New Summit - quick battery question (and wanted to say hello, I'm new to the site)

[Piranha-z]

Hi all. Just joined the site today. I purchased a 2011 (new to me) Summit (1/10) last week and all I can say is WOW!! I was a little leery because I had read the people thought they were too slow. I have not had an RC for quite a few years now but this thing is very cool. I wasn't looking for anything fast, just something that could handle all conditions (especially snow) and also climb. So far I am very pleased to say the least.

I do have an actual question though. Last night I read through the entire FAQ and a couple other threads dealing with NiMh and LiPo battery comparison's. The truck came with (2X) 8.4V 3800mAh Tenergy Sub-C batteries, and those seem to work OK. Although, when I charge them (I have an Onyx charger) they seem to only charge up to 2700-2800 according to the charger. Is this because they have been used a lot and are probably on their way out the door?? Also, I got a second set with the truck also. They are Venom power 8.4V 4200 mAh and here's where the major problem is. One battery will charge up to about 3300 but the other says it's fully charged when it hits about 1100. I am guessing the battery is shot??

Any ideas on the battery issue would be great.

Also, I was thinking about switching to LiPos (have read a ton on that as well) but I have the EVX-2 that DOES NOT have the LVD. Can I just buy the newer EVX-2 that has the LVD and just swap it out?? Is it basically just a plug-n-play install? And out of curiosity, is it just an alarm that sounds when you start getting a low battery??

Appreciate the help and I look forward to being part of the Summit community!!


Chris

[snowslider]

Welcome to the community! You'll have a great time in here, lots of nice and creative people.

Anyway, onto the questions; It's normal that batteries don't charge up to the claimed mAh rating, this is because that even when the battery is 'dead' there is still some charge left in them, even though it doesn't seem like it. However, only charging up the 2800 out of 3800 mAh sounds like it's not carrying it's full capacity. Same with the Venom ones.

You can just buy the new EVX for LiPos, but it's way cheaper to just buy an LVA. You simply plug one into the balance plug on the LiPo on the BEC side of the ESC. It will beep when the LiPos are 'done'. If you buy the new EVX, then it will slow down when the LiPos are 'done'. It doesn't beep like an LVA.

[Piranha-z]

Welcome to the community! You'll have a great time in here, lots of nice and creative people.

Anyway, onto the questions; It's normal that batteries don't charge up to the claimed mAh rating, this is because that even when the battery is 'dead' there is still some charge left in them, even though it doesn't seem like it. However, only charging up the 2800 out of 3800 mAh sounds like it's not carrying it's full capacity. Same with the Venom ones.

You can just buy the new EVX for LiPos, but it's way cheaper to just buy an LVA. You simply plug one into the balance plug on the LiPo on the BEC side of the ESC. It will beep when the LiPos are 'done'. If you buy the new EVX, then it will slow down when the LiPos are 'done'. It doesn't beep like an LVA.

Thx snowslider. I'm sure glad I read the FAQ's or I wouldn't have known what you meant there ...
I wasn't really sure if the EVX with LVD would actually slow the RC down. That might be a good option for my son though. Can I just grab a LVD on E-bay or Amazon and is there just one that fits all LiPo's? Are they pretty loud?? I guess it's not like I am ever that far away from it anyway because I am usually climbing over stuff.

[snowslider]

All LiPos fits the EVX as long as they got the same plug on them. The LVAs are SUPER loud, and you will hear them, I had the same concern, until I got my LVA and tested it. I think it would be smart to get the EVX for your son, because that stops the truck, the LVA only beeps, and you can keep on driving. It's very easy to get carried on when you're driving, and especially for kids.

[Keila72]

I have the esc with out the lvd and I went on eBay and spent 3 bucks on a alarm. It does everything from 1-8 cell and its also programmable to sound at what ever voltage I want. It is very loud and you will hear it and so will everyone else.

[Piranha-z]

I have the esc with out the lvd and I went on eBay and spent 3 bucks on a alarm. It does everything from 1-8 cell and its also programmable to sound at what ever voltage I want. It is very loud and you will hear it and so will everyone else.

That sounds like a no brainer then. Now I just need to find a decent charger and get some LiPo's Gonna be a spendy purchase though considering I need to buy 4 batteries and the charger. I'll probably buy an Onyx charger as that's what I have for my NiMh batteries and have been very pleased with it. Off to do some research on LiPo batteries and how big I can go with them.

[Keila72]

Here Is the lipo alarm I bought.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lipo-Battery...item1c29cd9f2e

As for batteries. Spend the money and get good ones. Don't get the 15 dallor ones. They just don't fit. The spc 8200 are the largest that I know of and there is people saying there getting 3 hours of crawling time. And there about 50 bucks a battery. There on my Christmas list. And a new Onyx 245.

