Suggest someone other than Hobbyking

HK12K

100 kW
Joined
Jul 24, 2019
Messages
1,168
I love HobbyKing but I absolutely hate the fact that they only ship to Canada via FedEx or UPS. Shipping is such an absolute ripoff and so unreliable that it's gotten to the point I never want to shop there again if I don't have to.

The final straw was after having a few beers and placing an order then later realizing I had paid over $30 to ship $19 worth of bullets from the US, via FedEx, which means I'm probably looking at another $25-30 in duty and processing fees before it's all said and done. (I can't wait to get the bill for importing the $500 in Lipos from Hong Kong that I ordered as well, for a mere $46)

Know of any similar places that you can recommend? Alternatives would be appreciated.
 
HK12K said:
I love HobbyKing but I absolutely hate the fact that they only ship to Canada via FedEx or UPS. Shipping is such an absolute ripoff and so unreliable that it's gotten to the point I never want to shop there again if I don't have to.

The final straw was after having a few beers and placing an order then later realizing I had paid over $30 to ship $19 worth of bullets from the US, via FedEx, which means I'm probably looking at another $25-30 in duty and processing fees before it's all said and done. (I can't wait to get the bill for importing the $500 in Lipos from Hong Kong that I ordered as well, for a mere $46)

Know of any similar places that you can recommend? Alternatives would be appreciated.

I got bitten ONCE with HobbyKing via USA and FedEx, not sure what the item cost was, but dinged with an extra FedEx cost $50. I wondered if I would have been dinged the same if it was via Hong Kong warehouse. Now everytime I look at Hobby King, I always look at Hong Kong warehouse but I'm still afraid of that extra kick to the nut $ack that Fed Ex gives.
 
Yeah, the last time I had ordered a single 4s lipo from their US warehouse and got nailed for $50-60 courtesy of FedEx. Hoping the $500 of lipo coming from their Hong Kong warehouse doesn't cost an arm and a leg but wouldn't be surprised if they hand me a $250 invoice upon delivery.

If they actually deliver it.... last time it spent 3 or 4 days on a truck marked as out for delivery each day and never appearing, in the middle of winter, until I finally had it redirected to a local store and went to get it myself. I'm not in the sticks either, I could just about throw a rock and hit city hall.
 
HK12K said:
Yeah, the last time I had ordered a single 4s lipo from their US warehouse and got nailed for $50-60 courtesy of FedEx. Hoping the $500 of lipo coming from their Hong Kong warehouse doesn't cost an arm and a leg but wouldn't be surprised if they hand me a $250 invoice upon delivery.

If they actually deliver it.... last time it spent 3 or 4 days on a truck marked as out for delivery each day and never appearing, in the middle of winter, until I finally had it redirected to a local store and went to get it myself. I'm not in the sticks either, I could just about throw a rock and hit city hall.

Sure would be nice to be near a USA Hobbyking Warehouse.
 
Would be even better if they had a Canadian warehouse, preferably with comparable pricing.

I might buy another 10Ah in the future, just for consistency's sake, but aside from that I am done with HobbyKing until they offer better shipping options. If they can't offer USPS/Canada Post from the US (and something more reasonable than what they currently offer from China) I'll just have to go elsewhere.
 
HK12K said:
Would be even better if they had a Canadian warehouse, preferably with comparable pricing.

I might buy another 10Ah in the future, just for consistency's sake, but aside from that I am done with HobbyKing until they offer better shipping options. If they can't offer USPS/Canada Post from the US (and something more reasonable than what they currently offer from China) I'll just have to go elsewhere.

Is shipping from their Hong Kong warehouse not an option or they using FedEx since Hobbyking would ship Canada parcels into USA then to Canada, or would Hobbyking ship directly to major Canadian port/airport. Its been so long, but I do need to stock up on XT90's and Silicone wire.
 
The bullets weren't available from Hong Kong, just USA. When I got to checkout I had 2 options, Fedex for $80 or UPS for considerably more money and there was really no breakdown as to what cost what as far as shipping each package that I remember seeing. It wasn't until later when I was looking at the invoice that I noticed how it was broken down and realize that I'd been had. If I had realized it at the time I would have tried harder to source them from somewhere else, but I didn't want to wait for Aliexpress and the last time I bought 8mm bullets locally they were $20 for a 3 pack so bundling them seemed a reasonable idea. Never again, lol.

Not sure about the logistics, but assume it would ship direct from Hong Kong to Canada. Could be by plane, could be by life raft. Either way I'm sure FedEx will make sure it costs me and ensure I regret using them, as usual.
 
Place bigger orders for what you need and will need. Ordering $19 worth of anything online from anywhere is ridiculous. Think of the carbon release caused by such ordering.
 
I needed 500 worth of lipos and some bullets. Not my fault they can't keep their warehouses stocked.

Got this today:

"Thank you for choosing HobbyKing! We appreciate your confidence in us and it is with great pleasure that we will work diligently to deliver our promise to you..

