Hobby King 20C Lipo packs with protection (testing water)

[steveo]

great idea, i'd order!!!

I hate **** h/k service when it comes to getting replacement lipos; i've had horrible expierence with them

i recieved 3 physically damaged lipos recieved out of 4; i lost money to send them back to there warehouse, i got my replacement set; and AGAIN i got another physically damaged lipo in shipping WTF

this just happend yesterday where i got my rma package, I've been dealing with this issue for 3-4 months via email... nightmare

[Kin]

I personally can't afford this for my projects now, but, I think there's a lot of room for someone with just a little more money (or, like, a real job, not studying).

I'm inquiring about getting some funding from an energy-related group on my campus. I'd be putting something together for them; making use of while i'm here but eventually giving it back to them. I might be able to justify something like this, not 100% sure yet on the whole situation. It might even be tight if I go for the pack without boards. But, in terms of charging, we'll still need to balance charge every so often, right? I'm not sure how the HVC works.

Edit: I get it now. Just found the other thread; it's 4.28v max high voltage emergency cutoff. I'll still want to balance charge every so often...but this is an awesome compromise.

[thefost]

I will more than likely be buying one of these. Thanks for doing this, it should make building my first bike that much easier

[Spacey]

I've been pondering this type of thing for a long long time.. it's the damn liability part that concerns me..

Offering it in 5ah packs of X voltage, would eliminate the possibility of a parallel cell issue causing further problems, a single 5ah pack can easily deal with a 40 amp controller.

Have even thought of making a " Lipo for simple minds " webpage and force customers to read it before it ships or the deal is off.

bottom line is that any battery treated incorrectly can result in " issues " .. but lipo just makes it happen faster.

I give you Exibit A :
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=31480&start=60

For the record I had to buy public liability insurance for my ventures, was hard to get as well. I just don't want to get sued over someone elses mistake.

If I was buying Lipo again though I would buy from Methods rather than HK

[methods]

I suspect you guys will be seeing one of our first packs come out soon.
Matthew is working on a custom battery for a customer that is shaping up to be very nice.

He may or may not do a build thread on it - but either way we will get some pictures here. It is a lot more work than it at first appears but in the end it is worth it. Having a big toaster block out on a rack over the rear wheel sucks..... Having a custom triangle pack fitting in the frame is awesome!

Remember this one Steve at JozzTek did a few years back? Closest thing to a link I can find is this: triangle pack

-methods

[RallySTX]

I know I'm looking forward to buying my next shipment of lipo from you guys. Better quality control, and a small profit to another member, add up to a big plus to me. I'm still paying for machine shop work, but in a couple months, I'll be looking for some lipo lecky love!
Brian L.

[ryan]

Hi Methods, can I get a quote for two 18S2P packs?

[Jozzer]

I suspect you guys will be seeing one of our first packs come out soon.
Matthew is working on a custom battery for a customer that is shaping up to be very nice.

He may or may not do a build thread on it - but either way we will get some pictures here. It is a lot more work than it at first appears but in the end it is worth it. Having a big toaster block out on a rack over the rear wheel sucks..... Having a custom triangle pack fitting in the frame is awesome!

Remember this one Steve at JozzTek did a few years back? Closest thing to a link I can find is this: triangle pack

-methods

Here's a snap of that pack embedded in HD foam. Can't find any finished pics of it..

100_1701.JPG (50.08 KiB) Viewed 678 times

Jozz

[Ypedal]

is Deec finally riding that damn thing yet ?

[will_newton]

don't worry about lawsuits. you will only get sued if you have something worth taking. you only have something worth taking if you have liability insurance. if methtek is sued he will become broke paying for his defense which puts him back in the "i got nothing to take category"

it's going to be incredibly hard to prove methtek liability. meth tek can claim items were damaged in shipping, faulty installs, faulty charging, poor maintenance, faulty bms's, faulty controllers, faulty motor or complete systems. of course these batteries will be installed in bikes that will most likely exceed legal state wattages. there is barely an end to the ways he can get out of it.

if you try to sue, you will also likely have to carry on a case outside of your state and of course, he will get an appeal as well. and you will be waiting 2-3 years as your case winds through multiple court systems. then IF you win, you will fork over costs of the lawsuit prep to your lawyer and their 40% take of the judgement since it went to appeal. you haven't been billed in your life until you have been billed by a lawyer in major court battle. words like astronomical come into play.

obviously, some of you are overly paranoid and have no idea of the mechanics of suing or being sued. any lawyer smart enough to win this type of case is also smart enough to know that he can't make enough to get paid for his trouble.

the only party worth suing is hobbyking. overseas lawsuit? as in chinese overseas lawsuit? bwahahahahahahaha!

i know about this in ways i can't go into due to nondisclosure agreements.

why would you sue methtek to start with? for your money back? for loss in lipo fire that was probably your fault via negligence? for damage in an accident that had nothing to do with methtek? TV is not reality. lawsuits do not happen in an hour or less and they have very, very, very little to do with justice and EVERYTHING to do with money.

methods, you are cleared for takeoff. want to keep your house? don't store lipos there.

