Protect your lipo's buy a lipo alarm

So you want to play with lipo's I highly recommend buying at least one lipo alarm .

I have found that a lot of cheaper brushless esc's have lower voltage cutoffs than I am uncomfortable with and this could cause damage to your new lipo .

They also allow you to use your lipo's with esc's that do not have a low voltage cutoff such as most brushed models .

They come in many varieties and from many sources .I find my self not recommending many of the high dollar brands due to them being the same as  the low dollar units found on Ebay , hobby king , and others.

So spend a little money and you may save a lot more money .

Valuehobby

HK ALARM

HK ALARM

Lipo Battery Power Level Tester & Alarm to Indicate Low Power A great and neat tool to have. Always keep your lipo charged, and when it is low power or running weak stop using it to recharge. Help prevent damage to your expensive LIPO battery and prolong it's battery life by never letting the voltage drop too low. Great support device for any LIPO pack.Purpose and Features Can be used for 3.7V (1S Pack), 7.4V (2S pack), or 11.1V (3S pack). Red LED will flash when cell is below 3.3V and an Alarm will sound when cell is below 3.0V indicating the Lipo Battery pack should be recharged. With 2.5mm pin spacing, it works with 95% of the lipos on the market.Specification Dimention37mm x 21mm x 10mm Weight0.2 oz (5 g)Caution Never charge lipo battery in a flammable surface ALWAYS monitor your battery when it is being charged. Use only lipoly battery charger to charge a lipoly battery.

Cheap Lipo Sacks

Now it might seem silly but dozens if not hundreds of people have bought lipo bags or sacks that's are over priced. yes I know it feels good to spend a little more when it comes to safety but most of these sacks are being bought by companies and being resold under there brand for extreme amounts of profit . For example:

This sack being sold by Tower Hobbies for $15.99 under the Golden Horizon brand .

Versues this sack sold by Value Hobby for $5.99

Or this one Normally available for $5.75

Li-Po GUARD 25x33cm Safety Battery Charging/Storing Bag Protect your family and home from the hazard of lipo charging. This lipo-safe bag is a fireproof bag, designed to stop and contain the fire caused by incorrectly or poorly functioning lipos, especially during charging. We urge all customers to always practice extreme caution when charging and never leave a charging battery unattended. This pack is the jumbo size. It is 25x33cm/10x13 The Lipo-Safe Guard Bag is made from a fiberglass woven fabric. Similar to fireproof suits worn by some firefighters.

Hobby King even has a sack for $2.73

Now do I think all lipo sacks are the same NO the cheapest ones like from Hobby king tend to use cheaper thread to sew the sack up and to attach the Velcro and in some batched the fiberglass material will splinter more and make your hand itchy. Does this mean I don't recommend them NO buying any lipo sack is better than not having one . I have found the one's from ValueHobby and Nitro RCX to be of better quality and generally a better deal . 

What happened to all the spiked tires in RC ?

Once upon a time almost all offroad RC's used spiked tires and frankly I miss them . Yes I know there are a few large pinned tires out there (mostly for buggies) that kind of look like spikes but there not.  

I like to look back at the glory days when spikes where everywhere and available in all kinds of size's and varieties.

                
 

Sadly the tires shown above have been discontinued . Some can still be found on ebay like the proline dirt paw's . 

There are many more tires I would have loved to share with you but sadly they have been lost  to the age's and No pictures could be found of them .

I really think the only way to preserve availability of spiked tires is to buy whats available and to be sure to speak our minds about what products we want.

So here is partial list of what is still in production.

These bad boys are from hobby king and feature 

 12mm hex pattern

Diameter:125mm
Width: 57mm

buy here

Traxxas part # 1870

Terra-Spiked Tires (2)

buy here

These are by Traxxas and are part #1970 

Diameter:

(ID) 2.2" 

(OD) 3.6"

Width: 2"

buy here

Also by Traxxas  part # 4790

Inside diameter: 2.2" Outside diameter: 3.5" Width: 2"

buy here

Tamiya part # 84281

Width: 1.2" (30mm) Outer Diameter: 3.3" (83.5mm) Inner Diameter: 2.2" (56mm)

buy here

Tamiya part # 53059

Requires a two inch rim.

SPECS: 1-1/2"x2"(38mmx50mm)

buy here

Tamiya part # 50374

2.2" inner diameter 4.75" outer diameter 1.50" bead width

buy here

Part Number: JG1410,JG1411,JG1415
Manufacturer: JG

TIRES-SHORT SPIKES, 2.2

Buy here

Part Number: JG1404
Manufacturer: JG

TIRES-CHEVRON PIN SPIKES 2.2

buy here

Part Number: IMX7629X
Manufacturer: Imex

Tires-2.2" truck knobbies (2)

buy here

They were designed specifically to fit the Tamiya 1.5" 3-piece wheels.

 buy here

ZD Racing R3-2400 Receiver & T3GMN-2400 / T3G-2400 2.4GHZ Remote Control kind of a review

Well I have seen these Radio's and Receivers for sale on Ebay and a few other sites for around $20 USD and I thought I would share my thoughts on them  since I have owned both.


Now these are some of the cheapest (price wise ) controllers you can buy and there only competition I know of is the SkyFly radio systems and to be honest the skyfly's may be a better deal due to the better availability of receivers out there.

I do feel that both of these have a better feel than the SkyFly but that's just my opinion.

Now both of these have pretty much the same features but the T3GMN-2400 has dials to change the steering and throttle end points and one for DR  where as the  T3G-2400 uses rocker switches and 2 buttons  to allow adjustments  and a series of LED's to indicate what adjustments have been made.

Now they both have servo reversing and only require 4 AA's to operate and have a port to charge rechargeable batteries while still in the controller .

The third channel switch really isn't all that convenient to operate but if you need it for accessories its there .

The systems range is very good and has yet to let me down .

The receiver is pretty small so you can put it just about any where.

Would I buy one again Yes I think they are a great value for there price range if you don't feel that you will need additional  receivers .