I tried searching through the thread for some of my answers, but now I think I'm even more confused

I've been looking to buy some extra batteries for my new Flyzone Piper Super Cub Select Scale EP 2.4GHz RTF 48" that will be arriving tomorrow, but looking at batteries, I'm not sure what some of the terms mean. The battery included is a 3S 11.1V 1300mAh (10C) but not sure what a Dean or EC3 connector is or which I would need. I also couldn't find any with the 10C discharge rate

Would I benefit by going to a 1500mAh battery, or do I need to stick to a 1300? I found some 25C,30C and 40C's in the 1300-1500, but no 10C's

Hi,
A (multicell) LiPo battery will typically have 2 connectors:
A DC output (high current connector)
A balance connector.

Deans, EC3, etc that you described would be DC output connectors.
Sometimes people use the same connector that comes on the battery, some people just prefer a specific type and solder their own to their batteries, chargers, cables, etc.

Here is a very good website explaining the differences:
http://www.tjinguytech.com/reviews/rc-connectors

I would suggest reading most of the pages on his site, as they are a very good source of information.

Wow, thanks for that link. There is some real interesting reading there! I have to admit I'll have to read it more than once though. Just going through it once, I'm still confused, but it's making a little more sense now.

I never thought just buying a few extra batteries and a decent charger would get this complicated

I looked at the Flyzone website and it appears that they use a proprietary battery connector made by SuperTigre, which I never heard of until now.

http://www.flyzoneplanes.com/airplan...010/index.html

When you look at the Tx-R version, they show a SuperTigre to Deans adapter as an option you can buy seperately. Or, if you can solder, just decide on a popular connector such as Deans, XT60 etc. to make your own connections.

If the stock battery is rated as 10C, that's a very cheap battery. Buying any battery with a rated discharge higher than 10C will make the motor run a bit stronger. Plus, the battery will have a longer service life. But with a basic setup like this it doen't make sense to pay a lot of bucks to get a 65C...15C to 35C would be appropriate.

A battery with either a higher C-rating or mAH capacity will make a motor run stronger because the voltage drop will be less.

Parkzone makes a low C-rated 3s 1300 they use in their P51 for one, but it is way over-priced and has EC3 connector. Any 1500 should be just a little more weight, but keep in mind different mfrs list different weights for 1500 mA batteries. If the battery is near or centered on the CG it won't affect much except make the plane a tiny bit heavier, if the battery is not near the CG you will have to move the battery and/or add weight to restore the CG to be on target.

The extra weight of a 1500 will very slightly degrade the handling characteristics (but that is subjective) but give you more flight time. Sometimes when a plane is very floaty and there's a fair amount of wind, you would consider adding weight to IMPROVE the handling characteristics.

I purchased 4 additional batteries yesterday, all with the deans connector (I think)

I bought 2 of the GForce Elite Series 40C 1300mAh 3S and one each of the GForce 25C 1500mAh 3S and GForce 30C 1300mAh 3S

I guess when my plane arrives tomorrow, and I'm sure of the connector, I can go to my local hobby shop and get what I need (I have no problem soldering a connector if need be)

I'm not to sure of the quality of the included battery charger, so I may pick one of them up also. Thanks for the help