[methods]

MethTek = Methods
A man with nothing to lose and no one to fear
A man who just walked away from a 10 year government job to live in a shitty trailer in the woods

I could not give a shit less about being sued

I am fairly certain that one of the biggest problems with innovation and business today is that everybody is preoccupied with liability, political correctness, safety, and short term profits. F*^k all that.

When I am making a decision I ask myself: "What would Tyler Durden do"?

Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a Chicken, and I dont want to die without any scars.

With that said - who wants to buy a hat woven out of firecracker fuse with a sparkler on the top?

-methods

[Arlo1]

Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a Chicken, and I dont want to die without any scars.

With that said - who wants to buy a hat woven out of firecracker fuse with a sparkler on the top?

-methods

How much?

[hjns]

I could not give a shit less about being sued

You may have a different view when the next generation MethTeks has arrived....

[Spacey]

MethTek = Methods


I am fairly certain that one of the biggest problems with innovation and business today is that everybody is preoccupied with liability, political correctness, safety, and short term profits. F*^k all that.


-methods

This ...and mainly this....also copyright laws do not apply ...is the main reason China is the main builder of cheap crap that 80% of the world buys.

[methods]

I could not give a shit less about being sued

You may have a different view when the next generation MethTeks has arrived....

Not for a second friend... If I were the type that was scared by that kind of threat I would not be making these extreme life changes right now. I quit my job (and my wife quit her job) after we found she was pregnant - *because* - she was pregnant - and because we are not about to raise our child in fear. People have been raising children for 100,000 years without a 401K and stock portfolio.

I have worked every job from toilet cleaner to busboy, waiter to yard maintenance, tutor to government stooge, now unemployed and self employed. The trappings of cash are not what most think they are... we were making $230k per year and we were totally trapped, totally miserable, locked into the system. Its bullshit friend - a mojo sapping soul trap.

Fear being sued?

That is like fearing the cops or the government.
When I go out to protest Police Violence (in the streets of Oakland California) do you think I fear those men with the sticks, guns, and mace?
Hell no.

You cant be free when you live in fear.... and I intend for me and mine to be free.

-methods

[gestalt]

I just can't say it enough so I brought out the big guns.

[hjns]

Not for a second friend... If I were the type that was scared by that kind of threat I would not be making these extreme life changes right now. I quit my job (and my wife quit her job) after we found she was pregnant - *because* - she was pregnant - and because we are not about to raise our child in fear. People have been raising children for 100,000 years without a 401K and stock portfolio.

I have worked every job from toilet cleaner to busboy, waiter to yard maintenance, tutor to government stooge, now unemployed and self employed. The trappings of cash are not what most think they are... we were making $230k per year and we were totally trapped, totally miserable, locked into the system. Its bullshit friend - a mojo sapping soul trap.

Fear being sued?

That is like fearing the cops or the government.
When I go out to protest Police Violence (in the streets of Oakland California) do you think I fear those men with the sticks, guns, and mace?
Hell no.

You cant be free when you live in fear.... and I intend for me and mine to be free.

-methods

Apologies for getting so far off-topic, but I guess it is OK because you answered rather extensively. My original statement may have been a bit blunt, and was actually meant to be more rhetoric.

Don't get me wrong, I do not mean one (you) should live in fear. I fully agree that loving parents can raise children into responsible and happy adults without a lot of money. I also have a family (wife and 4 kids) to take care of, and I do not want them or me to live in fear.

However, I do think that different people have different reference points and different expectations of what they want out of life. "Fear for being sued" has a different connotation in the US as compared to CH. And having a job in the US is considered by many to be a much more "temporary" state as compared to job-security in Europe in general, although with the current crisis people here are changing their minds about job-security as well.

I think that we just live different lifes. With my current circumstances it is a complete no-go for me to give up my job and live from the land. As a jobless foreigner in CH, we would just get kicked out of the country. Going back to our "own" country (NL) would give me a completely trapped feeling. The fact of being able to raise my kids in a safe and relatively free country (CH) gives me freedom from a lot of worries. The freedom to be able to express my opinion, even as a foreigner is something I value highly. And the freedom to escape my 4 kids during my days at work ensures that I don't get mad (just kidding). And the many rules here in Switzerland can be constricting for many people. For us it is just another challenge, and we are coping quite well. I do expect public transport now (1) to be available and (2) to be on time within 60 seconds from scheduled.

