Which lipo brand is best

[CT]

I would like to survey which Lipo brand people use and which has been the most durable and longlasting?.
CT

[farmflyer]

RE: Which lipo brand is best

I've had good luck in the past with Mad Dog batteries but have switched to Admiral. I haven't had any issues with the Admirals but don't have a lot of flights on most of them yet maybe 20 or so on some of them. My theory is that for about half the price of most other brands if they last nearly as long I come out ahead. The Admirals are performing just as well as any others I've used in the past so I'm happy with them.

[boomer108]

RE: Which lipo brand is best

I have been using Turnigy batteries from Hk for three years now with no problems or complaints and they are very competitively priced. 

Roy B.

[Alpha]

RE: Which lipo brand is best

Having flown nearly every battery brand out there on the market (speaking to their actual source, not the vendor's sticker slapped on it), I prefer Admirals and Dynogy for their good balance between price, availability, and service/warranty support. Glacier ranks up there as well. When you fly as much as I do, value per ounce is a top consideration. I don't mind paying a little more to get a battery which I know is consistently available and has Stateside support. In general, I have found that how a pilot cares for their batteries is critical to the longevity of those batteries. Misuse, improper charging, storage, over-amping, over-discharge, etc, can kill even the most expensive battery.

In addition, be wary of over-hyped discharge ratings. When selecting a battery for a given aircraft, I assess that aircraft's needs and find a battery to match, regardless of the brand. For high power EDFs I use batteries with dependably high discharge sustainability and consistently low IR. For small prop planes, by comparison, I don't buy the more expensive high discharge batteries, opting instead for the cheaper, lighter, lower discharge rated batteries. Different manufacturers tend, in my observation, to specialize in certain batteries for certain formats. This gets into a much larger discussion at the factory level of cell origination, grading, construction, assembly, etc.

For now, here are a few battery brands I've used over the years and can currently recommend. Every brand has its duds from time to time, so my observations are taken as a general statement of what I have seen firsthand, averaged over many batteries of varying voltages, capacities, and discharge ratings, unless otherwise noted:


I've used Blue Lipos in the past with good success, but the sizes I want are almost always out of stock. Availability is a huge downside to this otherwise reasonably priced and performing brand. These days as my Blues have gradually died, I've replaced them with Admirals.

Revolectrix are consistent performers in high power EDF use, but I've found consistency issues with this pricy brand. Importing these Taiwanese batteries can sometimes be a challenge. Gary at Effluxrc.com used to carry them in the States, but no longer. I wasn't fond of Revo's change to the split pack design for larger batteries, although I understand the reasoning. Accurately C-rated. Consistent internal resistance, although at a higher level than Glacier, GensAce, or Admiral.

Dynogy batteries, especially their 65c series for jets, can sustain high amp draw for longer periods than most brands I've used. Mark at Dynogy supports his products from his California base, which again is a huge positive. They are more expensive than most brands, however, and Dynogy cells are heavier and dimensionally larger than their counterparts. This is understandable since they use actual high discharge cells, which make them great for EDF use and racing boat use in particular. For every day warbird use, though, which don't require 100+ amp draw, I've found other brands offer better value per ounce.

Pulse batteries perform well in my 6s+ helis. I haven't tried anything smaller than 6s 4000 in helis or jets so I wouldn't be able to rate their performance in lower voltage aircraft.

GensAce batteries are very dependable. Their discharge rates aren't exaggerated, which is why I've found that a 30C 5000mAh GensAce pack consistently outperformed the "70c" 5000mAh Turnigy packs I've tested. Don't be afraid of the lower rating. Many pilots I know would echo this observation.

I used to use Hyperions a lot. To be honest I haven't flown them in at least 18 months, so I cannot comment with current data. For what it's worth, they performed within spec. I used 3s 4000 up to 6s 5000.

