This is a little scary...
 

Saw this on the HobbyKing blog while browsing around:

"New B-Grade LiPo.
Same quality and reliability as eBay packs.
Price: Dirt Cheap
Cycle Life: 50+ only
Good for low discharge testing and not-so-critical flights."

They say good for low-discharge testing, and then slap a big 40C rating on it. You know there will be plenty of people who won't even read the description. Same quality and reliability as Ebay packs is NOT a selling point IMO! I'm already starting to smell scorched electronics and venting Lithium gasses.

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f1...9201112818.jpg

Suprised it does not have flames on the sticker... Like those D grade packs brand P sells...

wow thats crazy!

Folks new to the hobby and dumbasses who refuse to do some reseach will but the hell out of them. MA finially has some real competion !

where do I sign up?!?!
Will they start my car up?!

Oooo! Check out the new self-powered rocket motor ignitors! :lol:

Are the "not so critical flights" what happens when you fling it off your charging station as it bursts into flames?

If the battery dies you lose control and crash. Which to me says it's critical to have a good battery EVERY flight.

I could understand marketing these as Tx/Rx packs, but then they put the 40C rating on the label which totally contradicts the "good for low discharge testing" statement.

Well ever since MA introduced 150c lipos, 40c IS low discharge :lol:

I am just wondering when MA are going to bring out a lipo that you can use to power a charger. Then you can use that lipo to charge itself. A self charging lipo. It will be configured in series to power the charger and also in parallel so that the really good balancer circuit in the hyperion does not need to be used. Cause parallel charging is the way to go. And 500 bucks would be a steal for a self charging lipo.

At least they are honest about what they are selling instead of trying to put some rediculous rating on them and up the price..

I applaud them for just telling the truth.

True! But the buyer should be educated in what to look for when they start to give up.

There's all kinds of crooked things going on in the battery industry.

I recently purchased 3 protected 3000mah 18650 cells for a flashlight that I bought.

The flashlight would only shine for a minute or two before the cells hit their built in low voltage cutoff.

Discharge testing at 1 amp only showed 150 - 200mah of capacity.

Protected cells that were counterfeit. My guess is "fresh" out of the recycle bin.

Alot can be hidden under shrink and end caps.

Check this out.

Looks good so far.

<a href="http://s160.photobucket.com/albums/t187/sikeston34m/?action=view&amp;current=DSC08523.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t187/sikeston34m/DSC08523.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Under the cap, notice the multiple weld marks and the scrapes to remove them, before the new cap was added.

<a href="http://s160.photobucket.com/albums/t187/sikeston34m/?action=view&amp;current=DSC08525.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t187/sikeston34m/DSC08525.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Yes, on the other end too. There's even some rust.

<a href="http://s160.photobucket.com/albums/t187/sikeston34m/?action=view&amp;current=DSC08527.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t187/sikeston34m/DSC08527.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Notice the dents on the naked cells. It's like they were all dumped together in some large bin. This doesn't happen on the production line.

Also note, different lot dates on the 3 cells. Definately not the same run. Probably not even the same brand.

<a href="http://s160.photobucket.com/albums/t187/sikeston34m/?action=view&amp;current=DSC08529.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t187/sikeston34m/DSC08529.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Who's going to bring them to justice though?

If you can find them......maybe you can hire the A-team:lol:

That sucks dude! I bought some lithium camera batteries that were suppose to be 1400mah. After dis-assembly, I noticed they were only half the capacity. They were suppose to parallel 2 pairs of 700mah batteries, but only used 2 cells instead of 4...

I just jump started my car with a 4s 5kmah this morning:sleep:


the batt was hot enough to melt snow....