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-   -   Are lipos and FETs worth it? Answer here (http://tinyrc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22442)

Jazz32 07-07-2006 04:57 PM

Are lipos and FETs worth it? Answer here
 
All righty, i'm going to share info about my blue civic and where i got parts.

I bought 10 AA lipos from www.all-battery.com for $3.30 per. Don't spend $10 for two on ebay.

I got an apache 2030 charger for nicad, nimh, and lipo from dreamhobbies on sale for $28. This is a genuine battery charger, not wires coming out of some cheap converted crap. **Update, I've been talking to the guy from dream hobbies and he is no longer going to carry this model :(

FETs, I got them from precision_components on ebay for $0.92 per on ebay. He also sells evo FETs for $1.10 per. Shipping is pretty cheap. His gen1 FET's aren't as good as the 4562's, but they're close and way cheaper. Why spend $10 on two when you can get 10. **update, the guy over at precision is kind of hit and miss with his responses to customers. If you order multiple types of FETs and have trouble with it wanting to add up $2.50 for each item, I just deducted from my total paypal what it should be.

Bearings, I got from overstockproduct on ebay. You can get 10 sets for $60 or get them around $9 per individually. They are good quality ABEC-5. If you're buying multiple sets, email him and he'll give you a deal.

He has no evo bearings though :( Also, try irvineman for bearings. He has EVO and wide track available. This guy has a good reputation from lots of xmods people. Definitely check him out as well, especially if purchasing evo bearings or both evo and gen1 at once. His cost is comparable to overstock in lower quantities, I haven't contacted him about larger ones.

I took my civic today, formerly 6 cell, bearings, awd, a 180 motor from an RC plane, and blue gearing. Today I double stacked the new FETs and put in 2 Lipos.

The difference? The car on the low setting is as fast as it was in the high setting prior. It's lighter so it accelerates faster. The center of gravity is lower and I have not rolled the car once. The FET's stay cool, as do the batteries. The motor gets a little warm but not bad.

Also, don't forget about the spinbrush with the 180 motor. I actually just installed one I had and it's faster than the RC plane motor. I still haven't switched the endbell to get better brushes on there. That's a cheap motor for the gen 1.

Civic: $10 (friend at RS sells me returns for $10 each)
Bearings: $6.50
Motor: Free from roomate
Lipos: $6.60
AA battery holders: $1.50
AWD: $8 (A guy at RS used his discount to get me 4)
FETs: $4
Body Kit: $3

Total: $39.50

Patience pays off. Even without the motor, a stage two wound down to 65T or so would still give you plenty, and you can get 4 motors for $10. All in all, they're definitely worth the price I paid for them. There is no way though that I would spend $12+ for 4 4562 FETs or $20 for a lipo set.

lphlp 07-08-2006 01:46 PM

wow, yousaved a lot, and also helped me realize that i dont have to spend tons of money to prep up my xmods.
where can i get the charger you mentioned...the apache 2030. i tried amazon andebay but no luck.

-Lino

Jazz32 07-08-2006 08:33 PM

I bought it at an online store called dream hobbies. I actually bought his last one, he had them on sale for cheap. Other hobby stores sell them around $35. I'd just type it in google and look around.


Also, I bought the foam tire upgrade today to help with my traction. On pretty smooth cement, the foam is going to be the best I can do. It still spins all 4 tires for a good ways!!

lphlp 07-08-2006 10:35 PM

pretty cool, altough i prefer SUVs over cars, since youcan instantly jump from on road to off road and the addedtoque, weight, and clearance help it be able tojumpcementramp and potholes and the like.
but thanks for the heads up on the charger...i will try harder to find it. but what i wanted a fast charger (around 15-30 minutes for 1500 Mah-2500 Mah) which i would be able to take anywhere and quickly charge and run several times.
does that apache charger workfast on lithiums?
thanks....

-Lino

Jazz32 07-08-2006 10:48 PM

Lipos last a lot longer than any AAA's i've had.

I'm not sure with the charger since I don't have a power supply for it. It needs a 10.5-15V power supply that can output 2A. Someone is borrowing my laptop, otherwise I was going to use that power supply rated at 15V and 5A. It will charge at 1C which is basically all the faster you can charge lipos with... I've run mine now for probably 20 min with stacked FETs and a 180 motor drawing more current and it still runs as new. My AAA's would be dying out by now. I bought 10 AA lipos figuring I could always keep some charging and some running. Using battery mounts and don't just solder them onto the car. This way I can swap and charge other ones.

The 15 min AAA battery chargers aren't what they're cracked up to be. only certain batteries can handle the amperage that goes through them. Tow of the cheaper nimh I got from walmart popped while charging. Most of the time too they add smaller capacity batteries with the chargers to decrease the charging time.

