With an $800 budget , what would you get?

[Lostinthewoods86]

For the Maxx , my son’s grandmother got him a Traxxas dual charger and Traxxas LiPo (unbeknownst to me). I know Traxxas chargers and batteries aren’t great and are overpriced but she meant well View attachment 204817

Hell it will work to get the wheels turning

 

[CertifiedMike]

For the Maxx , my son’s grandmother got him a Traxxas dual charger and Traxxas LiPo (unbeknownst to me). I know Traxxas chargers and batteries aren’t great and are overpriced but she meant well View attachment 204817

That's sweet!

 

[WickedFog]

She just got him a 3s?

 

[Lostinthewoods86]

Wickeds got a good point, we need full send! Don’t forget the gears either

3s should be good to get him started driving it though, it will still be fun!

 

[PainKiller]

She just got him a 3s?

She got him a 3s. I’m getting him a 4s. So he’ll have both.

 

[Greywolf74]

The way I understand it, when you start a charge cycle, your LiPo charger is just dumping energy into the battery through the larger "discharge" leads. The ones with the EC5, or XT connector, or whatever. You hear of racers charging at 30 or 40 amps. The balance leads would not take that constantly. So the discharge leads are also handling the charging.

This is all essentially correct. I just want to clarify a few things. (Not to you WF, to the others, I'm just using your post to do it) Typically the larger wires are referred to as the "main lead" and the smaller one is called a balance lead. There are multiple different types of balance leads although the "JST-XH" is by far the most common connector. Besides JST-XH there are also JST-EH, Thunder Power (TP), Hyperion, and Polyquest connectors. Hyperion and Polyquest are interchangeable though. I dont know how things are these days because the last time I bought a Thunder Power or Hyperion charger/battery was probably close to a decade and a half ago but TP used to come with TP connectors and Hyperion used to come with hyperion connectors. Just FYI.

Once one single cell reaches 4.2v (or 4.35v for high volt LiPo's), the charger stops charging at the higher amperage you have selected and goes into balance mode.

During the balance cycle, the max amperage your charger can charge at will only be what the charger's balance circuitry can handle. The Hota for example has 1.6A balance current capability.

Once in balance mode, the charger is still charging each cell through the discharge leads, but it is drawing the extra voltage out of the full cell(s) through the balance leads and burning that energy up through internal resistors.

That is why the balance circuitry capability is so limited. It can only discharge at the amperage the internal resistors can handle. So you might start at 5A, but your battery will finish charging at 1.6A. If it didn't do that it would burn itself up trying to get rid of all that energy that fast.

LiPo chargers are called "Constant Current Constant Volatge", or CCCV chargers. They are called that because thats how they operate as WF explained here. The first phase gives the battery constant current for 70-80% of the charge and then once the LiPo reaches a point where that constant current would be to much and overcharge one or more of the cells it goes in to constant voltage phase where the charger supplies the exact amount of current needed to maintain the maximum voltage of the pack. Either 4.2V or 4.35V for regular and high voltage lipos respectively. While its feeding the now fluctuating current to the battery via the main leads in the CV phase, the charger is also simultaniously pulling the over charge from cells out through the balance leads in order to ensure that no one cells goes over its max charge level. This is why chosing a charger that has the highest balance lead discharge current possible is beneficial to speeding up the charging procedure.

 

[CertifiedMike]

This is all essentially correct. I just want to clarify a few things. (Not to you WF, to the others, I'm just using your post to do it) Typically the larger wires are referred to as the "main lead" and the smaller one is called a balance lead. There are multiple different types of balance leads although the "JST-XH" is by far the most common connector. Besides JST-XH there are also JST-EH, Thunder Power (TP), Hyperion, and Polyquest connectors. Hyperion and Polyquest are interchangeable though. I dont know how things are these days because the last time I bought a Thunder Power or Hyperion charger/battery was probably close to a decade and a half ago but TP used to come with TP connectors and Hyperion used to come with hyperion connectors. Just FYI.


