECX models do, others do not... what do you have now? ;)
  3. Depends on how much money you want to spend. Higher capacity (larger Mah rating) offers longer run time, but costs more.
  4. The more cells the more voltage, 2s is going to be 7.4volts, whereas 3s is 11.1 volts. Be careful with 3s as the extra voltage is known for breaking more things.
 
I just picked up a Temper. I think I'm going to go Lipo but I may have to wait til after Christmas. Will I have to put a low voltage cut off on board? I've read that lipos don't like going below a certain voltage.
 
The ECX Temper electronic speed controller (ESC) does not support LiPo, as in it doesn't have a low voltage cutoff / alarm. So you'll either need to replace your ESC with one that does or buy a low voltage alarm so that you know when the LiPo battery is nearly dead.
 
Yes depending on which ECX you have epends on if you can go LIPO or not. Had a person bring in a Temper tonight that tried a 3s lipo and the esc died. If you have a 1/10th with the WP 60A FWD/REV Brushed ESC part# DYNS2210 is is NiMh and Lipo compatible you can go all the way to 3s Lipo. So the All of the Brushed motor Circuits, Boost, Rockus and Torment all come with this esc and it is also the one I run in my Vaterra Ascender rock crawler.
 
Lipos have a much lower internal resistence, which means they have more "punch" so to speak. Because of this, they also are more effiecient and run much cooler.

Be careful, though. They require more care then nimhs. And you will have to buy an balance charger.

You can run a 2s lipo on any 1/10 scale esc. You just wont have lvc. 3s is a different story. It will blow up most stock vrushed esc's ( but not all)
 
when you hear someone say 2s or 3s they are referring to voltage. Every lipo cell has 3.7v, so 2s is: 2 cells hooked in series(that's what the s stands for) will double the volts and make it 7.2v. A 3s battery will be 11.1v. Run times all depend on size of battery and motor, along with almost everything on your r/c... rock crawlers get really good battery run times because they have low kv motors. Also weight and how much throttle you give it will play a huge role in how much run time you get as well! With lipo's you also want to make sure to never run them too low, or bad things are bound to happen...
if you get a 5000mah battery, you can expect run times close to 30min or longer. Sometimes less, it all depends. A affordable brand with good reviews is Turnigy, I usually just buy off amazon.
 
As far as charging I thought I should put it out there that a normal charger will NOT work lipos. You will need a balance charger like the Horizon Hobby kinexsis kx80 (what I have, lol)

Lipos should never get hot and if they puff don't use them again. Nimhs are a bit safer but lipos are safe as long as they aren't abused
 
As far as charging I thought I should put it out there that a normal charger will NOT work lipos. You will need a balance charger like the Horizon Hobby kinexsis kx80 (what I have, lol)

Lipos should never get hot and if they puff don't use them again. Nimhs are a bit safer but lipos are safe as long as they aren't abused
I totally spaced adding this haha. I actually just bought a dead used lipo from someone who tried to charge it on nimh setting until it died! Now the battery is totally shot...
 
Nooo that sucks but it proves a point
Now the battery forgot it's a lipo lol! The only way it will take a charge is on the nimh setting (I only tried it because after a hundred of attempts at charging it on 2s, I lost hope and became desperate) it actually worked... but it doesn't even have as much juice as a good nimh, and dies in about 4.3min
 
I am brand new and purchased the ECX AMP DB. Can I run lipos in the stock set-up? How do I determine if I can.? Is there a place to look this up? Thanks for any help you can provide.
 
It's not rated for it. However I believe people have ran 2s lipos with that setup.

Personally, if I were you, I'd probably upgrade to a brushless setup before going lipo.
 
It's not rated for it. However I believe people have ran 2s lipos with that setup.

Personally, if I were you, I'd probably upgrade to a brushless setup before going LiPo.
ah, Ok will look into going brushless motor.
 
Based on my experience, I'd suggest going LiPo before installing a brushless motor/ESC system. The LiPos provide higher performance over the NiMH.

You can run a LiPo in the AMP cars, but the ESC does not have a "low voltage cutoff" feature. You can buy a LVC alarm relatively inexpensively. It plugs into the balance lead on the battery and sounds an alarm when the battery's voltage drops to a certain point. When you hear the alarm you just stop driving. You don't want to run a LiPo too low (about 3V per cell) or it will ruin the battery. ESC's that are "compatible" with LiPos simply have a LVC feature built -in. They either stop the car, or sound an alarm (or both).
 
It's all about priorities. Fast. Cheap. Good. Pick two, because you won't have all three.
1439501719378.jpg
 
Ok so if I got this right I could go Lipo with a brushless motor and a LVC alarm and still run the same receiver and radio? or would the ESC not work with the brushless motor. In which case I would have to upgrade radio and rec to accommodate the brushless motor setup.
 
You've just about got it. The receiver and ESC are a combined unit in the AMP MT and DB. If you want to go brushless in the AMP you would need a new radio, receiver, and brushless ESC. That ESC would incorporate a LVC/alarm.

With only the purchase of a low voltage alarm (like this Venom unit which costs about US$11.00) you can safely run a LiPo in your stock AMP and benefit from the enhanced performance of LiPo. (Well, you'd need a LiPo battery and a compatible charger.)
 

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