Help! Battery Inventory

[MCNC]

I am new to the hobby and never know when I may find time to build (and one day fly successful). In order to minimize downtime when I do have the opportunity I would like to build a small inventory of batteries for power packs A and B. It will be a long introduction to the hobby for me so no need for high performance yet. My plan is to scratch build any plane I want to fly. Suggestions please, I have searched and read about using 800/850mah but see 2s and 3s comments for example which one for pack a? That sort of thing. Thanks

 

[basslord1124]

I'd say a collection of 800-1000Mah 2S and 3S would be fine for those power packs. For any minis, I'd start with the 2S's first. You oughta pick up some 3S 2200Mah as well if you decide to build any larger planes and that is a super common battery for FT planes.

 

[rockyboy]

When I started in electrics using power pack A and B, I regularly used 2s800 mah and my next step was to 3s1000 mah when I was ready for more speed. I'd recommend getting ones with a C rating of at least 30, but no need to pay the money for crazy 60C or higher. Those are only going to deliver performance differences running multiple engines (like quads or B-52's)

If you are comfortable learning to solder, get the best price on batteries you can and then change all the connectors to be one type that matches your ESC's (I prefer the XT series of connectors for reasons that will probably bore everyone). If you don't want to deal with soldering, pay close attention when you're buying to make sure things stay compatible!

 

[MCNC]

Great information guys, exactly what I needed, I have been doing some soldering on the electronics of the simple scout to xt60. I own 2 1500Mah 3s C45? I think. Using those in the scout.

 

[jpot1]

I have found three different battery sizes serve me best:

3s 800mah - used for most of the minis
3s 1300 - intermediate size builds like the FT22, Scout, cub
3s 2200 - for the bigger ones like the mustang, spitfire and p40

I use the same 30a escs across all of these. It’s just a little tight on the minis. Agree 100% with @rockyboy - pick one connector. I like xt60.

 

[skymaster]

I used a 3s 1000mah 30c on my tiny trainer and the mini arrow it game me a little more of a fight on windy days

 

[Hondo76251]

If you are comfortable learning to solder, get the best price on batteries you can and then change all the connectors to be one type that matches your ESC's

This is the route ive ended up going... And also agree on the XT connectors.

I started off keeping all my builds using my existing batteries, but as I've keept going my once tidy little batter corner is now a menagerie of 1-2-3-4-6s batteries of all kinds!

My excuse for every new battery is, "this (insert model name here) flies awesome with this 4s(3s)(2s)... If only it were lighter/heavier it would have perfect balance..."

 

[buzzbomb]

I'm currently all 3s.

850mAh in my Tiny Trainer, DR1, SE5 and Mini Scout.
1500mAh in my Baby Blender Extended and toying with the idea of putting one in my DR1.
2200mAh in my Simple Scout, Baby Blender Extended and upcoming Spitfire.

Those three sizes or near will cover most of the FT builds your likely to take on for some time. The 1500 is sort of a middle man. More power for the somewhat larger builds, but not as much power nor weight as the 2200.

I've also standardized on the XT60. Solid, idiot proof connection and a heavier gauge than the XT30s.

 

[sprzout]

I'm currently all 3s.

850mAh in my Tiny Trainer, DR1, SE5 and Mini Scout.
1500mAh in my Baby Blender Extended and toying with the idea of putting one in my DR1.
2200mAh in my Simple Scout, Baby Blender Extended and upcoming Spitfire.

Those three sizes or near will cover most of the FT builds your likely to take on for some time. The 1500 is sort of a middle man. More power for the somewhat larger builds, but not as much power nor weight as the 2200.

I've also standardized on the XT60. Solid, idiot proof connection and a heavier gauge than the XT30s.

I like the XT connectors; really hard to put them in backwards, like is possible with the red JST connectors, and the EC3 connections are something of a joke to me. I'll run XT60 on my 3S and 4S batteries, and XT30 on my 2S batteries, just because some of the wiring from the 2S batteries is smaller, so an XT30 connector makes more sense. And if I were running a 6S, I'd probably go with an XT90 because of the bigger gauge plugs.

My 3S batteries are all pretty much the same size - 2200mAh - but I do have at least one 3200mAh that I fly with in my Sea Duck. That one works great in that plane, due to it wanting a bit more nose weight, plus I get another 30 sec to a minute of flight.