LiPo chargers are called "Constant Current Constant Volatge", or CCCV chargers. They are called that because thats how they operate as WF explained here. The first phase gives the battery constant current for 70-80% of the charge and then once the LiPo reaches a point where that constant current would be to much and overcharge one or more of the cells it goes in to constant voltage phase where the charger supplies the exact amount of current needed to maintain the maximum voltage of the pack. Either 4.2V or 4.35V for regular and high voltage lipos respectively. While its feeding the now fluctuating current to the battery via the main leads in the CV phase, the charger is also simultaniously pulling the over charge from cells out through the balance leads in order to ensure that no one cells goes over its max charge level. This is why chosing a charger that has the highest current possible is beneficial to speeding up the charging procedure.

Thank you for this!!!
I have read enough confusing crap about lipos that it was essentially all meaningless at the end of it.
Everybody is tryimg to sell you something and its ALL "the most important, best thing ever" and its crap at least 75% of the time IMO!
So. @Greywolf74 , If you were running bashers on some fair but not outrageous budget, which battery would you put in this truck?

Edit: For both of these trucks?
I don't mean to ignore your list of good and bad. I'm asking if the list applies to basher batteries as well as the "racer's edge" expensive stuff.

 

[PainKiller]

And is it a good idea to have some special mat (fireproof?) to keep the charger and LiPo’s on during charging?

 

[CertifiedMike]

And is it a good idea to have some special mat (fireproof?) to keep the charger and LiPo’s on during charging?

There's lots of talk about this. Charge outside if possible. If not, use a bag or better a metal ammo box or tool box.
Charge close to an exit.
The idea is that if a lipo ignites, you can't put it out.
The bag will buy you a few seconds before melting and failing. There are tests.
Metal box buys you more time and something to grab so you can toss that sucker!

 

[PainKiller]

Do you guys store your LiPo’s in a fireproof container? I see LiPo storage bags on Amazon. Good idea?

 

[332_RC]

Yes. Lipo bags & ammo cans.

 

[9x19]

I keep mine in a Lipo bag and keep those inside a fire-resistant steel box.

Steel Box

Bottom of the box is 'lined' with one of these:

Lipo bag

 

[PainKiller]

I keep mine in a Lipo bag and keep those inside a fire-resistant steel box.

Steel Box

Bottom of the box is 'lined' with one of these:

Lipo bag

View attachment 204918

Very nice. Will this one work by itself? Or do I need a steel box as well?

Or this one …

 

[9x19]

Hard to say what will give you peace of mind... I'm content with my choice, but I imagine that big bag will do just fine.

Lipo fires aren't as common as we worry about, but for me, any risk that can be easily mitigated, should be.

 

[PainKiller]

Hard to say what will give you peace of mind... I'm content with my choice, but I imagine that big bag will do just fine.

Lipo fires aren't as common as we worry about, but for me, any risk that can be easily mitigated, should be.

I ordered a couple of the green Ovonic boxes. One for me and one for the lad. Maybe a steel box at some point.

 

[332_RC]

Walmart has ammo cans for $13. I have 3 lipo bags, one big, two small, & two ammo cans. Batts in the bags & cans.

 

[PainKiller]

My HOTA charger , Ec5/Xt60
adapters and balance cables will be here by the weekend. And the truck shipped yesterday

I’ll post pics and you guys can tell me which LiPo exactly you think I should get. Help me spend more money

 

[PainKiller]

We drove the Maxx after dinner for a while yesterday. Wow , that thing can haul! And it took jumps with ease. Lots of fun. My son LOVES it. And my other son seems to be getting a little interested in it too. He wanted to drive it and said “maybe I’ll get one”. I see myself going broke in the near future

 

[paytonimusrex]

yeah that’s happening to me now… started with sct410 not I have the b74.2 and this weekend my mom is gonna show me what’s all with my slash so I can go through it and tell her what to mail me

 

[9x19]

We drove the Maxx after dinner for a while yesterday. Wow , that thing can haul! And it took jumps with ease. Lots of fun. My son LOVES it. And my other son seems to be getting a little interested in it too. He wanted to drive it and said “maybe I’ll get one”. I see myself going broke in the near future

Two words: Spare Parts