The same can be said with ThunderPower. For a while there TPs were the only battery I used, but to be honest these days I prefer some of the other brands mentioned above, due to cost, weight, support, performance consistency, etc. In my Electra I used TP's 6600mAh saddle packs because they were optimized for the plane, which negated the potential guesswork of fitting another brand with different pack dimensions. Warranty policy is a bonus with these larger batteries in 8s-14s configurations. Personally though I wouldn't pay for the Thunderpower label if it was on a 1s-4s battery. Not anymore, at least.

ChinaHobbyLine batteries have been hit and miss for me. Some are fantastic, some are horrible. Your mileage may vary.

Haiyins never worked well for me. For the price, I would expect much better performance. Used in 1450-1700mm warbirds and a 100mm EDF. I would rather use Turnigy Nanos than Haiyins, and yet some friends of mine swear that Haiyins are the best they've ever used. Your mileage may vary.

I used to use HK Rhinos with good success in the 3s 1500-4s 2200 range. Cheap and compact, they were great! The price is right, provided you don't get a dead cell. Larger packs failed on me prematurely, as did Nano-techs. The "70c-90c" is a joke. Zero warranty support, as evidenced when a 6s pack arrived with two dead cells and the cost to return it negated the savings if I had just bought a brand from a US vendor. If a pack begins to wane after only 50 flights, it's a big negative in my book.

[CT]

RE: Which lipo brand is best

Having flown nearly every battery brand out there on the market (speaking to their actual source, not the vendor's sticker slapped on it), I prefer Admirals and Dynogy for their good balance between price, availability, and service/warranty support. Glacier ranks up there as well. When you fly as much as I do, value per ounce is a top consideration. I don't mind paying a little more to get a battery which I know is consistently available and has Stateside support. In general, I have found that how a pilot cares for their batteries is critical to the longevity of those batteries. Misuse, improper charging, storage, over-amping, over-discharge, etc, can kill even the most expensive battery.

In addition, be wary of over-hyped discharge ratings. When selecting a battery for a given aircraft, I assess that aircraft's needs and find a battery to match, regardless of the brand. For high power EDFs I use batteries with dependably high discharge sustainability and consistently low IR. For small prop planes, by comparison, I don't buy the more expensive high discharge batteries, opting instead for the cheaper, lighter, lower discharge rated batteries. Different manufacturers tend, in my observation, to specialize in certain batteries for certain formats. This gets into a much larger discussion at the factory level of cell origination, grading, construction, assembly, etc.

For now, here are a few battery brands I've used over the years and can currently recommend. Every brand has its duds from time to time, so my observations are taken as a general statement of what I have seen firsthand, averaged over many batteries of varying voltages, capacities, and discharge ratings, unless otherwise noted:


I've used Blue Lipos in the past with good success, but the sizes I want are almost always out of stock. Availability is a huge downside to this otherwise reasonably priced and performing brand. These days as my Blues have gradually died, I've replaced them with Admirals.

Revolectrix are consistent performers in high power EDF use, but I've found consistency issues with this pricy brand. Importing these Taiwanese batteries can sometimes be a challenge. Gary at Effluxrc.com used to carry them in the States, but no longer. I wasn't fond of Revo's change to the split pack design for larger batteries, although I understand the reasoning. Accurately C-rated. Consistent internal resistance, although at a higher level than Glacier, GensAce, or Admiral.

Dynogy batteries, especially their 65c series for jets, can sustain high amp draw for longer periods than most brands I've used. Mark at Dynogy supports his products from his California base, which again is a huge positive. They are more expensive than most brands, however, and Dynogy cells are heavier and dimensionally larger than their counterparts. This is understandable since they use actual high discharge cells, which make them great for EDF use and racing boat use in particular. For every day warbird use, though,  which don't require 100+ amp draw, I've found other brands offer better value per ounce.

Pulse batteries perform well in my 6s+ helis. I haven't tried anything smaller than 6s 4000 in helis or jets so I wouldn't be able to rate their performance in lower voltage aircraft.

GensAce batteries are very dependable. Their discharge rates aren't exaggerated, which is why I've found that a 30C 5000mAh GensAce pack consistently outperformed the "70c" 5000mAh Turnigy packs I've tested. Don't be afraid of the lower rating. Many pilots I know would echo this observation.

