Just now received my rhino lipo batteries from hobby king! Used EMS express shipping which was $43 on top of $116 for six batteries. Placed order early monday 3-14-11 and it took eight days for delivery.

They left hong kong 3-16-11 two days after ordering (pretty quick), stopped in osaka japan for a small dose of nuclear radiation , then took two days total to get to louisville kentucky friday 3-18-11 at about 2am. Then took till monday 3-21-11 three more days and they arrived today. Not bad after hearing horror stories about HK shipping.

I got three 2250mah 3S 25C and three 2150mah 4S 25C. All six seem to be in great conditon. 3S are all about 11.75 volts and 4S are 15.67 volts. So all cells must be good.....need to get a small digital lipo tester so I can get individual cell readings.

Pretty happy so far and need to get some connectors now that I see they have the xt60 discharge plug.

My heart goes out to the japanese people with what they're facing in the wake of the disaster. God bless them. Did not mean to make light of their severe challenges.

Its okay, its our turn next.

You could have probably gotten batteries of the same size and capacity from a US dealer like Value Hobby or HobbyPartz for the same price once you figured in that $43 shipping.

Originally Posted by hpiguy

You could have probably gotten batteries of the same size and capacity from a US dealer like Value Hobby or HobbyPartz for the same price once you figured in that $43 shipping.

Yes you're right about that and I had that in mind all along. I could have saved a bunch at value hobby and got them with deans connectors already on them which I mostly use. Have used their lipos and they're good value for about the best price anywhere.

I just wanted to try hobby king and rhinos. I can see the rhinos are made a bit better with an extra layer of plastic covering on the ends of them. Value hobby lipos have the inner silver cells exposed on the ends. No big deal just a small difference.

Before using value hobby I paid $40 or more for hyperion or thunder power of same size. Averaging the price (including best shipping) of these six rhinos comes out to $26.50 each. Value hobby for three of each same size, same C rating including shipping would be $20 each or a bit less.

A quick search did find rhino makes larger batteries for alarm systems and computer power backup systems as well as these.

I picked sizes with dimensions which allow fitting inside a parkzone F27C battery compartment without modding it and allow the hatch to snap in place as designed, making them so much easier to use on a light weight closer-to-stock powered stryker. Also have other higher powered strykers using bigger batteries but I like to have one to help friends learn with and when I just want a quick easy flight.

You're in good hands- my Rhinos are lasting for ever and wont' give up. I'd sometimes like to try the newer nano tech, but those damn rhinos won't die, so what am I suppose to do.

So many guys were saying just what you said which made them hard to resist. And they have a nice high quality look. I need some connectors to get going.

Originally Posted by NOTAR 600

So many guys were saying just what you said which made them hard to resist. And they have a nice high quality look. I need some connectors to get going.

awwww....too bad you didn't grab the T-connectors on that order for like $3 for a bag of 20 (10pairs)


http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...dProduct=11961

Originally Posted by FPVORDIE

Its okay, its our turn next.

I was looking up info on the chernobyl reactor meltdown 1986 in the former USSR. I found this picture of what was said to be a photo of this leftover lava-like blob of melted plutonium fuel rods, control rods, and associated framework, etc. from chernobyl reactor four. They had left an inexperienced crew who came from where they worked at a coal fired power plant and put them in charge on the night shift at chernobyl and said "hey can you do this test tonight?" and they just winged it Kaboom!

Originally Posted by yangster

awwww....too bad you didn't grab the T-connectors on that order for like $3 for a bag of 20 (10pairs)


http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...dProduct=11961

Yeah that's definitely a good deal and looks like they'd be easier to grip. I might just make an adapter so I don't have to solder too much. Not sure yet.

Originally Posted by NOTAR 600

Yeah that's definitely a good deal and looks like they'd be easier to grip. I might just make an adapter so I don't have to solder too much. Not sure yet.

if you have room in your model, and weight isn't an issue, I'd say go adapter. For me, some models (stryker), room is tight so adapter is not an option.

Originally Posted by NOTAR 600

Yeah that's definitely a good deal and looks like they'd be easier to grip. I might just make an adapter so I don't have to solder too much. Not sure yet.

If you still need T connectors and don't want to reorder from HK and wait, try DollarStoreRC http://www.dollarrcparts.com/depl10.html or Dealextreme http://www.dealextreme.com/p/high-cu...pack-set-10788 .

More than HK, but free shipping from Dealextreme and Dollar R/C has free shipping over $15.

Notar,

In the future you might want to consider the cheaper shipping. I have tried both and find very little difference. In this case it would have saved you $20.

Also, you still had over 500 grams available for no additional shipping cost. I always throw in some cheap servos, wire, etc to get my weight allowance as close to zero as possible. In order to get the best deal at HK you really need to take advantage of their weight-based priced shipping.

I am very happy with HobbyKing.

PM me if you have any questions - happy to help.

Steve

Originally Posted by hpiguy

If you still need T connectors and don't want to reorder from HK and wait, try DollarStoreRC http://www.dollarrcparts.com/depl10.html or Dealextreme http://www.dealextreme.com/p/high-cu...pack-set-10788 .

More than HK, but free shipping from Dealextreme and Dollar R/C has free shipping over $15.

Hpiguy, Thanks for the links. Free shipping is great!

Originally Posted by sgomes

Notar,

In the future you might want to consider the cheaper shipping. I have tried both and find very little difference. In this case it would have saved you $20.

Also, you still had over 500 grams available for no additional shipping cost. I always throw in some cheap servos, wire, etc to get my weight allowance as close to zero as possible. In order to get the best deal at HK you really need to take advantage of their weight-based priced shipping.

I am very happy with HobbyKing.

PM me if you have any questions - happy to help.

Steve

Think I will try the cheap shipping next time. Now that my first order went well I might relax a little. I was afraid of an item being out of stock and having my order stalled out waiting even though everything said "in stock". Thanks for info Steve!