Lipo C rating questions

Welcome to RCTalk

Come join other RC enthusiasts! You'll be able to discuss, share and private message with other members of our community.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Noah Zimmerman

RCTalk Basher
Messages
42
Reaction score
30
Location
Santa fe, New Mexico
RC Driving Style
  1. Bashing
  2. Flying
I am looking at trying out a 3s pack on my rival mt which I have only been running on 2s. I am curious if there are any issues with running a low c rating lipo. My 2s packs are 5200mah 60c and 80c batteries. I just read an rc car action article from a few years ago that said you should never really need more than a 25c discharge rate unless you are going for maximum top speed. I also heard a couple different people say that low c rating lipo packs will not even run some vehicles. I know that a higher mah rating will give longer run times but is there a noticable difference between running a 25c or running an 80c?
 
The C rating on most LiPo's is inflated anyway, but as long as you use good batteries, 50C-60C should be ok. You will notice a bit more punch with higher C batteries from what I hear, but I don't really notice a lot of difference. I don't run anything below 60C though for any of my batteries. For crawlers you can get by with 25C, but I wouldn't use them for bashers or anything heavy and fast.
 
Hey Noah. The go-to packs for my Rival MT10 are full length 2s x 5000mAh 50C. They are adequate for all my bashing needs.

I do have a 3s x 4500 'Shorty' 120C for install in the other MT10 roller currently in project. Yet to run it. To be honest, C-rating didn't enter into the purchase, other than it was "more than" 60C, which I now consider a minimum.

Having said that, agree with Kevin, above, on inflated C-ratings. I look more to the battery manufacturer's reputation for providing a quality pack than the advertised C-rating. Hope this helps. Cheers. 'AC'
 
Yes, It seems that most say the minimum should be around 50c for a basher but is that just preference? I just wonder if anyone has had good or bad experience running lower c rated batteries. I am happy with my 60 and 80c batteries but see other cheaper lower rated packs around. I know the better brands are made better and are better quality overall. I am guessing it's just a case of you get what you pay for? Can a low c pack not handle the draw of a brushless setup? If the lower rating really is slower and has less punch, of course I would stick with the 50c minimum idea.
 
If the actual C rating is too low for the vehicle, you will experience voltage sag because not enough current can get to the ESC. This can cause the ESC to go into low voltage cutoff (LVC), thinking the battery is drained. It can also cause damage to the pack over time.

Having too low a C rating can also cause the car to feel sluggish when you give it throttle. That is due to the voltage dropping off.

The weight of the vehicle, gearing, tire size, drivetrain friction, etc all come into play when it comes to how much current the motor will need. So it is best to stay on the safe side of things, ie bigger is better.

The best battery brands when it came to actual C ratings were found to be CNHL, Liperior, and Zippy by way of some testing that Greywolf did here awhile back. But even then, the 100C packs were topping out in the mid 30's. So if you were to run a 30C battery, it would likely only be around 20C at best. So stay above 50C at least, especially with 4wd vehicles. 100C would be better.

Crawlers on the otherhand can get by with 25C batteries. But I'd never use them in any RC with any kinda speed.
 
Back
Top