I'm going to put some 1800mAh cells on the truck I just picked up free from RS. They'll fit underneath, I also think I can get a 180 motor in the back of it. It will have more weight but will run a long time.

I agree with wanting cars that can be more practically driven, which is why I have enough to do both. My hook ups at RS haven't been able to get me any trucks yet which is the reason I don't have any.

I still jump some of my cars around both, with an extra skid plate mounted on the front and some bigger tires. My firebird is that way.... the body is pretty scratched up from all the flips. That thing has been pretty darn durable, that's for sure.

lphlp 07-08-2006 10:57 PM

so how do you get all this free and super cheap stuff at RS??? do you just ask for it or is there like one of your pals that hooks you up with theese deals. i mean a returned xmod for 10$ and a free truck???
i would like some of those deals because i plan on buing a couple more xmods trucks. i mean i want to have an f-150 and an H2 dessert rally truck, and an f-150 crawler and the hummer crawler Im currently working on( which will probably be the same as the mud runner) and a drifting/speed f-150 to use in the street.
yea i know, so many project............so little time.

-Lino

Jazz32 07-09-2006 09:35 PM

Basically, I got to know a manager at an RS near my house. He has one of every xmod that was returned so he doesn't keep them for himself anymore. Off of our conversations, he decided he would keep them for me and sell them for $10 each when he got a chance.

As for the free truck, Sometimes you just get lucky. It's completely up to the person running the store. I've heard of other people with similar experiences. I basically just ask if they have any, if so, I ask what they'll do with them and if they'll sell them to me.

Namuna 07-10-2006 11:44 PM

Worthy of sticky I think.

lphlp 07-14-2006 12:34 PM

hey i have a question, want to hear your opinion,
should i buy the stencil chassis from acme xmods and two AA lithium cells for my x-truck or 4 AAA batteries and wire the stock battery tray for a 2S2P configuration. i am going to use the x-truck only for off-roading, and i was wondering which one you guys think is easier to clean and more short proof.
thanks,
and sorry for going a little off topic,
-Lino

Namuna 07-27-2006 09:13 PM

Hey Jazz, a couple of questions...

You mentioned picking up 10 of the AA sized Lithum cells...You referred to them as LiPo, but I'm not aware of LiPos coming in Cylindrical form (You meant Li-Ion right?).

If they're Li-Ion, then you're out of luck with the Apache 2030. That charger, as I've read the specs, ONLY does Li-Poly!!

Also, why did you get AA sized cells and not AAA for use in the Xmods?

Thanks.

Azimov 07-27-2006 11:07 PM

Quote:

Bearings, I got from overstockproduct on ebay. You can get 10 sets for $60 or get them around $9 per individually. They are good quality ABEC-5. If you're buying multiple sets, email him and he'll give you a deal.
So, how many sets did you buy? And do you have any extras?:D

Jazz32 07-27-2006 11:13 PM

bah, you're right, they are infact Li-ion.... but everyone refers to them as lipo. Man, I fell into that trap too.

From my research, Li-ion and Li-poly have about the same if not the same charging characterisitcs. The difference being that li-po use a solid electrolyte. I have charged these batteries with my apache without a problem.

Well, I take that back.... it seems to charge my 18650 size batteries, but it never turns green. It does say that it is capable of packs up to 1500mah and these batteries are 1600mah.

I'm not sure why that is a factor personally... if a charger can supply a voltage higher than the batteries, it should still charge no matter what the capacity. Maybe Azimov can answer that.

As far as not getting AAA's. AA size work on all the cars and have larger capacity. I got AA size for 3.30 each as stated and the AAA's would have been like $2.80 each or something. A lot came down to price. I've put some AA's on my evo car too.... about similar clearance without the battery holder on.

I also wanted AA's for my super slicks truck and the 1/24 black NSX i'm building.

Namuna 07-27-2006 11:39 PM

Hmmmm.

Reason I ask is I'm now looking to convert to Li-Ion/Li-Poly. So I need to find batts for my ZZs, Epochs, Xmods/Mini-Z and M18

As I understand it, the Li-Ion don't offer as much discharge rate...Whereas the Li-Poly packs can offer up to 15C!!

For my setups, and for consistency, I think I'm going to go Li-Poly across the board...Now to find the good deals!

Jazz32 07-28-2006 02:19 AM

I've looked around, I wanted to get some for my ZZ's....

So far, those things are still way to expensive for me. If you find any good deals, pass them along.


HAHA

http://www.all-battery.com/index.asp...S&Category=263

Look what's on sale.

Azimov 07-28-2006 01:56 PM

Quote:

I'm not sure why that is a factor personally... if a charger can supply a voltage higher than the batteries, it should still charge no matter what the capacity. Maybe Azimov can answer that.
Not sure, unless the charger never sees the batteries as being "full" even though they are. But, as you say, the capacity shouldn't matter.


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