[Piranha-z]

Here Is the lipo alarm I bought.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lipo-Battery...item1c29cd9f2e

As for batteries. Spend the money and get good ones. Don't get the 15 dallor ones. They just don't fit. The spc 8200 are the largest that I know of and there is people saying there getting 3 hours of crawling time. And there about 50 bucks a battery. There on my Christmas list. And a new Onyx 245.

Thx Keila71, good info there. I was looking at the Onyx 245 as well.

[snowslider]

Here is a nice thread regarding chargers.

[happymachinist]

I have an onyx245, had it about 6 months and I'm looking to upgrade. The onyx's max charge is 5 amps but it is limited on watts and the highest charge I've seen is 4.2 amps. So it would take almost 2 hours to fully charge 8200mah batteries from fully drained.

It's worked well for my nimh and I've had no issues with it I just feel its under powered for what I want. I can't tell you how it works on lipos as Santa won't be here for another month or so


Sent from my iPhone using autocorrect

[Piranha-z]

Here is a nice thread regarding chargers.

WOW, after reading those 3 pages, I don't know if I am ready for LiPo's I thought I could buy a good LiPo charger that would have a voltage leveler built in, plug it into the wall, plug the batteries in, and charge them. But all I see is power supplies, circuit boards, systems hooked to computers..........Maybe I'm a little out of my league.

[TheRCMan]

WOW, after reading those 3 pages, I don't know if I am ready for LiPo's I thought I could buy a good LiPo charger that would have a voltage leveler built in, plug it into the wall, plug the batteries in, and charge them. But all I see is power supplies, circuit boards, systems hooked to computers..........Maybe I'm a little out of my league.

You don't HAVE to get them... They're just nice for people who are more advanced in the hobby...

[Piranha-z]

You don't HAVE to get them... They're just nice for people who are more advanced in the hobby...

Understood. So I can still enjoy having the LiPo batteries and just run the Onyx245 LiPo charger and be fine with it? If so, I think I will still go the LiPo route, just because I want the longer run times.

[TheRCMan]

Yep! The onyx 245 charges 3s max(don't be confused by the 6s balance board) but you won't be needing even 3s with a summit...

[Piranha-z]

Yep! The onyx 245 charges 3s max(don't be confused by the 6s balance board) but you won't be needing even 3s with a summit...

I hate to sound like an idiot, but what does that all mean?? What is the 3s and 6s?

[maxi single]

There might be some valuable lipo info here:

https://sites.google.com/site/tjingu...arging-how-tos

Also do a Youtube search on how to charge lipos etc...

If you have a LHS ask them to show you how everything looks like and how it's done... that's what LHSs are for oh and don't forget to buy something from them once you see all the pieces everything will make sense.

Re: Nimh, assuming you got some used batts with no history behind them, cycle them a few times ie run them down and charge etc... keep a battery log and see if they 'wake up'.

[Piranha-z]

There might be some valuable lipo info here:

https://sites.google.com/site/tjingu...arging-how-tos

Also do a Youtube search on how to charge lipos etc...

If you have a LHS ask them to show you how everything looks like and how it's done... that's what LHSs are for oh and don't forget to buy something from them once you see all the pieces everything will make sense.

Re: Nimh, assuming you got some used batts with no history behind them, cycle them a few times ie run them down and charge etc... keep a battery log and see if they 'wake up'.

That is a great site!!! Thx!

[Piranha-z]

I have an onyx245, had it about 6 months and I'm looking to upgrade. The onyx's max charge is 5 amps but it is limited on watts and the highest charge I've seen is 4.2 amps. So it would take almost 2 hours to fully charge 8200mah batteries from fully drained.

It's worked well for my nimh and I've had no issues with it I just feel its under powered for what I want. I can't tell you how it works on lipos as Santa won't be here for another month or so


Sent from my iPhone using autocorrect

We'll see how it works. Just received my Onyx245 charger and my LiPo's should be here by end of the week. One thing that I maybe jumped too quick on is that the Onyx charger doesn't appear to have a discharge option. I don't think it has one but I just skimmed over the manual. What are you guys doing if you need to discharge the battery from full charge if you aren't going to use it for a few days?? Not good to leave them at full charge like a NiMh I've been told.

