A Weighty Question about Batteries for Swappables

BSquared18

Member
Hi,

I'm planning to build swappable models for my wife and myself. I have a few hours total flying time on my Horizon Super Cub S and Radian UMX powered glider. My wife hasn't flown an actual plane yet but is practicing with the Phoenix flight-sim Nutball.

Based on what I've read, I'll probably build FT Flyers for both of us to begin with because it seems to be more stable than the Nutball.

I'd like to keep the battery weight as low as possible to fly as slow as possible. And therein lies my question.

One of the Flite-test store's recommended batteries for the swappables is the Turnigy 500mAh 2S 20C Lipo Pack. At Hobby King, it is listed as weighing 2 ounces. At Amazon, it is listed as weighing 2.4 ounces.

On the other hand, the Turnigy 1000mAh 2S is listed at Amazon as weighing only 2 ounces.

If I'm reading the numbers correctly, the 1000mAh seems like a better deal. Am I correct that 1000mAh will give us more flying time than a comparable 500mAh battery, especially if the weights are comparable?

Price-wise, the 1000mAh at Amazon, because it qualifies for Amazon Prime (which I subscribe to), is very comparable to Hobby King's 500mAh, because the Amazon shipping is free. Also, it will arrive in a couple of days instead of taking longer.

Could someone (or two, or three) let me know if my thinking, assumptions, etc. are off base?

Thanks,
Bill
 
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mrjdstewart

Legendary member
Hard to trust those numbers. Some places weigh just the battery, others total shipping weight. Until it is in your hands and you actually weigh it, it's all a bit of a guess. If that concerned go for a lighter graphene battery.

Good luck!
 

BSquared18

Member
Thanks for the reply, mrjdstewart. You make a good point. However, two Amazon users said they weighed the batteries they received and they were 58 grams (2 ounces). We're not talking about a ton of money, so I'll probably give it a try. Hadn't heard about graphene batteries before. I'll look into that.

Bill
 

jamboree1

Active member
I'll tell you right now to go Amazon just for the fact that hobby king customer service is really bad and shipping fees are exorbitant along with more fees if you pay with a credit/debit card or paypal.
 

Forster

Slow, low and dirty.
Or, if you have a local shop, buy there. Several advantages - you can weigh the battery yourself if you want, they won't go out of business because you didn't shop there, no shipping cost. I'm pretty lucky to have four Hobbytowns within an hours drive.
 

Morgan

Active member
A thousand mah 2s should work . I flew an ft flyer on an 2204 2300 kv and a 800 2s on a 5 in prop and it flew . very under powered but it flew . on a b pack you should be fine .
 

BSquared18

Member
RE: "Some places weigh just the battery, others total shipping weight. Until it is in your hands and you actually weigh it, it's all a bit of a guess."

Just received four of the batteries mentioned in my initial post. Weighed one on our postal meter, which is very accurate. The battery plus the leads weighs 1.9 ounces, which is great. Will see how long their flying time is.

Now I'm researching how to replace the batteries' connectors with XT-60's to be compatible with the ESC. Found several YouTube videos that do a good job of explaining the process. That will be interesting.

Bill