It came to our attention that one/some of the item/s in your order is/are unavailable at this time:

[9067000296-0] Turnigy Graphene Professional 10000mAh 4S 15C LiPo Pack w/ XT90 x 5.0

We are truly sorry for the inconvenience this may have caused you. In order for us to process your order and avoid further delay, please choose from the following options below:

1. Cancel and refund the missing item and ship the rest of the order.
2. Refer me to a Product Specialist for product recommendation as substitute for the current out of stock item/s.
3. I am willing to wait for the item to come back in stock.
4. Cancel the shipment for Store Credit or a refund"

Confidence and patience have evaporated. Seriously considering refusing the bullets when they arrive, let them eat the return shipping, and taking my 600 bucks back.
 
It is such a tough life HK12K........ very very tough........ first world........ Canadian life........ under Führer JT's rule. That dictator really needs to shave one of these days, he is getting a tad scruffy to be in a role of a "leader".

Going anywhere else for lipo's would be a higher cost. RCbuddy is in the USA, your local hobby store probably wouldnt have much selection in the 5S+ range and the cost for high mAh would be comically astronomical.

HK12K said:
 
It is what it is. Accepted the bullets and told them I'd wait for new stock from Hong Kong, whenever that happens to show. No eta. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

Lipos aside, I'm going to have to try to find a better online hobby shop. If such a thing exists. If not I guess Aliexpress it is. At least the shipping is cheap.
 
Remember though.. we have been down this track before with various other suppliers,
It may be different this time, but invariably previous experiments with other sources of “Hobby” lipo has ended in tears and financial sadness !
HobbyKing lipo products have proven to be the best value and reliable quality compared to other comparable cells.
Once you go “off track” with some unknown supplier , you are taking an expensive risk.!
 
Not sure about shipping from them to Canada, but Buddy RC used to be where I got all my wire, connectors, and such. More for getting it quick than for price, but back then the prices were not too bad there either.
 
Man, I'll never use a Hobbyking lipo in an ebike again. 500$ pack that doesn't show on time and is dangerous? Nah. Yall know what I like.

I have to buy some lipo packs for the helicopter soon. Then I will go HK or some other RC groups or Helifreak recommended pair of packs.., or two pair.. but...

Nah. HK prices and the wait. Then the lack of capacity when you can only discharge them halfway for longevity. Blah. When I used (6) 5000mAh lipos in an ebike and got poor range, I was like WTF? So I tried 8... and still was like WTF? when the Wh ran out and I hit LVC miles out on a BBS02.

Ever consider Gens Ace? Dinogy? Revo? Pulse? Going for the Graphenes, huh? Sad thing is is that onlyy HK has the Grapheneds, and theya re good.

I'll never. Pay more than like $200/Kwh ( except for when I buy my flying lipos). Pack in my 3.3/8Kw bike cost 200$, holds 1.25Kwh, and showed up on time, no surcharges, just took labor, and are now like so old they are prolly older than most peoples lipos here.. ( 2014? 6yrs old? I dont have any HK lipos that lasted 6+ yrs.. ) and still kicking hard. Bought 36 cells 15Ah ea for 350$ that showed up in two days. Lol. Two days of labor.. and whoolah...

Hate buying new cells. I have been offered some more Volt modules I think I am gonna go ahead and buy four to part out. Its the testing there that takes alot of time. The testing an matching using recycled stock. Generally takes a bit longer than clicking "but it now" and entering in credit card info... but they show up duty free: lol.
 
I realize the HK lipos might not be the best overall choice all considered, but the bike already has 20s/20Ah of Turnigy's in it which are in reasonably good shape and I thought it best to try and keep it consistent. (Especially since I'm bulk charging through an Adaptto with BMS @ 1kw/h+ at times) I also realize that a fully matched pack would be best but I don't want to throw 10 good 4s packs on the shelf just to spend a whole lot more for a complete replacement.

Granted the Graphine aspect would be an upgrade but format and capacity are the same so it seemed the most reasonable choice. The Graphines seem to review well, so there are definitely worse choices. Also I had a cell that had been falling off the cliff much earlier than the rest and had already swapped out one of the 4s packs for a graphine over the winter with good results. Might as well roll with it.

I haven't looked too deeply into other quality lipo brands, though I know they're out there. If I were going to assemble a complete pack and wanted to keep it hobby grade I'd most certainly give them consideration. Perhaps I should have given them a closer look though.

Actual "EV cells" would be the dream, but it seems that the bar is a bit too high for me at the moment. Volt cells seem to be the go-to but the few times I've tried to seek them out around here the only ones I could find were from scrappers asking 3-4 thousand. Wasn't even clear if that was for all 3 packs just 1 or what, but that's a fair amount of coin. Then I'd actually have to figure out what to do with it to fit my application. Might be able to find leaf packs but they seem to be generally regarded as meh. Aside from that it's a sea of NiMH. So on the surface it seems like a whole lot of money combined with the fact that it's a whole lot of voltage and even more uncharted territory for me AND I'd have to trust in my own ability to engineer a safe functional system that actually fit where I needed it. I'd be down if I knew I could pull it off, but I'm going to have to do a lot more homework on the subject before I lay down that kind of money.

