couple battery questions

[akdodger]

Hi All,

I know these questions have most likely been asked and answered already but I'm at work now and can't filter through all of the great information.
Anyhoo....
Looking to upgrade my stock SClp (1300mah 15c-20c burst) for more flight time. I was thinking of upgrading to (2200mah 20C or 30c) Suggestions on brand, price etc? Will this work? Will I get longer flight times?

Also curious about whether I will need to upgrade the stock charger when I upgrade my betteries.

Thanks in advance

[gagallagher04401]

Hello
2200mah work great in the cub. 20C, 25C all work fine, that is the batteries discharge rate. You may need to modify the battery box to accept the bigger battery is all.
You will defiantly get longer flight times. The more Mah, the more flight time.
For where to buy them is up to you and how deep your pocket is. This is a low end plane so I do not spend tons on batteries, and I have had no problems. I use batteries from 1550mah 20C, thru 2200mah 25C. I use www.hobbypartz.com alot ( when they have items in stock), Hobbyking.com (if I can justify the shipping time and price for my order) They do have a USA warehouse now though. I my self would look at a better charger. I use a Turnigy Accucell-6 not the best but works good for me for years now. I use a PC power supply to run it. I wish I would have got one with the built in power supply but this was when I first started I did not know. Here is one that looks pretty good. www.hobbypartz.com/skychb6chdup.html Like I say so many out their, but prices rise quickly. Also if you are using stock equipment on lipos, put a GWS 1060 (10x6) prop on the plane, very good prop, helps the plane out alot.

Hope this helps, others will chime in
George

[rivergreenmachine]

I just finished a normal flight, removed the 1300mah battery and found it to be hotter than normal .... and its cover is puffed out.

Did this battery just go belly up??? First time in 6 months flying that I've had this happen. I'm hesitant to recharge it.

Also, once a Li-Po battery is fully charged, is it necessary to wait some time before using it? I've always done that with other types of batteries. Just wondering if I need to with these SuperCub batteries.

Thx!

[flydiver]

Puffing indicates chemical changes internally + damage. Heat in lipo is not good. It's likely on the way out.
If you got 6 months and a lot of flights out of it maybe time to let it go. I recommend discharge completely and discard.
If you insist in continuing to use it you should treat it like a loaded grenade everywhere it goes.
Will it go inferno? No way to tell.
Do you want to risk it? Entirely up to you. You DO have a damaged lipo now.

You can take lipos right off the charger and use them. You do NOT have to wait. You don't have to wait with other batteries either unless the device you are putting them in could be damaged with excess voltage. In fact NiXX batteries will work BETTER right off the charger.
Now, if you put them in sensitive electronics (GPS, camera, etc.) it is possible you could fry that kind of item.

Do NOT charge lipos after use and let them sit around a long time. This IS damaging to the chemistry. I've written numerous posts about that.
If you let your lipos sit around charged you are contributing to a shorter life span. It's inconvenient not to have them charged and ready to go but this does damage them. The higher the C-rating > the faster and worse the damage.

[rivergreenmachine]

Thank you for that concise info flydiver.

One further question. Are the Zippy brand batteries good?

The ones I have are HobbyZone, but they cost more.

Thx!

[flydiver]

Let's put it this way, HZ batteries are expensive and not very good.
You can do better.

You'll get lots of opinions about alternatives in the battery section. Zippy, Rhino, Turnigy, Nano, are all praised and hated depending on who's using them. Mostly they are cheaper than HZ and likely better.
The 'hot' battery right now on line seems to be Gens Ace from Hobbypartz. I think their shipping is better too. HK has gotten more expensive.
I have little personal experience with any newer battery since most of mine are over a year old and many going on 2+ years.