A newbie here with a couple of SC LP's.

Seams as most here buy batt's from Hobby City because of the prices. I ordered and recieved (finally) 3 batts for my SC. Out of the 3, only 1 was not completly dead. So, I still got a decent price, 33 bucks for 1 battery.

I've tried calling the 800 number, but no answer and I've emailed them twice. They've returned the email saying they will return my email. That was a week ago and they've not repleyed to my email since then.

Is this the norm for HC?? Anyone have suggestions?? I now need a couple of batteries for my new T-28, but I"m hesitant about ordering them for HC.

Which batteries did you buy?

First off, welcome to the forum. I'll warn you, be prepared for people to come in and slam you for the mere mention of a bad HC product!

Unfortunately, you've found the kink in the chain of fantastic lipo prices from HC. Normally they will require you to send them back before they will refund or replace them. And of course, shipping them back is almost as much as just replacing them yourself, so most people don't do it. And I'm guessing they count on that.
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...po_policy.html
Their policy really is a joke, you have to notify them of an under voltage the same day you receive the package, which I'm guessing you haven't. But since you have been trying to contact them with no luck you may have a shot, but don't count on it.

Some people have great luck with HC, and good for them. I'm like you and have not, so I shy away from their packs anymore, but do use them for servos, motors, and other items. If you decide not to go with HC, there are other places to get good packs in the States, with a useable warranty, and prices that are "almost" as good as HC, especially if you take shipping cost into account.

Try here, http://hicountryhobbies.com/index.ph...index&cPath=53, the packs are good, they are having a 10% off sale right now, and shipping is always free. They have a good warranty, and offer 40% off crash replacement as well. And the fact that they are 2C charge packs is just that much better.

Hope that helps,
Eric

The return policy is active and working. just don't expect overnight results.
BUT, you have to follow the instructions on the website.

General instructions:
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/faq.asp

Lipo Battery instructions:
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...po_policy.html

After reading that, fill out the form.
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...upportform.asp

It does work!

I ordered 4 lipos from HC. 3 are okay and 1 was WAAAYYYY out of balance but no cells were below 3 volts. Guess I will eat this one if it does not hold up. I plan on cycling it a couple of times with my CBAII before attempting to fly with it...
Gary

this what I do
- if pack is cheap and affordable, I just order one extra
- if pack is more expensive I do return it if received defect

I had a defect pack 4s Rhino 2150 30C.
After checking the balance of the pack the charger gave an error.
Pack was to expensive (usd 33) and shipping back made sense (usd 14).
So check a pack, before attaching other connectors!!
At the first checkup I even do not remove the plastic tape they add.
This will help with claiming warranty.

The replacement pack is on its way back to me now. So it was warranty...which was also logic.
It only takes a few weeks of course...so not handy in flying season.
Therfore better to buy one extra pack at the order. Big chance that you receive all packs in good shape.

I just orderd 3x 800 2s packs (usd 4.95 each)....(Turnigy)
I only need 2...but just did order 3 because of the price tag..and in case I receive a defect one. Untill now I have 9 Rhino received...of which one was defect and now replaced under warranty.

I already spend too much money on hyped packs and did find out that HC delivers quality for a very good price. They are king in my hangar now!

Originally Posted by Dagwood_55

A newbie here with a couple of SC LP's.

Seams as most here buy batt's from Hobby City because of the prices. I ordered and recieved (finally) 3 batts for my SC. Out of the 3, only 1 was not completly dead. So, I still got a decent price, 33 bucks for 1 battery.

I've tried calling the 800 number, but no answer and I've emailed them twice. They've returned the email saying they will return my email. That was a week ago and they've not repleyed to my email since then.

Is this the norm for HC?? Anyone have suggestions?? I now need a couple of batteries for my new T-28, but I"m hesitant about ordering them for HC.

For my SC LP, I purchased ThunderPower Prolite V2 1350 mAh batteries for $31 each, so that works out to be about the same as you paid for the HC batteries. The prolite v2s work awesome for me. I use the same batteries but 2100 mAh in my PZ T-28D and love them. Lots o' fun!

@crumbletop

Turnigy 1300 3s pack does cost USD 9--
So TP is 3times more expensive.
I do not know the Prolite V2, but their eXtreme 25c packs are the worst packs ever produced. All are in my trash (4 packs).
I hope your ProLites V2 do better!!!
For sure I am not going to waste my money at TP anymore. Heavily overrated and overpriced.
Anyhow I do not steal from own wallet anymore. Turnigy and Rhino packs are well spend money!
Only disadvantage...you buy more then you need. LoL....but still saving "allot" of money

Sounds like SOMEBODY has financial interest in Turnigy company. Or maybe just romantic involvement with Anthony Hand.

Seriously though.. they are the best deal going.

it is always a tough call. When I was looking for a couple of batteries 6s1p for my EDF jet plane last; The TP version was selling for about $249.00 ($180.99 on sale at one place), whereas the HC Turnigy one was selling for about $54.99; decisions, decisions. I could buy 4 of ther HC battery packs and if one or two packs don't work out I could still be ahead. Or do i go with the TP pack on sale and have only one pack, and I don't know if the battery pack is nearing the end of its shelf life either.
So one needs to make some decisions.

I only had one problem with HC, and when I emailed them, a few days later they took care of it. So I don't know if it is better or worse. But they did solve my problem. Maybe I was lucky, hard to say.

