Turnigy or Zippy?

[x88x]

So, I'm finally going to be ordering myself some lipo tonight, and I'm trying to decide which one. I know I want 5Ah 6S packs, 20C (for the cost), and from the US warehouse. So I've got it down to Turnigy packs for $49.99 each or Zippy packs for $49.02 each (after you let the page sit for a little while). Shipping is identical and there is more in stock of each than I'm going to buy (just picking up 3 packs for now; 2 for a small test pack, 1 spare).

I know both are fine, but since I actually have the choice, and the cost is basically the same, is there any general consensus on which is better?

 

[dogman dan]

Turnigy has slightly bigger size, and possibly slightly bigger capacity. Zippys are a bit smaller if the space is a tight fit.

Flip a coin, really.

 

[neptronix]

Good question.

Turnigy are a bit heavier and wider, but they have more padding built in inbetween the cells and on the outside.

They also have these flexy silicone/aluminum balance leads that look kinda flimsy to me.
Zippy has what looks like copper on the balance leads which are good.

I have had 1 turnigy out of 7 and 1 zippy out of 4 die on me.
The Turnigy decided to swell up on it's own, and wasn't even abused.
The Zippy had one bad cell on it from the factory.

Far as i'm concerned, they are the same damn cells with different stuff attatched..

When hobbyking sends you batteries, you get a hobbyking/turnigy/zippy battery sticker with all of em.. i think they're both the house brand.

flip a coin

 

[BikeFanatic]

Since your pack size is on the small size, 5 AH, I recommend getting the higher
C rate maybe 30 c . There is nothing wrong with the 20 c and I have several 20 c turnigy and zippy with no duds, but with the higher the C rate ones I can draw more AH out of them. I run 5 AH packs and I get 4.2-4.4 AH out of the 20 C but a full 5 AH out the 30 C.

I mean if there is not a big difference in price.

 

[x88x]

Oh, I'm going to be adding more later, for probably a 20Ah pack, I'm just getting 5Ah worth now for testing purposes. Besides, since shipping from the Hobby King US warehouse, over standard US post, is 1 cent, there's not much incentive for me to buy them all at once until I have a vehicle ready to use them. Also, the 30C packs are ~40% more expensive than the 20C packs...and if I'm not gaining 40% capacity it's not really worth it to me for this project. Thanks for the warning though.

Thanks for the input. I think I'll go with the Zippy packs then, unless someone comes along in the next hour or so before I place the order and makes some groundbreaking revelation.

 

[neptronix]

Since your pack size is on the small size, 5 AH, I recommend getting the higher
C rate maybe 30 c . There is nothing wrong with the 20 c and I have several 20 c turnigy and zippy with no duds, but with the higher the C rate ones I can draw more AH out of them. I run 5 AH packs and I get 4.2-4.4 AH out of the 20 C but a full 5 AH out the 30 C.

I mean if there is not a big difference in price.

Hm. My experience is a bit different. I ran a 14amp setup off of 20c 5ah for a while, and got the full 5ah, with only 2 volts of voltage drop when i was pulling 14amps. They would not even get warm either.

Drawing 38amps off of 20c is another story. The batteries get warm after sustained max amp draw.. and i do miss a bit of the AH. But all it would take is 10ah-15ah to get the full 5ah again, and the batteries surely would not even get above room temperature again.

It all depends on how many amps you are drawing, really.

 

[AussieJester]

Good question.
Turnigy are a bit heavier and wider, but they have more padding built in inbetween the cells and on the outside.

I have ripped apart over a dozen 6s turnigy packs scavanging cells and have yet to see anything but glue between pouches.
Definitely no padding.

KiM

 

[neptronix]

Good question.
Turnigy are a bit heavier and wider, but they have more padding built in inbetween the cells and on the outside.

I have ripped apart over a dozen 6s turnigy packs scavanging cells and have yet to see anything but glue between pouches.
Definitely no padding.

KiM

There were thin layers of plastic around each cell, and double sided tape on my 20C 5s packs.
Then two fairly thick layers of white plastic stuff on the outside.

All my zippy packs were bare cells glued together, held together with a shrinkwrap.
The cells look identical in width, height, and depth.

 

[AussieJester]

Still not seeing any padding, waifer thin film of plastic is hardly padding. I also dont recall the glue being double sided tape
was sticky crap though perhaps they have changed their construction since i got these, they were over 12 months old, nothing a plastic spatula didn't account for though. Only padding i encountered were on the bases of the packs and some covering the pcb board on the top, then thick white plastic wrapped longitudinally around the entire 6 packs. Bastards to get apart, after the first 3 or 4 i ruined i got good at it, by time i had done 8 or so i was getting really good at swapping out middle pouches LoL... I had 2 zippys also i didn't rip these apart they went straight in the bin rooted and only 15c anywayz. I did notice they had thinner main wires other than that dont recal size difference.

KiM

 

[snowranger]

I doubt you're going to get the full 5 ah from the turnigy swarm sale batteries. I've been cycling several batteries from 4.1 volts down to 3.6 volts, where the voltage waterfall happens, and have been averaging 4.2 ah at 3.5 amps draw. Add on about 10% from 4.1 to 4.2 volts, and you get another .5 ah for about 4.7 ah total.

 

[neptronix]

I doubt you're going to get the full 5 ah from the turnigy swarm sale batteries. I've been cycling several batteries from 4.1 volts down to 3.6 volts, where the voltage waterfall happens, and have been averaging 4.2 ah at 3.5 amps draw. Add on about 10% from 4.1 to 4.2 volts, and you get another .5 ah for about 4.7 ah total.