[jamann]

It should have a storage charge feature
That will work for you


Sent using lipo power

[Piranha-z]

It should have a storage charge feature
That will work for you


Sent using lipo power

Hmmmm, maybe the Onyx245 doesn't have this feature. I read through the entire manual and I'm not seeing it

[RC-nightmare]

Piranha-z i have a onyx charger very pleased with it i love mine if you charge it and it almost done like half and you need to shut it off it okay it will start back from where it was last time it is very smart ***** so much personification

[maxi single]

Onyx 245 doesn't have a storage feature and I don't think a few days is much of a storage period so I wouldn't worry. If you run lipos down to LVC charge them up to 3.7v per cell just to be safe because u never know when you'll have time to run again.

As for Nimh, you really can't keep a full charge they have a high self discharge rate and can lose 10-20% of juice after one day of sitting.

Everyone have their battery habits so what works for me might not for someone else

[Piranha-z]

Piranha-z i have a onyx charger very pleased with it i love mine if you charge it and it almost done like half and you need to shut it off it okay it will start back from where it was last time it is very smart ***** so much personification

I guess that's what I can do if I know I won't be running them for awhile. Thx!

Onyx 245 doesn't have a storage feature and I don't think a few days is much of a storage period so I wouldn't worry. If you run lipos down to LVC charge them up to 3.7v per cell just to be safe because u never know when you'll have time to run again.

As for Nimh, you really can't keep a full charge they have a high self discharge rate and can lose 10-20% of juice after one day of sitting.

Everyone have their battery habits so what works for me might not for someone else

Yeah, everyone has their own way. It's nice to read what everyone is doing though. I like the option of just charging to the 3.7 and then just pull them off. I want to run the beast every day, but it just doesn't happen.

[jamann]

I'm shocked it has no storage feature.
Either way the others advice will also do the same thing.just easier with the storage function.


Sent using lipo power

[happymachinist]

That is another reason why I am looking to upgrade from my onyx.

You could make a discharger like Jimmie and others have done. If you find you won't have time to run your charged packs plug them into a discharger with a LVA and run them down to storage voltage. (Set the LVA to storage voltage.)


Sent from my iPhone using autocorrect

[Piranha-z]

That is another reason why I am looking to upgrade from my onyx.

You could make a discharger like Jimmie and others have done. If you find you won't have time to run your charged packs plug them into a discharger with a LVA and run them down to storage voltage. (Set the LVA to storage voltage.)


Sent from my iPhone using autocorrect

I will do a search on the discharger with LVA. I'm guessing it's something they made??? I really don't know how much of a problem this will be, but I wish I would have known about it. You can do all the research you want, but if you don't know what you are looking for, you might never find the issue

[happymachinist]

This was the discharger build I referenced.

http://traxxas.com/forums/showthread...scharger-ideas

In the vast world of RC it can be very overwhelming...there are a lot of options and opinions. It can be a real bear to sort through it all. I feel for ya...that's why I rely on the guys who have been around for a while


Sent from my iPhone using autocorrect

[Piranha-z]

Couldn't a guy just buy two of these for about $25 total and they are ready to go??? Does anyone have one of these? This might be my best route (and cheapest) but would like some opinions.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/180978710723...84.m1423.l2649

[simico]

My switch to LiPo was fairly easy and not really expensive: bought a $3 LVA from e-bay, iCharger 106B+ (you can buy one of its "bigger" brothers, e.g. 206B, if you want to charge batteries in paralell even faster) and a pair of 7600 mAh 2s batteries, and a fairly cheap (but reliable) power supply from a local electro-guru guy.
The iCharger chargers can do everything you'll ever need, they are highly regarded - that's why I bought one when I got fed up with my cheap unreliable charger.

[JimmyNeutron]

Couldn't a guy just buy two of these for about $25 total and they are ready to go??? Does anyone have one of these? This might be my best route (and cheapest) but would like some opinions.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/180978710723...84.m1423.l2649

Judging by the size of the thing... which is all I have to go on since they do not list any useful specifications... that device is a overqualified cell checker. Those can be had for $2. To use the device as a discharger would probably take days to discharge the high mAh packs we use in our Summits.

[Piranha-z]

Judging by the size of the thing... which is all I have to go on since they do not list any useful specifications... that device is a overqualified cell checker. Those can be had for $2. To use the device as a discharger would probably take days to discharge the high mAh packs we use in our Summits.

I bought one of them just to give it a try. I'll post results after I try it out. If it doesn't work, I'm only out $12.........

[Piranha-z]

Jimmie, you were right on about the discharger. Took like an hour just to drop 0.2V!!!!

So here's my problem. I bought the Onyx245 charger, which I really like how easy it is to use and it charges my Lipos in a little less than an hour. What I would really like to have is a charger that is just as easy to use as this one, but has a storage feature so I can set it to charge to 3.8V and not a full charger. I also need it to be a dual charger, or even a 4X charger if I get LiPo's for my sons Summit.

