Diesel Battery Testing:

[Diesel6401]

I have been giving the opportunity to do some battery testing. Thanks to Paul at Venom RC I was able to get my hands on some nice venom packs to see how they stand up against other popular packs. I figured no better boat to try this out on then the new Motley Crew from aquacraft. The rtr market is typically the biggest so this looks like a good starting place. This will be a ongoing test, and after some use on milder amp draw setups I will put these in some of my higher amp draw setups. Will be using a eagle tree data logger for data and will be monitoring voltage drop, amps, loaded rpms, wattage and maybe a few other things with it. Speed will be a standard Garmin GPS. Not the best but will work. The real true data will come from the eagletree. For now this will be a good starting place. I am trying to keep the mah and c ratings similar to tested packs but that's kinda hard to do. The batteries i will be testing are listed along with pros/cons.

My MC ETA is Tuesday 5/17. I will be out of town this weekend, but testing will begin when I get back. I plan on running stock at first then we will drop the new power package that I have for the boat.

[Diesel6401]

Venom 2s 5000mah 50-100c, $99.99 each from venom-group.com. Packs are brand new

Venom 2s 5000mah 50-100c, $99.99 each from venom-group.com. Packs are brand new

PROS:
- first thing that pops out is the 50-100c discharge rating
- even though I personally will not be using this, the venom multi-adapter plugs are pretty cool and well thought out. Pretty much every common plug has a quick attach adapter
- packs came well stored 3.984v, 3.983v on one pack and . 3.980c, 3.974c on other pack
- available at most LHS or multi sources
- well packaged

CONS:
- impressed by the c rating, but with a battery that can possible burst 500amps the small 12 gauge wire and what appears to be either 3.5mm or 4mm bullet connections that go into the lipo shocked me
- 1c charge rate
- price is highest out of packs tested

THOUGHTS:

* over all the pack looks good, I typically don't use hardcases packs in boating, but nonetheless these packs will get a good workout. If they handle boat amp draw well they will surely rock in land vehicles.

* The small connections into the battery are a big shocker for me, these batts are rated to be able to deliver 250 amps continuous, but the small connectors that connect the leads to the batteries are rated at say less then 100amps based on there size.... Doesn't add up to me

[Diesel6401]

Gens Ace 2s 5300mah 30-60c, $33.02 from Hobbypartz.com. Packs are brand new.

Gens Ace 2s 5300mah 30-60c, $33.02 from Hobbypartz.com. Packs are brand new.

PROS:
- good price
- fast shipping and well packed from hobbypartz
- 5c charge rate
- good c rating
- packs arrived with 3.820v, 3.825v on both packs

CONS:
- available only from selected site
- can be out of stock often
- once again 12 gauge wiring is a no no
- lame connectors

THOUGHTS
* I dig the price and hobbypartz is a great reliable source with typically 3 day shipping and free shipping over $50 orders. Being only available from one source though is a pain. I bought these packs just to test a new set of packs against the venom's. The gens ace packs are starting to get a good following in the RC world so let's see what all the hype is about.

[Diesel6401]

Turnigy 2s 5000mah 40-50c, $24.99 from hobbyking.com. Packs have < 15 cycles

Turnigy 2s 5000mah 40-50c, $24.99 from hobbyking.com. Packs have < 15 cycles

PROS:
- price
- good c rating
- 8 gauge wire
- comes pre-soldered with 5.5mm bullets (plus for most us boaters, not for all though)

CONS:
- never in stock
- shipping from HK is a adventure to say the least
- 1c charge rate
- quality control from HK is suspect

THOUGHTS:
* so far these are some of the best packs I have owned to date, but the test data will show how good they really are. I am kinda curious on how these will perform in the test. They have the most cycles out of all the batts tested and are the cheapest priced and have a large following. Should be interesting.

[Diesel6401]

Turnigy Nano-Tech 2s 6000mah 25-50c, $28.94 from hobbyking.com, &lt; 5 cycles

Turnigy Nano-Tech 2s 6000mah 25-50c, $28.94 from hobbyking.com, < 5 cycles

PROS:
- Price
- even though the lowest c rating the mah size along with the 50c burst make these a steal
- 5c charge rate
- 8 Gauge wire

CONS:
- once again dealing with HK can be hit or miss
- lame connectors

THOUGHTS:
* Wanting to see how these perform. They are nice well constructed packs, the largest of the group due to the 6000mah rating. 5c charge rates are great for quick charging packs if your charger is up to the task. Dying to see how these perform against the orginal turnigy packs.

[Shaun78]

Why don't you use hard packs? I like using my hard packs in my boat. I can't wait for the results.

[sailr]

why bother with hard packs. They are heavy.

[Diesel6401]

Why don't you use hard packs? I like using my hard packs in my boat. I can't wait for the results.

3 reason I don't personally like hard packs.

้้้1) these packs are a perfect example. You can change the end plugs, but not the plugs that the leads go into the batts. I placed 5.5mm bullets on the end, but where the leads plug into the batt still only 3.5mm, so if I put this in a high amp setup, that's going to be the weakest part of the batts, those small connectors aren't gonna cut it in semi-high amp draw boating purposes. JMO

2) unneeded extra size/weight. Sometimes weight is good, but when you don't want/need extra weight your screwed with these packs

3) hard packs are meant to keep the cells safe, but what about a submersion water will find away into those packs if fully submerged, my soft packs I can shake out of blow out with electrical cleaner and if really bad easily cut the shrink wrap dry out and re-wrap, not so easy with hardcases.

[Brushless55]

Hey Dale, I had a pair of those Venom 50c packs and I did like them
I only ran them once in my ERevo and they seemed to have good punch
on the pro side that I think is on the con side is the changeable ends, as they do wear out quickly I hear....

[Shaun78]

Good points on the hard packs. My gen ace packs are wired like a regular pack. Wire leads are directly soldered to the board with no bullets like my venom hard cases have. Can't wait for results

[sailr]

hard packs are designed for cars where they could really rough treatment. Not well suited for boats IMHO.

[TheShaughnessy]

will be watching this. Have nano tecs regular turnigy's and they work well but interested in those gen ace batts as they claim to perform on the same level as TP. Good luck and god speed to your testing.

[nosreme722]

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[GP73]

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[Diesel6401]

Ok guys, got some testing done today. First thing I want to mention is how great the Motley Crew ran. She turns wonderfully and handled a little chop nicely. Lot's of adjustments need to be done. The boat ran extremely wet and speed suffered because of it. I also ran a CF42 prop until I get a new flexshaft (don't trust the stock one with a metal prop). All in all I really like the boat and after some tweaking she will be great. So here are the results. Speed was not the goal here data was...


Run Time: 3m timed
Outside: 90F
Water: 83F
Motor: Stock MC 1800kv
Esc: Stock 60amp
Prop: CF42

Now I understand this isn't the most accurate way, bench testing with expensive machines and all that would be best, but we don't run our boats on machine and benchs so in real world applications this is the best I can do. Take the information for what it is.


* Video will be loaded to youtube. Lot's of video and pictures so please very patient. I will post when it is loaded.