I used to use Hyperions a lot. To be honest I haven't flown them in at least 18 months, so I cannot comment with current data. For what it's worth, they performed within spec. I used 3s 4000 up to 6s 5000.

The same can be said with ThunderPower. For a while there TPs were the only battery I used, but to be honest these days I prefer some of the other brands mentioned above, due to cost, weight, support, performance consistency, etc. In my Electra I used TP's 6600mAh saddle packs because they were optimized for the plane, which negated the potential guesswork of fitting another brand with different pack dimensions.  Warranty policy is a bonus with these larger batteries in 8s-14s configurations. Personally though I wouldn't pay for the Thunderpower label if it was on a 1s-4s battery. Not anymore, at least.

ChinaHobbyLine batteries have been hit and miss for me. Some are fantastic, some are horrible. Your mileage may vary.

Haiyins never worked well for me. For the price, I would expect much better performance. Used in 1450-1700mm warbirds and a 100mm EDF. I would rather use Turnigy Nanos than Haiyins, and yet some friends of mine swear that Haiyins are the best they've ever used. Your mileage may vary.

I used to use HK Rhinos with good success in the 3s 1500-4s 2200 range. Cheap and compact, they were great! The price is right, provided you don't get a dead cell.   Larger packs failed on me prematurely, as did Nano-techs. The "70c-90c" is a joke. Zero warranty support, as evidenced when a 6s pack arrived with two dead cells and the cost to return it negated the savings if I had just bought a brand from a US vendor. If a pack begins to wane after only 50 flights, it's a big negative in my book.

Great information Alpha , think Ill stay with the Admirals

[rc-eflyer]

RE: Which lipo brand is best

Great post Alpha !! Really appreciate the info and advice. I guess you really can't judge a book (battery) by it's cover.

Steve

[WintrSol]

RE: Which lipo brand is best

Thanks for the cogent post, Alpha. This could have turned into a dreaded 'oil thread', that you find on motor vehicle forums.

[Rocketeer]

RE: Which lipo brand is best

Greetings Gang,

Thanks Alpha for the batteries insight and lesson.

Personally for my flying needs I use only Admiral and Turnigy LiPo's.

While IMHO the quality and results I get are the same (I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't exactly the same under the wrapper).
Although If I had to give one of the two a nod, it would go to the turnigy batteries.

I will occasionally get side-tracked, over extending my flying times and end up with an admiral "puffer", but I have never experienced that kind of an issue with my Turnigy batteries and I have many flights on them. Price-wise, the Turnigy's are almost two for one of the Admirals at 2200mAh, 11.1V. The most common battery.

On the other side of the coin, the Admirals tend to charge a bit more quickly for the same capacity.

But, Like I said they both have been excellent for MY needs.

Bill L.
In Okla.

[boomer108]

RE: Which lipo brand is best

Hey Rocketeer!

  As I said in my previous post Tunigy work well for me,I use the 3s and 4s and have run  them both down low inedverdedly and never had one puff on me. I think given what you just said I going to give Admiral a try just as a comparison but you still can't beat the price of the Turnigys.  Good flying!

Roy B.

[Rocketeer]

RE: Which lipo brand is best

Greetings Boomer,

Thanks!

I'll be very interested to hear your thoughts on the Admirals.

Good Luck, my friend!


Bill L.
In Okla.

[Hippie 64]

RE: Which lipo brand is best

The Admirals have never let me down yet . And the price point makes them very nice to me . I can spend money on batteries or planes . Guess which one wins out !!


Bryan 

[Rocketeer]

RE: Which lipo brand is best

Greetings H64,

Batteries? Planes?

The way I see it, it's like the old camera and film days.

It really doesn't matter because one is really not much good without the other.


Bill L.
In Okla.

[RCcruz]

RE: Which lipo brand is best

THANKS Alpha on Lipo info for Jets

[fhhuber]

RE: Which lipo brand is best

Its more a question of  how you care for the batteries.  I'm not seeing significant difference by brand.

