Battery Help!

[Buddy Benedict]

Going to have a P Outboard next year and need some help on all the numbers on the battery packs. I know i'll want a 4s pack with at least 5000mAh but what do the 20C, 30C, 50C, 50C/100C mean? Also what is the difference in the connectors: Deans, XT-60 and others? The few boats I have seen the batteries were wrapped in plastic but most ones I have looked at say "HARD" case. What is the difference?

Also I guess I'll need suggestions on chargers too.

Here is what I have so far: Top Speed 3, OS Lower unit, Flycolor 90 amp ESC on order, Hyperformance OS electric conversion kit on order.

Thanks,

Buddy

 

[MarkScott]

Not an expert by any means. Those numbers are the discharge the packs do under use. Higher the number, more juice coming out. For you, might want the lower numbers, since I'll be racing against you next year! The hard case is more for on/off road racing, ROAR style. Not needed for boats.

I asked about chargers a few months back. The suggestions were great. Helped me pick out DC only version. Charger I picked up is the Hyperion EOS 0720i Super Duo. Go Nitro Hobbies has one at $195 on fleebay.

Switched all connections to 5.5mm.. Do have the XT-60, Deans and a few others. More contact area, better flow from batt to esc..

 

[Buddy Benedict]

HA HA HA Mark, I'll be sure and have a "Special" 100C oh I mean 10C just to race against you.

 

[MarkScott]

Smack talk'n already!

BTW, using Turnigy Graphene 5000mah 4s 65c. Allows at least 10 laps before noticing any slow down.

 

[LohringMiller]

A spec tunnel will draw around 100 amps or less average. That's 20C from a 5000 mah battery. However, the C rating gives an idea of the quality of the battery as well. High numbers might be advertising hype, but I second the choice of the Turnigy Graphene packs. I've had good luck with them and the US west distributor is very close to me.

Lohring Miller

 

[HTV Boats]

My analogy for "C" rating is you have a 5 gallon pail of liquid. Drill a 1/4 inch hole and call it 20C. Drill a 1 inch hole and it drains at 100C. C ratings have no industry standard so many brands embellish their ratings. Generally stay above 30C.

Deans are good to about 50 amps and XT60's a little more but still a small solder joint. Go with bullets 5.5mm or larger as down the line you may opt for more power and don't have to change all your battery leads.

I have had good results with Zippy compact and Turnigy cells 40C. Search ALLeRC and they have quality Hyperions at decent prices. I'll take a 45C Hyperion over many 70C off brands.

Mic

 

[LohringMiller]

My Hyperions lasted about as long as the Turnigy batteries at nearly twice the cost a few years ago.

Lohring Miller

 

[Buddy Benedict]

Thanks for the info gentlemen. This old dog is learning some new tricks. LOL

BTW, Wouldn't it be beneficial to have a charger that works on both AC or DC. My trailer will have solar power next year so I will have 12 VDC and 120 VAC. Also should I stay away from certain "Brands" of chargers.

Buddy

 

[MarkScott]

Since I'm at work, I can't paste in IW. If you search for "chargers" in the Electric section, you'll find my post asking about them. The comment back on AC/DC is that these do not have all the bells/whistles that the DC only has. That be the one factor that changed me over to just DC.

 

[HTV Boats]

Many AC chargers are limited to 6amps. They are convenient to charge at home. For the pits a DC works from any 12v source. I also look for chargers that have input voltages above 16v. A fully charged 4S will kick out a 16v input charger. Charged lipo's can be used as a power supply or just the convenience of discharging packs you won't use while charging ones you will use.

Mic

 

[LohringMiller]

I use an AC power supply with Hyperion chargers. With this setup the generator power is more limiting than the chargers capacity. I can charge at least two 4S packs at 10 amps each with a small Honda 1000 generator.

Lohring Miller

 

[Buddy Benedict]

Well guys, Thanks for all the input. I am going to get the Hyperion eos 0720i charger and Turnigy 5000mah 60C batteries for my boat.

Cant wait for next year so I can kick Marks (ah you know what).

Buddy

 

[Buddy Benedict]

I guess the questions will keep coming. Been looking on the web and I don't see any on/off switches being used on the radio equipment. Is the any or does everything "turn on" when the battery is plugged in?

Buddy

 

[BrianTooms]

Some esc’s have on /off switches, smaller ones usually don’t. Just plug in and tape up.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Lee Simonson]

Would be best to avoid the switches anyway. The only way to make it "safe" is to disconnect the battery, and a switch through the ESC does not do that.

