Hobbyking Graphene

nilsen

Senior Member
I assume some of you fine folks have seen them on the hobbyking daily, instagram, facebook, vision-from-above.

Anyway, I have been flying the 1500 4s multistar and although they are good, they are damn heavy on my already heavy MXP230 so I went ahead and ordered 3 of the 1300 4s Graphene batteries, the 65c versions.

Let's see how they fly, I'll keep you posted.

Cheers.
 

MototechRyan

Wannabe Jedi
Im curious how much they weigh. I was impressed by the weight of the Lumenier packs compared to the nano techs. If the graphenes are comparable in weight and offer longer run times, that would be awesome.
 

Flat4

Senior Member
Im curious how much they weigh. I was impressed by the weight of the Lumenier packs compared to the nano techs. If the graphenes are comparable in weight and offer longer run times, that would be awesome.

There's a few threads on some other forums with a lot of info on these packs. They seem pretty promising as far as life cycles are concerned. They are a bit heavier then comparable capacity batteries from other brands. My luminier 4S 1300 60C packs come in at 151 grams, the same graphene battery is 170.

There is a guy that has over 900 cycles on one of those graphene batteries, and the IR is still insanely low, and the pack has only lost 20% capacity.

My biggest concern is that they don't seem to be handling anywhere near their advertised C rating, but then again that's nothing new in the lipo world.
 

thenated0g

Drinker of coffee, Maker of things
Mentor
the crazy 5-15c charging is pretty awesome for charging out in the field. Would not need half as many batteries to keep flying.
 

finnen

Senior Member
There's a few threads on some other forums with a lot of info on these packs. They seem pretty promising as far as life cycles are concerned. They are a bit heavier then comparable capacity batteries from other brands. My luminier 4S 1300 60C packs come in at 151 grams, the same graphene battery is 170.

There is a guy that has over 900 cycles on one of those graphene batteries, and the IR is still insanely low, and the pack has only lost 20% capacity.

My biggest concern is that they don't seem to be handling anywhere near their advertised C rating, but then again that's nothing new in the lipo world.

Yeah, almost all marketed c ratings are kind of bogus. From what I have read they are up there with some of the best brands with c rating, not the best, but good. The main benefit seems to be the ability to handle a lot of charge cycles. I believe that if you want the highest energy density (light as possible pack), there are other packs that are better, mainly the high voltage lipos.

The graphenes do seem to be good pack for the money.
 

Cyberdactyl

Misfit Multirotor Monkey
There is a guy that has over 900 cycles on one of those graphene batteries, and the IR is still insanely low, and the pack has only lost 20% capacity.

Whoa 900, that's insane. Turnigy Nano's easily loose 20% after 150 cycles, even if they are babied.
 

willsonman

Builder Extraordinare
Mentor
I've read the thread and he is over 1000 now. The issue though is that they are not real-world discharges. They are discharged on a charger at 23C (I think). The longevity is, for sure, the big selling point. Energy density is another but the quick charge rate is astounding. Its where cellphones and other small gadgetry should be. The weight difference is not that significant IMO. Basically its like going from one brand to another. The price... for new tech it's quite reasonable. Wish they had more options for sizes but that will come with time.
 

nilsen

Senior Member
So the batteries arrived yesterday and I did an unboxing, puerly becuase they come better packed than a Swiss watch ;-)


The take away is that they are substantially heavier than 25-50c 1300's and even more than the Multistar "race spec" 1400 mAh.

Maybe this means they are really 65c? Let's see.
 
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willsonman

Builder Extraordinare
Mentor
Wow, looks like you are paying for spiffy packaging too. Well, at least you get some magnets for hatches out of the deal. Not sure what I would do with the velvet sack... blood diamonds? :rolleyes:
 

RAM

Posted a thousand or more times
Wow, looks like you are paying for spiffy packaging too. Well, at least you get some magnets for hatches out of the deal. Not sure what I would do with the velvet sack... blood diamonds? :rolleyes:

FAA registration card holder :)
 

nilsen

Senior Member
I wonder if HK expected you to store the batteries in there when you take them to the field... Slip them out of the pouch then crash them into a tree at 50 kilometers and hour. Put out the fire then put them back in the satin bag :)

*Edit - it would be cool if it were a lipo safe! A tiny, single battery version.
 

nilsen

Senior Member
I was able to fly with the Graphene batteries twice now and the first time I was not at all impressed, they were heavy and I didn't notice any difference in performance, this was flying some beat up 3 blade props, I just had loads of shakes on WOT but with my "50"c race spec nanotechs and the Graphene.

The next time I had some HQprop 5045 BN and wow, these things pack a serious punch. I get shorter flight time as they are 1300 vs. my 1400 but it's mad how punchy they are, the quad is way more responsive, faster and the batteries are punchy throughout, Plus they aren't warm at all after flying.

The only problem is that when they are flat (the beeper starts going) a few moments later the quad falls out the sky.

All in all, despite the wasteful packaging and the battery leads which I find are a bit too long, these are great.

It will be interesting to see how they hold up.
 

airhawk

Crashing Ace
Im disappointed at the minimal graphene battery stock in the west ware house i want a 1500 not a 15000mah pack