Well cared for the packs will die from age before they die from excess cycles.

While LiPo will deliver current better as they warm up heat is the enemy of LiPo survival.  

Keep them as cool as reasonably practical for storage, down to 2 C or about 36F.  Note that should be the temperature in your refrigerator. (if you can get away with keeping them in a fridge when not used for a couple of weeks or longer it does help)

While in use they should be kept as close to 22C (about 70F) as practical.  They can deliver current better at 50 C (about 120F) but you are damaging the packs when they are that hot.

Store at 3.7v/cell to 3.8 v/cell.  This is more important than temperature in the range of 2 C to 25 C.

Balance charge to +/- .03 v/cell difference and no cell above 4.20 V.  And I set the high demand LVCs for 3.5 v/cell under load, lower performance set for 3.7v/cell under load.

I'm averaging 3 to 4 years of high performance use (eg 100+ amps peak, 3 min flight and  putting 80% rated capacity back into 20C rated 4400 mah packs) followed by another year at 10C peak, < 6C average demand (10 to 15 min flights) and 70% capacity recharge.
Too many total cycles to keep track.  I lost the paper at over 300 cycles and 2 years on one set I was trying to keep accurate records on.
Now I just permanent marker label the packs with when I get them and when they show signs of not delivering rated current in my high power EDF.

[Pheonix]

RE: Which lipo brand is best

Hey Rocketeer!

  As I said in my previous post Tunigy work well for me,I use the 3s and 4s and have run  them both down low inedverdedly and never had one puff on me. I think given what you just said I going to give Admiral a try just as a comparison but you still can't beat the price of the Turnigys.  Good flying!

Roy B.

I have several Tunigy batteries that seem to work very well.  These are the 40+ C I used mostly for some of my war birds that do not require high C ratings. Most or all of my High C ratings are Admiral and these work very well in my EDF planes.  I usually experiment to see which brand meets my needs. 

[Rocketeer]

RE: Which lipo brand is best

Greetings,

I think, at least for me, and it seems most are in agreement, that for a given situation almost all of our power needs can be met to an acceptable level of satisfaction by either Turnigy and/or Admiral Lipo's. I also believe that includes affordability.

That works for me!


Clear Skies


Bill L.
In Okla.

[jobinseattle]

RE: Which lipo brand is best

I have admiral batteries, and a few zippy, and some turnigy. I have been really impressed with the admiral brand as I have had those the longest. Still going strong. Turnigy has been working well also. The couple of zippy batteries have also worked well but I find they are bigger than the admiral batteries. All the batteries mentioned above are 3S 2200.

[Rocketeer]

RE: Which lipo brand is best

Greetings,

Yeah, for me the Zippy's seem to become 'puffers' pretty quickly.

Not sure why that is.


Bill L.
In Okla.

[Grossman56]

RE: Which lipo brand is best

Can't really say anything about other brands because I've been using Admiral regulars and Pros right from the beginning.  The ones from Old Weedwacker are now dong time in Old Crow to run the sound system and doing a great job. Interesting though, that there is so few 5s batteries.  Lon was saying he's running his FW P51 with an 85 amp ESC and using 5s 3300's.  Sounded like a good idea, but try to find the batteries, he found his on a deal.  What's the scoop on 5S?

Grossman56

[Lon]

RE: Which lipo brand is best

Can't really say anything about other brands because I've been using Admiral regulars and Pros right from the beginning.  The ones from Old Weedwacker are now dong time in Old Crow to run the sound system and doing a great job. Interesting though, that there is so few 5s batteries.  Lon was saying he's running his FW P51 with an 85 amp ESC and using 5s 3300's.  Sounded like a good idea, but try to find the batteries, he found his on a deal.  What's the scoop on 5S?

Grossman56

Gman,

Valuehobby.com has a good selection of 5s.  Yes, kind of hard to find with any variety to choose from. MRC carries one selection.