Since you're running an outboard you'll also probably want to avoid using the BEC from the ESC. You'll want to use a strong servo and that will draw power. The motor setup will cause a good drain too. If you overload the BEC it may cause the ESC to reset. I've seen a few boats die on the course because the ESC reset. I always run a small battery for the RX and have not had any reset problems.

 

[darryl whitman]

.HI. I run tunnel an rigger in (P) classes , Spec an limited, 4s ,, Batts what ever Batts , you uses, they should be 50 c or better.

I do have friends in the army that fly drones , that tell me There ARE NO BATTS, that are higher than 50c at this time.

ok, a DC charger with a good power supply is the way to go. also charge the batts a few hours before using them, do not charge them up to 100%

an leave them , also when not using your batts , put them in storage load , 3.75 V per cell.

I have never had ANY problems with the esc powering the RX to run my servo, I run a HiTec -HS-645MG never failed me in (P) class, an

6s boats.

ESC - buy a good known ESC ....

Batt - connectors 5.5 or larger, try to keep all wires short as you can,

Radio - I have owned 4 of the top Radios , all but 1 has failed me , My Futuba has never failed me once.

but the radio is the hart of the boat , in my eyes.

if you would like to talk to me more about this , PM me for my Ph, No. we can chat.... Darryl

 

[Lee Simonson]

I had trouble with my VS-1 converted to electric for P-Spec when trying to turn the corners. Had a 645MG in it. When going around the corners it rolled over quite frequently unless I was going real slow. Lot of nitro tunnel guys in the club looked it over and tried to help. One handed me a servo and said to try it. No more rolling in the corner. The 645 has 133oz of torque, the replacement had over 200. The gears on the 645 were good, it was just unable to keep up with the forces while trying to turn.

Don't get me wrong, I really like the 645s. Never a failure in all the other boats I've run. It was just pushing the limits of what it could handle.

 

[MarkScott]

Well guys, Thanks for all the input. I am going to get the Hyperion eos 0720i charger and Turnigy 5000mah 60C batteries for my boat.

Cant wait for next year so I can kick Marks (ah you know what).

Buddy

I'll be waiting to get my amps kicked!

Hobbywing 180amp esc is what I'm using. It has a on/off switch. Tested this out, while the throttle is full on, turning the tx off also shuts off the motor. ESC powers the rx. Tactic TSX57 for steering. Hangar 9 pull-pull wheel with Dubro wire. No issues so far..

 

[RaceMechaniX]

Buddy,

It very much depends on the ESC being used. The ESC's with a built in BEC and no switch, really have only one option, when you plug in the battery it is hot. I strongly recommended you set a fail safe setting on your radio and receiver to a neutral setting and not full reverse or other. Most ESC's are reasonably safe it they see a neutral signal.

For ESC's that have a BEC and a switch, then simply plug in the battery with the switch off, tape up and switch on when ready.

For ESC's with no BEC that require an external power source, I recommend using a standard switch like any nitro or gas boat would use.

Most low voltage ESC's (6 cells and below) have the option of using a BEC, compared to most HV ESC's that need an external power source.

If you are concerned, you can always convert a BEC type ESC into a non-BEC type by removing the center pin (which is the positive pin) from the ESC connector and then use a separate receiver battery and switch.

This is probably the safest set-up.

It's always a good idea to set the fail safe to neutral and check it before a race and before taping up. It's cheap insurance that the settings are correct. I would strongly caution to perform the test without a prop on the boat and even use a lower cell count battery than you normally run just for the check to reduce the risk of high unloaded RPM if the failsafe is incorrectly set.

-Tyler

 

[RaceMechaniX]

Well guys, Thanks for all the input. I am going to get the Hyperion eos 0720i charger and Turnigy 5000mah 60C batteries for my boat.

Cant wait for next year so I can kick Marks (ah you know what).

Buddy

I'll be waiting to get my amps kicked!

Hobbywing 180amp esc is what I'm using. It has a on/off switch. Tested this out, while the throttle is full on, turning the tx off also shuts off the motor. ESC powers the rx. Tactic TSX57 for steering. Hangar 9 pull-pull wheel with Dubro wire. No issues so far..

Mark, just a word of caution: Don't use throttle and then shutoff the controller. This is very hard on the controller and will damage it eventually. It's not as bad when you are just using a switch, but you should never do this and unplug the battery. It will result in blown switches and caps.