Even tossed around the idea of grabbing 100 of those supposed 200 amp EV pouch cells from eBay and building a 40Ah pack, if it would fit. Would probably cost a bit over a grand, but again I'd have to engineer the thing to work and be able to take a beating without burning the neighborhood down. Which is a concern regardless of pack build quality when dealing with mystery cells.

So this round goes to HobbyKing. Unless I change my mind in the near future.

Will have to keep BuddyRC in mind, maybe check Tower more often too for random hobby stuff. Funny though I opted for Aliexpress over Buddy for the whack of balance leads I ordered recently. $16 vs 60-something. Rolled those dice and took a shot. (Which I would never do for batteries, to be clear.)
 
Icecube57 (USA, Georgia I believe) did lots of testing on HKing lipo's and found 10-15% of the cells pouches to be defective. Its a good idea to test each pouch upon receiving them.
 
Go for the knockoff greenworks battery packs for 40v. Cheap can charge on greenworks charger and now 6ah for $73.00 delivered free with Amazon prime (not sure about Canada)
https://www.amazon.com/Powtree-Replacement-Lithium-ion-Battery-GreenWorks/dp/B07SSSMC4N/ref=sr_1_40?crid=1JSEB82NYLG06&dchild=1&keywords=greenworks+40v+6ah+battery&qid=1590282000&sprefix=greenworks+40v+6ah%2Caps%2C291&sr=8-40
 
I'm shooting for something that would be comfortable having a 150-200 amp load applied to it, so not sure that knockoff mystery can cells are the way to go. :lol:

HK is good about standing behind their batteries from what I hear. Hopefully won't run into any issues, but at least they won't leave me hanging if any duds arrive. Really hope no duds arrive though.
 
HK12K said:
I'm shooting for something that would be comfortable having a 150-200 amp load applied to it, so not sure that knockoff mystery can cells are the way to go. :lol:

HK is good about standing behind their batteries from what I hear. Hopefully won't run into any issues, but at least they won't leave me hanging if any duds arrive. Really hope no duds arrive though.

You must test each brick of lipo that you receive to see if there are any pouches that are duds.
https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=61672&p=1173758&hilit=rate#p1173758
Ive spent as much as 2 weeks checking packs from hobby king. Expect as much as 10-15% dud rate. But when you do get good ones they are golden. Ive got plenty of refunds by registering my packs for warranty and supplying them the information as soon as I discover it. the first cycle will tell you alot.
 
DogDipstick said:
.......I'll never. Pay more than like $200/Kwh .....
And you will only ever be building your own packs with used cells. And skilled labour time costs money
And Used EV cells do not lend themselves easily to a “normal” Ebike configuration...(eMoto, or scooter,..fine)
RC packs are very convenient for configuring packs of different voltage and capacity...that can be changed around easily...with high power and good capacity (20ah bricks)
be patient,, HK will be suffering from the current international issues..
the trick is to plan ahead,, watch for the HK clearance sales, and buy when the packs you are using are available.
dont assume they operate like a 7-11 convenience store !
 
Hillhater said:
and buy when the packs you are using are available.
dont assume they operate like a 7-11 convenience store !

That where they got me. Their inventory system was showing stock, and lots of it. I actually clicked the quantity ticker up quite a bit before I placed my order because I was curious to see at what point it would kick over to out of stock/backordered as it's done on me in the past when adding bulk quantities of stuff. I lost interest before I hit the limit. It wasn't until a few days after I ordered that they contacted me to let me know they were out, so apparently they had some data entry issues on their inventory end or something. Not the end of the world, even if it is a frustrating annoyance with no concessions offered for my inconvenience, but at least my lipos will be fresh.
 
Hillhater said:
And you will only ever be building your own packs with used cells. And skilled labour time costs money
And Used EV cells do not lend themselves easily to a “normal”

the trick is to plan ahead,, watch for the HK clearance sales, and buy when the packs you are using are available.

All absolut6ly true.

My ebike packs are bulky, homemade, and not without labor and and diligence...and you never want to wonder about the "health".

I need to buy (4) 5000mah soon. Selling my old stuff. Its why Im interested. Its an investment that we dont ever want to get screwed on. Honestly I think Im going with HK too. Lol. Gotta do wut ya gotta do. What else is there if you are making a 500$ investment that is to last you three four years. Yeah check cells right away, upon receipt. HK return policy is what sells lipos. I have seen alot of people get iffy results and they always make good.
 
Slightly used cells are better than buying new, because as long as they're still balanced then the cells and their interconnections are already proven. While I love automotive grade modules, when can be even easier to assemble than a pack made of RC lipo, I understnad not everyone has the space to fit them. There are sources for smaller format modules of cells. Anything but RC lipo. It's crazy to take that crapshoot when the odds of an event are much worse than the risk of death if you get Covid 19. RC lipo is so bad that someone risks criminal negligence if they own them while living in multi-family housing.
 
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