What is out there for a reasonable price??

Any ideas???

[jamann]

I charger series are good for the price
I'm running a 106b+ wish I had gone bigger.funny you rarely see people sell there massive power charge setups to get a smaller less powerful setup.
Moral of the story.get as good a charger as money allows.better to have capacity you don't use than needing the power and not having it


Sent using lipo power

[JimmyNeutron]

Most chargers have a similar menu layout... once you understand one, you can usually figure out them all.

Would you be charging multiple LiPo's on this multicharger??
The reason I ask is I can charge 4 2200mAh batteries and 2 7600mAh batteries for my RC's (that's 24,000mAh total) in about a half hour from storage (3.85v/cell) to full (4.2v/cell).... without a "multicharger". Most of those units are simply battery cookers shoved into a single case. If you are going to be charging multiple same cell count LiPo's, getting a high quality charge system may be what is best and safest for you.

I have a total of $175 in my complete charge system... something that I doubt I will ever outgrow.

[Piranha-z]

Most chargers have a similar menu layout... once you understand one, you can usually figure out them all.

Would you be charging multiple LiPo's on this multicharger??
The reason I ask is I can charge 4 2200mAh batteries and 2 7600mAh batteries for my RC's (that's 24,000mAh total) in about a half hour from storage (3.85v/cell) to full (4.2v/cell).... without a "multicharger". Most of those units are simply battery cookers shoved into a single case. If you are going to be charging multiple same cell count LiPo's, getting a high quality charge system may be what is best and safest for you.

I have a total of $175 in my complete charge system... something that I doubt I will ever outgrow.

Yeah, I would be charging (4X) of the SPC 8200 packs for my Summit and my sons.

After a little searching and reading some reviews, what are your thoughts on these two:
http://www.hitecrcd.com/products/cha...4-ac-plus.html

http://www.hitecrcd.com/products/cha...i-charger.html

[JimmyNeutron]

This is just my opinion... but I feel the above linked charger is 4 cheap 50watt chargers shoved into one case and given a higher price tag.

Here are some threads I suggest reading...
http://traxxas.com/forums/showthread...charging-setup
http://traxxas.com/forums/showthread...rger-vs-cooker
http://traxxas.com/forums/showthread...ply-Conversion
http://traxxas.com/forums/showthread...ply-Conversion
http://traxxas.com/forums/showthread...SPS-conversion...

[Piranha-z]

Thanks Jimmie. Some of those I had already read. Not sure I get it all yet.

Why is it that it's better to get a DC charger and then connect to a PS rather than get a AC charger with built in PS?? Is it just the fact that most built-in PS aren't big enough? If so, why?

I don't wanna sound picky but I just want a single unit that I can plug into the wall, plug my batteries into, and let them charge. Maybe that's just not possible, but it sure would be nice.

My Onyx charger charged my 8200mAh batteries in about 50 minutes from storage charge. I am actually OK with that, but I would like to do (4X) at once and also have a storage charge feature, which the Onyx does not have.

Not sure what to do

[ksb51rl]

I charger series are good for the price
I'm running a 106b+ wish I had gone bigger.funny you rarely see people sell there massive power charge setups to get a smaller less powerful setup.
Moral of the story.get as good a charger as money allows.better to have capacity you don't use than needing the power and not having it


Sent using lipo power

True. Just look for a Powerlab 6 or Powerlab 8 on eBay. There are no used ones for sale. Nor are there any used iCharger 3010B+ chargers for sale.

[Piranha-z]

OK guys, after doing some more research and talking to some friends, I might have a potential plan here. I really would like a quad charger, but I don't see that as an option. There is, however, a dual charger that might do the trick. I am looking at the HYPERION 0720I DUO 3. I am OK spending the money on a decent charger, but I also want the convenience of charging more than one pack at a time. This one kinda splits my requirements down the middle. So my next question would be, what PS do I need?? Where can I buy (or have one made)? I still do not like the idea of having all the bulk of the base charger and extra PS, but if that is the only option, then so be it.

http://www.amazon.com/HYPERION-0720I...I3BSSMOU4V6AKH

[Jakey]

...My Onyx charger charged my 8200mAh batteries in about 50 minutes from storage charge. I am actually OK with that, but I would like to do (4X) at once and also have a storage charge feature, which the Onyx does not have.

You have to keep in mind that most LiPo packs are delivered in the 50% to 60% State-of-Charge range, therefore the first charge cycle would be much faster than charging a pack from near empty.