My problem would be the shipping costs for sending something back for warranty replacement. I haven't done it on a couple of things that went bad, a couple of brushless motors, as the motors were pretty cheap to start with.

Now I had one pack with one cell way off from the other cells, so I had to hook it up individually and charge the one cell up some to get it in sync with the other cells. Then I charged and discharged the pack to storage voltage levels. it is working fine now. So I feel one might hve to work with the HC battery packs some before you can use them. But I assume one would likely have to do that with the brand name packs too.

Turnigy 1300 3s pack does cost USD 9--
So TP is 3times more expensive.

Hum... Turnigy 1300 3s 20C $8.95 + $7.80 shipping (16.95 for 1, 30.02 for 2, shipped in 3-5 weeks to the US)
weight: 115 grams each (I have some good quality 2100mah 3s that weight under 140grams!)

TP ProLite G4 1350 3s 20C $ 34.99 with free worldwide shipping. (rclipos.com or rctoys.com) ... plus there are 10% off coupons for the holidays...
weight: 86 grams

That's a huge difference in weight! So you are comparing 2 very different batteries. The TP is lighter, will require less thrust and the aircraft will perform better and will fly longer.

TP is just 2 times more expensive (not 3 as claimed), but you also get a 1 year warranty and much less DOA packs than Turnigy. Warranty on Turnigy is what, 30 days from when they ship?

Also consider that it is illegal to ship damaged batteries via mail service. Whereas in most cases TP will do warranty exchanges based on proof of purchase and photos alone.

On the other hand, check out these results: http://www.f3d.fi/wp-content/uploads...ilu%20+22c.pdf (although longetivity is not tested).Looks like Rhino is the bottom of the barrel, and Turnigy can hold its own against Hyperion (TPs have been proven to be slightly superior to Hyperion).

Don't get me wrong, HK really makes this hobby less expensive, but I find myself going less and less to them for motors & batteries as I'm finding through experience that I get more value going with reputable brands. A $500 plane is not worth risking it to save $40 on a motor or $30 on a lipo). I wish they'd carry more brand names, like they already do with MKS, Ino-Lab, iCharger, Sullivan.

For the record, I'm not affiliated or sponsored by anyone, just pointing out my observations over the past several years. I don't have a lot to spend on this hobby with a kid & all, so I ensure that what I do buy lasts me a long time. Cost per flight is more important to me than the initial outlay. Also, there's nothing worst than waiting 3-5 weeks for batteries to show up on my doorstep only to find 1-2 are defective.

Originally Posted by rich smith

Sounds like SOMEBODY has financial interest in Turnigy company. Or maybe just romantic involvement with Anthony Hand.

Seriously though.. they are the best deal going.

No... I feel ripped off by other brand that claims to have the best packs worldwide. 3400 defect (replaced) 3850 (replaced) 2070 (replaced)...2200 (replaced)...2x 4s 2200 defect 25 flights... 2x 3s 2200 defect...about 25 flights
So a few are replaced but I stick to pack that work....

@marc1

I counted 8 defect eXtreme packs in my hangar of which 4 where replaced.
Sure, TP has great warranty but I lost trust. I am also heavily irritated that some still claim that they are best of the world!
In my hangar the facts are different.
Fact is that the Rhino's I have do better.

Sure I am baised now. Because I lost allot of money.
Maybe the new Prolites V2 are okay, but I am not going to try out for sure. They lost my trust "fully"
I found them overrated and for sure overpriced.

Cheers,
TreeDiver

I counted 8 defect eXtreme packs in my hangar of which 4 where replaced.

The Extreme where designed for very specific users in mind: high C discharge, to which at the time, no other pack could compare. That high C rating came at a cost in cycle life.

For most users, their cycle life was not that practical, since most users don't push the packs close to their max ratings.

From their website:

"Thunder Power Batteries new eXtreme V2 Series lipoly packs offer industry leading performance for demanding applications."

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...48&postcount=9

So maybe they weren't defects, just the wrong pack for the job? At least they didn't just rebrand and re-label those packs like HK does when they get too many poor reviews for a certain product.

My ZebraHobby LiPowerLites (same cells as TP Lites from 3 years ago) are still going strong after 300+ cycles ... about 90% capacity remains.

Originally Posted by marc1

The Extreme where designed for very specific users in mind: high C discharge, to which at the time, no other pack could compare. That high C rating came at a cost in cycle life.

For most users, their cycle life was not that practical, since most users don't push the packs close to their max ratings.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...48&postcount=9

So maybe they weren't defects, just the wrong pack for the job?

My ZebraHobby LiPowerLites (same cells as TP Lites from 3 years ago) are still going strong after 300+ cycles ... about 90% capacity remains.

You reply is standard at RCgroups. Which irritates me most here at RCgroups!!!
A few people keep on defending these bad packs!!!!!!
Unbelievable.

Again.... I did not nothing wrong. Packs did work for a few flights and started to decay. My RC friend has the record. He had a 2200 eXtreme packs that only had 5 flights (max) and was waste.
The 3850 I had was used at 46amps static and I did fly on time and set ESC cutoff higher. After a few flights the power was gone. The packs where just "bad quality" and noting else.

Most likely I am not rated for these types of high-end packs! (cynical)
That could be...therefore wise to stick to other brands that keep on working.
So I think...wise to do.