There is about 0.3AH-0.5AH after 3.6v per cell.. that's where your 5000mah is :/

 

[snowranger]

Yeah, but not really usable. Your voltage will be dropping like a rock by that point, and this was less than 1c.

 

[x88x]

Well, either way, for the same price as 5Ah of 30C I could get 7AH of 20C. So even if the 20C does loose 10%, it's still not really worth it to get the 30C unless you need the discharge capability, imo.

 

[John in CR]

If price per wh is the primary consideration, then you really have to look at the 5ah4s hardcase as the new price champ. It wears its padding on the outside reducing your battery box requirements, and priced well below $.30/wh with swarm sale and actual capacity.

 

[dogman dan]

The 4s packs would be great for somebody bulk charging. But for us fraidy cats breaking down packs to charge at 5-6s it would be just one more pack to deal with.

Hardcase 7s packs is what I'd like to see, But making a box from political signs is childishly easy, then pop em in your bag.

FWIW, the only padding I see on turnigy I've taken apart was on the top of the battery. Thin two side tape, and the cells are slightly bigger on turnigy.

The only significant difference in AH is when you buy better c rates. But on a stock controller bike, the c rate difference is the difference between so little sag you don't notice it and even less sag.

Also, for the next batch, It's no problem to buy some 20c zippy now and some 20c turnigy later. Also no particular problem to buy 30c later.
Even paralelling them should not be a particular problem, as long as the balance wires are connected too.

 

[x88x]

If price per wh is the primary consideration, then you really have to look at the 5ah4s hardcase as the new price champ. It wears its padding on the outside reducing your battery box requirements, and priced well below $.30/wh with swarm sale and actual capacity.

IDK about the swarm sale pricing, but with the normal pricing, yes, it hits $0.305/Wh...not counting shipping.. Unfortunately, they only have that pack type in their Hong Kong warehouse, so with the cheapest shipping option, at the normal price, it comes out to $0.458/Wh (for four packs)! Maybe if I were ordering a crapton of them it would balance out, but for now at least, $/Wh wins for pretty much anything that I don't have to ship from overseas. Compared to that, the 5Ah6S Zippy's that I got came out to $0.437/Wh shipped, since they're coming from the US warehouse so I got $0.01 shipping.

 

[snowranger]

I would love those hard packs, but the 4s part would require a bit of splicing and dicing to work with Geoff's SMD LVC stuff or 14s chargers.

 

[x88x]

Heheh, the race is on. Last night at around 1, I ordered the batteries from Hobby King and an iCharger, CellLog, and bullet connectors from EP Buddy. Both are coming over standard USPS Priority Mail, and I just received notice that the batteries is ready to ship (the EP Buddy order shipped this morning ). So, let's see what gets here first.

 

[dogman dan]

Should see the HK stuff pretty fast, 7 days max. But I hear EP buddy is faster.

 

[x88x]

Well, neither tracking number is showing any updates yet, but if they both get them shipped today I'm guessing I'll get the EP Buddy one first. Just because, all else being equal, HK's US warehouse is (from what the internets tell me) in WA, and EP Buddy is in OH, which is quite a bit closer. According to USPS Priority Mail shipping time estimates, if they both got shipped out today, I should get both on Monday. ..not sure I believe that, but it'd be nice.

 

[neptronix]

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=25700&p=371864

Zippy has 8000mAH packs now.

Zippy wins!!

 

[x88x]

Nice. Still more expensive/Wh than either of the 5Ah packs, but that's to be expected...and not nearly as expensive as the 5800Ah packs, iirc.

Well, I was right...more than I thought I would be.

I did actually get the EP Buddy stuff yesterday, an iCharger 106B+ and CellLog 8S. I gotta say, I'm pretty impressed with the build quality on both of them, especially the iCharger. And I like that they give the option for 4mm bullet sockets for the power source. Just hook those up to my bench PSU and I'll be good to go.

Still waiting on the batteries..USPS says they'll be here Saturday. I'm hoping they'll get here before then, but we'll see. I also finally ordered the motor to go with these, a 9C 1606 from ebikes.ca. That should get here hopefully sometime this weekend; if not then probably early next week.

 

[x88x]

Batteries came in today, and I'm pretty impressed. The three packs range in cell voltages from 3.861V-3.869V, 3.853V-3.858V, and 3.858V-3.861V! 16mV drift across all 18 sounds pretty good to me. 10AWG silicon hookup wire too. ...one thing though...they don't have 4mm bullet connectors on them, like the page said..they're actually 3mm bullet connectors. Oh well, they're coming right off anyways. And they're so small! It's hard to believe these little things hold so much power! 333Wh in about the same space and less weight than one of 12V 7Ah SLA I have lying around from UPSs!

 

[neptronix]

Yeah no kidding.. i love having a < 3lb 5ah pack.

Whenever someone is asking the usual list of questions, i show them the 10s 5ah pack i ride around town on for short trips and have them lift the pack.. they are always a little amazed that i can go over 10 miles on that.

Just wait till your first ride... enjoy

 

[x88x]

Hmmm, I thought this wire felt a little thick...I'm in the process of replacing the connectors with 4mm bullet pairs, and I thought to actually measure the conductors in the main hookup wires. Yup, it's 8AWG labelled as 10AWG. ...weird. I'm not complaining, just..weird.