Damnit, the Lipo battery industry needs better standards!

[redshift]

^listen to that guy^

wow $33 http://hobbyking.com/hobbycity/store..._30C_Lipo_Pack

Forgot if you're running 4 or 6s...

Hmm, I may go with Turnigys then and hell, go 3S this time for that price. I'm stick of paying with my soul for Lipo's and getting the shaft.....

[Slowkrawl]

Originally Posted by Freezebyte

Hmm, I may go with Turnigys then and hell, go 3S this time for that price. I'm stick of paying with my soul for Lipo's and getting the shaft.....

There ya go! I am sure you will love 6s. Some guys like the "driveability" of 4s, whereas I see it like...I'd rather have too much power than not enough.

Originally Posted by Slowkrawl

There ya go! I am sure you will love 6s. Some guys like the "driveability" of 4s, whereas I see it like...I'd rather have too much power than not enough.

I'll probably wait till spring for new Lipos, im not gonna be able to do much more driving with the temperature dipping up here.

EDIT: WEDNESDAY FOLLOW UP

I decided to give Bryan at SMC another today and verify some information about their SMC Lipos, specifically what the safest route is to keep them in a charged and discharged state:

Me: Yes, is this Bryan?
Bryan: Yes it is
Me: Bryan this is Freezebyte again from Montana
Bryan: Hey Freeze, good to hear from you again, what can I do for ya?
Me: Well, I'm calling to give you and update on the condition of my Lipo after I discharged them and left around 1000mAh inside them which put them at around 7.3v. The puffing seem to have gone down a little bit.
Bryan: Ok, you should be in the clear then, the new Lipo cell chemistry is a bit more forgiving then the older batch, so just keep an eye on it.
Me: Sounds good which brings me to my follow up question that I couldn't remember your full answer to. For your guy's SMC Lipos and cells inside them, what is the maximum and safest amount of time to keep them at a fully charge state that won't damage the cells?
Bryan: For our Lipo's, no more then 1 day, 24 hours max. Past that, you greatly increase the risk of causing the chemicals inside our cells to start to break down and risk puffing. I know it sucks, I know its a bit inconvienent for some people but our Lipo's are designed for performance and racing and arn't as forgiving as other "generic" Lipo's. Theres a tradeoff, you either want really good performance Lipo's that require more attention and care or you can have lesser performance but be able to beat the crap out the Lipo for extended periods of time. Its like a Ford Focus ya know, its built to last and go for miles and miles but it sure as hell ain't gonna win you any street races vs a Ferrari. Each one is built for a different reason and use.
Me: Well, that makes perfect sense, I didn't think about that
Bryan: Yeah, the cells we use in our Lipo's are designed to give maximum punch and power for racing needs and that comes at a price, in this case, they require more attention to their charged and discharged state and react poorly when you over or under discharge them vs other Lipos. I know at one race one of the guys their was using Orion packs and was doing pretty good but was having issues over some bigger jumps. He asked if he could borrow one of ours and he was able to clear the jumps no problem now. I"m not saying Orions are crap, they do make good stuff, but I don't think they are geared for real high end demands like our packs are designed for, however the tradeoff is that you can beat, abuse and use them over and over and they just keep taking it. It just a matter of what you want out of the Lipo.
Me: Yeah, i've heard peeps saying that their Turnigys and Zippys are sitting charged for days or weeks on end with no ill effect and last a bit longer
Bryan: Yeah, Orions are apparently the same way, but we've also seen the performance difference between their packs and ours on the track so its either babying a high performance pack more or be able to hammer and beat up a pack but have less performance, you can't have both.
Me: Well, that makes alot of sense now that you put it that way. I"m glad I asked and now know how to properly care for your guy's particular Lipo's and cells. Thanks so much again Bryan, I really appreciate it
Bryan: Hey your most welcome, glad to be of help. Give us a call if you have any other questions or concerns, thats what were hear for. Oh and congrads on your truck in the new RC Car action! Sweet looking color scheme, simple but nicely laid out with the wheels and tires and even nicer scenery and bashing spot, im jealous!
Me: Lol, well thanks so much! I am pretty proud of it myself and I just heard that my truck also made RC Driver in the Jan 2010 issue!
Bryan: Really? We'll congrads again, I'll keep my eye out for that one too! I'd kill to have a bashing spot like you have up there, especially with that scenery!
Me: Ironic, you want my bashing spot, and I want your guys big races and events, lol Thanks again Bryan, take care!
Bryan: You too freeze!

So there ya have it folks, straight from the horses mouth. Needless to say, i've decided I want more "bulletproof and forgiving" Lipos for my needs. I hate babying crap as it doesn't make this hobby fun when I have to spend extra time and effort into something as simple as a battery. Im gonna order some Turnigys when my SMC's give out and take this as another valuable lesson learned in the new world of Lipo and RC usage.