I fully understand that your ideas of freedom and your expectations of what you want out of life are just different from mine, not necessarily better or worse. From what you write and what you have told me in other conversations, I find it quite logical that you do the things you do. I wish you all the best and I do not doubt that your offspring will be perfect in your eyes. At least in the first hours after delivery....

Oh, last but not least, my job gives me the freedom to also buy kits from you I guess you are not going to argue that...

Just my vision on life...

[bigmoose]

Methy first, congrats to you and the missus on the new addition to MethTek on the way! I am happy for you two!!

Second, a long time ago, in a place far, far away... I took my bride to visit a friend of mine who lived in the mountains... He built the one room cabin himself, from trees he felled and peeled. We showered below a 55 gallon drum over a coleman stove, filled with water from the artisian spring... We slept in hammocks strung between the windows across the cabin and in front of the fireplace. The sights and sounds were glorious... the only concessions were a power line (for the stereo) and a phone line (so he could call his broker) brought in below ground. No power was allowed for anything else... (this was before the internet...)

How I wanted to live like G. Paul did! Then 30 some years of Mr. System kicks in, we raise a family, and do some drudgery, and what do you know... we can't even remember the road G. Paul's cabin was on anymore, yet alone find it again! I do miss those days...

Enjoy the journey my friend, the joy is in it!

[methods]

Oh, last but not least, my job gives me the freedom to also buy kits from you I guess you are not going to argue that...

I certainly wont make a case against that...
Please guys - keep your jobs so that you can send me money

Enjoy the journey my friend, the joy is in it!

This I believe...
I wont be waiting for "retirement" to live my dreams. Today is tomorrow.

Now - Back to batteries

-methods

[scriewy]

Thats the spirit meth !

hjns, your position is called forcfully settling for what you got, not exactly free, like many of us, so thats a normal abnormality.

the system got most of us where they want, to scared to protest anything or make a beep, they even washed out the primodial instinkt of self defence, when been attacked by law enforcers, many just drop their hands down instead raising up.

[liveforphysics]

"The government" is not real. It's just a construction that many, almost all folks participate in, where you're robbed and the money goes about 90% into things you don't support, and these things are carried out in the most wasteful method possible.


"The state" also doesn't exist. It's so when you actually do nothing wrong (like speeding etc), they can have a pretend entity that you offended. An imaginary thing can't suffer harms.

Lawyers, of all types and kinds, are empowered by imaginary things, enforced by the disillusioned and misled, and are universally a force of evil, though I think many don't realize it.


Simply acknowledge only what it real, reject and ignore the rest, and live your life to enhance the experiences of yourself and others.

Ultimately, and always, nothing else in life matters a bit more than the experiences you have, and share with others.

If for some reason you think there is more than the experiences, think about it for a while.

Rich, poor, powerful, powerless, none of it matters even a tiny bit, in fact it generally results in less and/or worse experiences at money and power accumulate, making it counter to the real goal, and the other goals are all false or pointless.

[RallySTX]

Yeah, don't fear the reaper, he just wants his slice! I just want Methtec approved lipo in copious quantities! Congrats on the rug rats! May the best of your past, be the worst of your future!
Brian L.

[methods]

Of the 20 that Matthew picked up on the first order all came out great. We ordered just after the prices dropped on the USA warehouse too. I believe 12 of them have been used in an 18S 4P pack and the other 8 may be slated for a 12S 4P pack - but not sure yet.

If anyone wants us to middle man lipo for them I suppose it would go like this:

We pay $906.20 for 20 x 6S 5000mAh 20C Turnagy
Shipping is $53.26
So that is $959.46 which works out to $47.97/pack
Lets call that $50 / pack

Shipping to the continental US is about $10 for a medium flat rate box and you can fit a lot in there (yes, hobby king is screwing us on shipping in the US... but that is the price of doing business).

We have to take the time to cycle the packs, we have $1k tied up in lipo at any given time, we have to pack them for you, and then there is the customer service and risk of issues (like lost packages etc).

To make it worth the risk we would have to mark those packs up by $10 each - so if you are building a 12S 10Ah pack it will cost you an extra $50 shipped to your door. We could give you a pretty little birth certificate with each pack though showing how it performed when tested. (packs these days are serial numbered from the factory)

I suppose to make that up we could offer a discount on our HVC / LVC / Parallel boards - anyone buying the lipo from us would get their boards at some sort of discount - like $5 off each board + $5 off HVC breaker.

Just thinking out loud.... This is really about putting Lipo in peoples hands but the more I do this the more I understand why it is important to charge for our services.... because if we dont we go crazy and broke

-methods

[bigmoose]

Methods, what a bargain! I ran your costs through an old bid an proposal cost estimator I had laying around... The sell price for a single battery came out $117.51 What a hoot! I love what the "system" does to costs.

[methods]

Lol... that thing is awesome!

Probably just about right too - seeing that reminded me of the 3% PayPal fees we forgot to include.

-methods