Lipo plug adapters

[Megalodon]

Hi, I recently had a lipo die on me and it needs replacing. I have a traxxas ez charger therefore all my battery plugs have been traxxas. Ive been browsing for a new lipo and noticed that the batteries that come with a traxxas plug are few and far between. My question is if I can buy a lipo with a deans plug, also buy a deans to trx plug adapter, and charge the battery on my ez charger? I know the right thing to do is to solder a trx plug onto the new battery, but I will not have access to a solder until summer.

Also if anyone knows of 3s lipos that come with traxxas plugs installed already that would be great as well. The only brand I seem to find is max amps and they come at a $50 premium.

Thanks

 

[Greatscott]

Try looking at SMC packs.

Yes, you can charge another pack with the Traxxas charger. You might have to get a universal balance adapter, but other than that you shouldn't have any problems.

 

[MasteroFlego]

I second SMC batteries.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[OldNTired]

I'll add to the SMC crowd. There are also adapters you can buy, or if you have the connectors and know how to solder you can make your own. I have a deans to traxxas adapter I use in my sons Arrma. think I paid $4 for it.

 

[Jim85IROC]

Using an adapter for charging purposes is no problem. Using one on your vehicle is a lot less ideal, though on a crawler the current draw is generally low enough that it's unlikely that you'd encounter any issues.

I think a much better approach is to get a soldering iron sooner than next summer.

 

[Megalodon]

Thanks for the help guys

 

[Natedog]

Using an adapter for charging purposes is no problem. Using one on your vehicle is a lot less ideal, though on a crawler the current draw is generally low enough that it's unlikely that you'd encounter any issues.

I think a much better approach is to get a soldering iron sooner than next summer.

X2, although I've crawled for months with a Hobbyking EC3 to XT60 adapter inline on my truck, no problems with 35T motor and 2S, but not recommended. :ror: "thumbsup"

 

[DukeMinnix]

can always get Venom batteries, they come with many adapters, traxxas among them.

 

[Ltd.yfz]

Forgive my newness, but whats so bad with using adapters?

 

[allanon1965]

Forgive my newness, but whats so bad with using adapters?

Adapters mean more resistance, and another failure point..every connection is added resistance..resistance means added heat and the higher the draw the higher the heat.... in theory, but on a crawler its not usually a problem. I run parallel adapters on my rigs for saddle pack batteries and have no issues.

That being said, it also depends on the type of connector and its current flow capabilities. I would not use a tamiya connector on an adapter to deans or similar high current plug simply because it will fail as tamiya connectors cant handle the high current. I did once when I was starting out and it cooked pretty good. Right now I run mostly Deans connectors with one rig using XT60 connectors

 

[H2Ohaze]

Been following thread, also as newbie, but I've used Lipos before in various applications, not crawling.

Thanks for the SMC reference. Are these folks any good in comparison:

Pro-Match Racing products are high quality rc lipo packs rechargable batteries at the best prices

They also offer choice of connector, with more options (EC3 for example in addition to Deans and Traxxas). Also hard case and prewired styles. And they stock a smaller 3500mah battery I've been looking at.

Not to hijack thread but can someone clarify how many amps or "C" power is needed for crawlers? In my case a Nightcrawler, stock except pinion from 20T--->12T for really slow, and rear gears 25T underdriven. I already have a Venom 2S 2000mah 20C...I thought it would be underpowered but it lasts for about 45 min and is only 3.8 oz and small dimensions.

I'm sure that in addition to getting the plug right, getting the tradeoff between burst power and bulk/weight of battery is a concern

 

[Jim85IROC]

The C rating is kind of a tough one to quantify on its own, because it is a scaler of the battery's storage capacity. But, this isn't a big concern with crawlers, especially high turn brushed crawlers because their current demands aren't real high. Unless you have a real small battery, anything with a 25C or higher rating on a 2500mah or larger battery should be absolutely fine. Even a 20c or 15c is probably fine with brushed motors. This doesn't really start to become an issue until you get into some major current sucking applications, like trying to run a heavy short course truck with monster tires on 2S. In those cases, you can start getting some real 100+ amp current draws, so your battery becomes very important. I've puffed a few 40C lipo batteries in my Stampede, and moving up to a higher quality (different brand) 50C lipo kept everything happy. But, when I converted to a 3S setup, I could get away with a 25C 3S battery because for a given output, the higher voltage systems will draw less current. Because of that, if you go up to 3S, your current demands under most conditions will be even lower, so you can get away with lower C-rated packs.

 

[StomperCrawler]

For batteries I recommend Turnigy from HK as they're good and cheap; usually they come with an Xt60 connector:
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/lipo.html?config=53&capacity=2121-2426&
For those to mate up with a Traxxas charger you'll need this:

To charge your Dean's T-plug batteries you'll need this: