Chinese Electrics...?

[F1END]

Just wanted to start a discussion about this, as I've been looking at loads of stuff on ebay recently.

Due to me being skint and trying to spend as little as possible, when I was looking for a balance charger for lipo, I came across this...

Specs are exactly the same as a Core RC charger, even the screen layout is identical. So I bought one. Seems like a good charger, balances fine, even resurrected an old NiCd that wouldn't charge on my old charger.

Also, when I was looking at getting a cheap brushless system, I avoided the Hobbywing EZ-Run, cos I wasn't sure about the quality (and cos it wasn't sensored), but then I bought an Orion Vortex, which is apparently made by Hobbywing anyway.

So what about lipos I thought...

And I found this...

Question is: is that any good? Going by the specs (35C, 5200) it looks great, but what downsides are there? All I can think of is that it isn't BRCA legal, but I doubt I'm gonna enter any regionals/nationals, and that if I ever try and sell it, no-one will buy it, as they don't recognise it.

Any thoughts?

[Nick Goodall]

I've seen some of this stuff too, and in particular the EZrun Brushless systems after being told about them when looking for one to go in my SC10.

I'm tempted to buy one and see what it's like but would also appreciate any feedback from anyone that's tried this stuff already?

[Big G]

a few of the guys running SC10's with ezrun 8.5's and they go very well. good value for money I'd say!

[super__dan]

I have that exact charger, try comparring the voltage it thinks the Lipo is with the actual voltage as measured by a multi meter at the lipo outputs, mine is rarely within 0.1to 0.15V hence I will not use it to charge Lipos unless I use my Trakpower V blancer with it which has an inbuilt 8.40V cutoff on it.

It does however do a good job of charging my transmitter (probably cos it's not too fussy) which my Pulsar won't do for some reason.

[sosidge]

Most electrics, even big international brands, is made in China, so that in itself is not a cause for concern.

Some of the "unbranded" stuff is a copy of something better known but to a lower standard. Some of is OEM versions of stuff also sold under well known brands. Some of it is Chinese-developed and of good quality (such as the HobbyWing ESCs).

The problem is that you don't know what you are getting until you have got it! There are some bargains out there, the great thing about the internet is that people can share their experiences of products.

It is surprising how much branding prejudice there is though. Particularly with batteries, you will have people praising one product to the roof while condemning another, without realising that they are exactly the same cells with a different label on them!

[Si Coe]

As said, most stuff gets made in a great big factory in China somewhere, and sold under different names. Not just electrics, even whole cars, and good cars at that. The Anderson MR4 is sold all alround the world, and dominates micro racing, but most people have never heard of it. Thats because its also called the LRP Shark, FTX Blaze, Duratrax Vendetta and probably a few other names. Even Yokomo sell a rebadged version of it.

On the electrics side remember that appearances are decieving. Lots of chargers are based on the same circuitry as the Core UDC series, but housed in different cases so look don't look the same. Under the skin the UDC and Imax are the same.

The Hobbywing EZrun systems are excellent VFM, but they are sensorless and not quite as good for racing as sensored systems. The Orion Vortex is based on the more expensive sensored Xerun series, so you did buy the right one.

In the end though, some of that price difference is down to service. I have Hobbywing and LRP esc's, and both are good. The critical thing is that if the Hobbywing dies, thats it, new one time. It hasn't, its proved to be good quality so far, but if it does go wrong there is no support. The LRP however has superb back up from SMD who have helped me a lot.

[stampede vxlboy]

ezrun are good combo i use 1 in my madrat 9 turn combo very good for the money and i would buy more of them as there good and never let you down

[stox217]

I have been using the ezrun system in my mardave for a good few months it was flawless but then it was removed from the mardave and went into my carisma (1/14th) running 6cell 2/3a cells on a 8000kvh motor and its fine

[Si Coe]

Forgot to add that the one area that cheap Hong Kong gear seems to fall down on is Lipos. I'm not totally sure why this is, but they do seem disappointing in this area. Far too many stories of misrepresented packs (capacities nowhere near stated, supposedly 30C packs that struggle to deliver 15C etc) and no real saving on the more reputable brands (Kokam, Intellect) means that you are better off with locally sourced Lipos.

