Brushless / LiPos on a budget

[farmboy]

Hi

Does anyone have any general advice on moving over to brushless motors and to lipos (not necessarily at the same time)?
I've a small amount of experience of lipo batteries, having had a few contra rotating helis but assume no proper knowledge!

Thanks in advance.

[Si Coe]

Well it depends on what you plan on doing. For just basic bashing or club running there are some very cheap but not BRCA approved brushless systems like the EZrun (do a search on ebay) which cost less than a motor from LRP or Novak but offer a full system that is surprisingly competitive.

Lipo wise it depends on your brushless system and how you plan to use it, but you can pick up 25C Lipos in the 3500mAh region for about £40. Again they tend not be be BRCA approved but they are hardcased, from reputable manufacturers and perfectly safe.

[farmboy]

Thanks!

[coolcars782]

Originally Posted by Si Coe

you can pick up 25C Lipos in the 3500mAh region for about £40. Again they tend not be be BRCA approved but they are hardcased, from reputable manufacturers and perfectly safe.

Microtech racing, Trakpower 3600mAh 35c, £40.86 BRCA legal aswell CLICKY

[Huckster522]

Depending on budget levels, you cant go wrong with a Losi xcelorin combo.

both sensored and sensorless are available for a really good price at
www.dms-racing.com

use sensored if you plan on doing competitive racing or sensorless if your are only bashing and dont need precise power control.

other options are to keep a lookout on places like ebay for some good prices on seperate controllers and motors etc.
I picked up a new team orion 70amp controller and xcelorin 10.5 motor for my stepsons xx4 and only paid £72 for the pair.

others have already answered on Lipo's, but keep in mind when buying you will also need a good balance charger and leads to keep the lipo's working at peak perfomance, thus adding to the outlay.

[Si Coe]

Fusion Exceed is cheaper than the Losi, plus less likely to explode in a cloud of white smoke!

Balance charging is seriously overrated. As a rule I give up balancing my packs about 6 months back, and just regular charged. Since I'm only racing my packs are never flattened, just topped up.
Due to the snow and being stuck in I decided to balance charge a few packs, and was surprised to discover they weren't out of balance at all.
In any case a charger like this can balance and comes with all the leads for £50.

[Marvin]

I'd tend to agree Si Coe, but balancing doesn't add any charge time (really) if the cells are very closely balanced/matched. Not balancing for extended periods would be something I'd only suggest if you have packs from a brand where you feel their cell matching is top-notch. The better matched the cells, the less they should (theoretically) discharge at different rates - hence the voltage difference and balancing.

[Huckster522]

Originally Posted by Si Coe

Fusion Exceed is cheaper than the Losi, plus less likely to explode in a cloud of white smoke!

I only recommended the losi combo as "bang for buck" i think they are very worthwhile(everybody has there personal opinions of setups), with exceptionally fast motors.
I myself have had one packup, but the speed and service from horrizon hobby soon got me running again.

In any case a charger like this can balance and comes with all the leads for £50.

I was only stating that this was another factor to consider in cost and budget as he may have only had a Ni-Mh charger at moment.