Puffed LiPo's: Admiral vs E-Flight

[Hugh Wiedman]

Just wondered what everyone is experiencing with different LiPo batteries and having them puff up on you. I have about 35 E-Flight batteries, from 3S-4S-6S 2500mah to 5000mah, and another 35 Admirals 4S-6S, 3000mah to 5000mah and about 40% of my E-FLight's are puffed. None of my Admiral's are puffed. I fly mostly prop, but do have a 90mm jet that I will only put Admirals in. I have also tried Kinesis, Thrust and Venom batteries, but at least one of each of those have puffed up. I never discharge them below 30% (usually 40%), store them in a cool place at or near 50%, and slow charge them at 50% amps of the rating. I do fly in Florida where the ambient temp is 85-90 degrees, but have opened extra air vents with scoops on all my planes to keep a good airflow over the batteries, ESC and speaker systems. I started out using only E-Flight, but over the last couple years virtually everything is Admiral now, primarily because the cost of the E-Flight (and especially Venom's) are considerably higher and with the Admirals, never a puffed battery and the balance between the cells is always within .015 volts.

Just wondering what the rest of you are experiencing.

[rifleman_btx]

I try to fly my packs to end right at 3.8 per cell. So far I haven't had any heat issues no sagging no ill effects. I'm thinking the admiral packs dont produce the heat that the eflite and others produce, helping save them from the dreaded puff.

[Hemidoo]

My Admirals i have been great as well ( 2s-6s) , The only ones that have puffed just a little are the 450mah 3s i use in my foamy yard flyer .... and it's my fault as i run them down to 3.2 all the time

[fieldofdreamsflyer]

Eflite lipos are crap, I think there B grade lipos

[rifleman_btx]

My Admirals i have been great as well ( 2s-6s) , The only ones that have puffed just a little are the 450mah 3s i use in my foamy yard flyer .... and it's my fault as i run them down to 3.2 all the time

Yeah those you always want to squeeze every second you can out of them and the batteries take the brunt of it. They are just too much fun!:)

[farmflyer]

The only other lipo’s I’ve used that have performed as good as Admirals are Mad Dog lipo’s. The Mad Dog brand cost a lot more and were all I used until I found MRC several years ago. E flite and Parkzone lipo’s would always puff after just a few cycles and I rarely flew below 3.8 and only charge at 1c.

[rifleman_btx]

Yeah I dont know what they use for their lipos but they are just enough to get you off the ground and test fly. Other than that they are about worthless.

[doctormike]

I use only Admiral now. One really old one has only just now begun to puff. I have one 1-1/2 year old Admiral 2200 that the IR has reached 53. I guess we can't expect absolute perfection. Admirals are close to it. Doc

[rifleman_btx]

Yeah it's close to saltwater bath time for that one.

[xviper]

Having used many different brands of batteries over the past 8 to 10 years, I've come to the realization that all of them can puff, some worse than others. Gravity, Great Hobbies, Admiral, Gens Ace, Eflite, Venom, Turnigy Blue, Turnigy Heavy Duty, Turnigy Graphene, Zippy, Turnigy A-Spec. The worst ones are the Venom, Zippy, Turnigy Blue, Turnigy A-Spec.
One of my older Admirals has just started to puff last week. The very best batteries are my Gens Ace but I won't spend that kind of money for most of my applications. Graphenes have shown to be the next best for me. Admirals show a consistent performance over time. A couple of my Gravity ones are my oldest and they are still working to this day - reasonable price, hasn't puffed yet but I can tell their output has dropped off a bit. I use them in less demanding planes like the B-26.
I will only buy Graphene, Admiral, Gens Ace or Turnigy HD now, depending on where they come from and overall cost at the time. Since most batteries are made in China, it will interesting to know how Trump's tariffs will affect products that must enter the USA first before coming to me.

[Wildcard]

I’ve got nothing bad to say about the admiral batteries. They have been very reliable and at a good cost point. I won’t touch an eflite battery because I think they put their wrapper on the cheapest lipos they can purchase.

[PhantomNut]

I've had a couple of e-flites puff. I mostly use Admirals now and lately I've used some of the Roaring Top batteries and I really like them.