Case to point I have 2 sets of Trakpower 3200 20C saddles, and a set of Yeah Racing 5000 25C saddles. The Trakpowers run my 4.5t just fine, though it near drains them flat in a race, but the supposedly superior Yeah Racings can't cope at all and are now religated to practice use only.

[stampede vxlboy]

i just got 2 packs of yeah racing lipo si 3700mha 25c

[Si Coe]

They were fine with the Ezrun 5.5t, they just can't take the massive current draw from the Novak 4.5t. Which frankly is a silly motor anyway, but showed their limits.

[F1END]

Originally Posted by Si Coe

Forgot to add that the one area that cheap Hong Kong gear seems to fall down on is Lipos...

Hmmm... it was the lipo I was most interested in.

I guess it's a bit of a lottery. (I should get 24 people in a room to guess the actual MaH )

I might just try it anyway, as a 5200 35C lipo is out of my price-range if I buy one in this country. And after the one I bought on here turned out to be in really bad condition (casing damaged and obviously hadn't been balanced), I'm not keen on buying second-hand again.

[Si Coe]

Well if they say 35C, and you don't really need more than 25C you are likely to be alright. They are unlikely to say 35C and only be 15c for example, but they might be 25C. Its a guess really, and do you want to guess with a highly combustable substance?

[pete2222]

I got one of these for $40 from dinball. It's doing a good job so far. Seems to have all the features.

[dodgydiy]

i have 2 ezrun combo's, both work excellently, not had any problems at all and aside from the initial kick on startup have very good control. not experienced any cogging or other problems. i use a yungtong lipo charger/balancer bought from demon products (sold as demon products charger) for £40 and that works brilliantly and is spot on with voltages. also using demon products 3600 lipo's also at £40, they are good too. would be a bit suspicious of anything for less than this price really after experiences with low capacity packs and their outputs (tornado 1350 lipo giving far better performance and runtime than cheap unbranded 1800 lipo in same model)

[mikeyscott]

I've got a GE Power Charger, but have noticed the voltage readings are different compare with my battery doctor balancer and multi meter.

Due to this, now tempted to change it for a Core RC charger, but will see.

I'm discharging my LIPO battery at the mo and the charger is reading 7.15, yet the balancer is reading 7.26.

That to me is quite a difference..

[carnage]

I've used one of these for a while and it works great, except slightly stiff value up button, would not hessitate to get another one
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...lancer/Charger

[sparrow.2]

Originally Posted by mikeyscott

I've got a GE Power Charger, but have noticed the voltage readings are different compare with my battery doctor balancer and multi meter.

Due to this, now tempted to change it for a Core RC charger, but will see.

I'm discharging my LIPO battery at the mo and the charger is reading 7.15, yet the balancer is reading 7.26.

That to me is quite a difference..

Most of the chinese electronics have a calibration mode in which you can set the voltage according to your favourite multimeter. Check the instruction manual or do some research online.

If your charger is showing a lower voltage while discharging the only thing that will happen is that it will cut off earlier than it should, which is not dramatic as lipos do not have to be fully discharged to work properly.

You should rather keep an eye on the voltage while charging to make sure that it is not overcharging your lipo.

You don't necessarily need to buy a new charger as most chargers have this voltage recalibration feature and aren't set 100% correctly.

[crusader]

Originally Posted by pete2222

I got one of these for $40 from dinball. It's doing a good job so far. Seems to have all the features.

Hi!

Mine is in the mail. I would like to ask... How do i power this? I have 2
laptop ac/dc adaptors with the following characteristics:

1. Output: 18.5V - 3.5A
2. Output: 14V - 4.75A

Which one is compatible?

Thank you!

[pete2222]

I think the 14v supply would be the one to use, although I guess you would want to aviid charging at too high amp (i.e. 5) as it might go pear shaped. I use a car battery which works fine.