6S lipos from Hobbyking

[Nikom]

I'm getting some 6S lipos for my future edf from HK but there is a steap price range between these two:

https://hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy-battery-3600mah-6s-30c-lipo-pack-xt-60.html

https://hobbyking.com/en_us/rhino-3500mah-6s-50c-lipo-pack-w-xt90.html

Is the Rhino the best choise for an Eflite viper?

[xviper]

That isn’t really that much of a price difference between those two considering that the cheaper one is only “30C” discharge, while the Rhino is “50C”. For an EDF like the Viper, the higher “C” one will perform much better. Nevertheless, The Turnigy “blue” and Rhino are both considered “economy” brands of LiPos. Although it’s going to cost much, much more, the HobbyKing Graphene Panther (if it comes in the size you need) will likely provide the most performance for your jet.
PS. Most “C” ratings as stamped on the battery are, in real life testing, less than 1/2 of what it says.

[Nikom]

Hmmmm, so if that is the case i might as well go for the Turnigy lipo. Don't think the "Panther" lipo come in the 4000 range?

[xviper]

The Turnigy "blue" is one of HobbyKing's low end lines of batteries. I don't know if they have re-engineered them by now, but I started with those "low C" batteries and they virtually ALL puffed up quickly when used hard and an EDF is quite hard on batteries. "Low C" batteries have a hard time with EDFs. You must also keep in mind that the higher the "C" rating in the same series of batteries, the more they weigh. You must buy Graphines and Panther batteries with their weight and dimensions in mind as well. Take a look at the weights of the two batteries you linked up and see that the Turnigy, even though the mah is slightly more, it weighs less than the Rhino. The Rhino will fly about the same time as the Turnigy but have a little more "punch". A 3000mah, 6s Panther weighs close to the Rhino, so you can estimate that it will fly the plane for about the same amount of time but will give a HUGE increase in performance. Obviously, it costs much more but it will likely give a much longer lifespan (charge/discharge cycles) if you don't damage them by over discharging them. The Turnigy is more likely to puff up in a jet after several cycles and the overall duty cycles will be much less. It all depends on what you can justify paying and how much performance you want. You may be very disappointed in the Turnigy after a couple dozen flights of your jet, but it might surprise you if you don't fly it at high throttle all the time and ensure that you don't let the battery cells go below 3.8/cell at the end of each flight. I look at batteries in terms of cost per duty cycle and sustained performance over many, many duty cycles. Purely as an example: A cheap, low "C" battery may have difficulty getting your Viper to get up enough speed on grass to actually get off the ground. I'm not saying that the "30C" Turnigy won't get your plane off the ground, but it may take more distance to do it and the performance may not be sustained at a decent level for the whole flight.

[Nikom]

Well, i see your point. Better get some more C ratings/expensive lipos instead of the cheap "blue" turnigys from HK. Only prop is i need to buy lipos like the Panther from an Eu website to avoid the Costums fee. Any tips on EU purchase?

[xviper]

I can't comment about their EU warehouse. I'm in Canada and I buy from their US and international warehouse.

[Nikom]

Lucky you:) The “good” lipos all seems to live
in the US :(