Who has Lipo Batteries in a HZ Supercub?

[radioflyer75]

Someone that has or had a Supercub and put lipo batteries in it with the intention of gaining longer flight times, please tell me which batteries/charger to get.

[PerlAddict]

I think you'd need to change out the Rx combo unit as well, too, unless it has a jumper to switch it over for Lipo use like the P-51 and FW-190 do.

[Matt Kirsch]

The reason for a LiPoly "compatible" ESC is battery protection. LiPoly compatible ESCs have a higher voltage cutoff to prevent the battery from becoming discharged too far. It's not as if the ESC will not function when connected to a LiPoly battery; it simply can't tell the difference.

To use a LiPoly pack with a so-called "non-compatible" ESC, you must be very careful. On the first few flights, you need to fly a few (3-5) minutes, land, and check the voltage. Over time, gradually extend your flying time a minute at a time until when you land, the voltage on the battery is around 3.5 Volts per cell. (The real cutoff is 3.0 Volts per cell, but that would be while the airplane is flying, where you can't measure the voltage).

For the HZ Super Cub, a 7.4V (2S) LiPoly pack in the 2000mAh size range will be a good replacement pack. For the charger, buy whatever charger/balancer matches the brand of pack you choose.

[TRASHBUG]

FMA sells an adaptor for esc's that don't support lipo voltages.
http://www.fmadirect.com/Detail.htm?item=1897&section=2

[ORD2FRA]

Originally Posted by TRASHBUG

FMA sells an adaptor for esc's that don't support lipo voltages.
http://www.fmadirect.com/Detail.htm?item=1897&section=2

Since the Super Cub has a one-piece Rx and ESC, this solution wouldn't work, right?

I believe that the SC has a jumper on the Rx that, when pulled, will allow for use of the LiPo pack.

Here's the manual for the FW190, which uses the same motor as the Super Cub:
http://www.hobbyzone.com/documents/PKZ1600-manual.pdf

From page 9:
Jumper 3 (Auto Cutoff)
"Your FW-190 comes with the ability to change the cutoff voltage of the radio system. When the jumper is present the auto-cut is set at about 5.7 volts, which works with 6- to 9-cell Ni-MH battery packs. When the jumper is absent, the auto cut is set at about 8.8 volts, which will function correctly with a 3S Li-Po Battery.
Note: Your ParkZone FW-190 is designed to support a 3S Li-Po battery. We recommend the Thunder Power 2100mAh pack (THP21003SPL). You will need to supply your own connectors. The battery should be able to safely deliver 13 amps of current."

[seb]

I used the 3s Lipo Batt from my 27c Stryker. Works very well. Had to cut a hole in the battery bay foam to allow for the larger battery pack. CG was still very good. Flight time is much longer (if you fly at old speeds) and the plane is faster (still get longer flights). Control surfaces seem to be a little more responsive too. I dont use my NiMH matts anymore. I was worried I'd burn the motor or something, but so far its been great flying.

I searched everywhere last year for this question and didnt get any simple answer. So in fear of spending a lot of money on a mod that didnt work I bought a new plane and learned to fly at faster speeds. Now that I have lipos and a charger I went back and modded the SC.

I actually stopped flying ithe SC after I got the stryker, but now i take em both out. It's a really fun plane to fly and the Lipo's make it that little bit better.


Oh yeah one more thing, there is a jumper on the Rx/ESC that you need to remove, and the styker and the SC have different connectors. I didnt really want to cut either so I have made an adapter plug that will convert the stryker connectors into the crappy SC connector.

[ORD2FRA]

So the general thought is that you buy $70 LiPo batteries instead of $24 NiMH batteries, and it gives you longer flight time? Is it 3x as long? I'm looking for "Minutes per Dollar" in batteries, and I am thinking that 4-5 NiMH (8S, 1500 MaH) packs will be cheaper and less violatile.

Honestly, are LiPos with it in this case?

[seb]

Fair enough, I dont think it 3x longer, although I havent timed it. I'm in australia and the Stryker batt is about $65AUD and the NIMH batts are around $35ea. The lipos work for me though. I already have them and I have the charger too. So I don't really need to spend more money JUST on the supercub. As I said earlier, the performance is better too.

On another note, does anyone know if I should change the Prop on the my SC to a different pitch or diameter? The SC does go faster on Lipos with the current prop and I was wondering if a different Prop would up the performance a tad more.

[PerlAddict]

For a lot of folks, the jump to Lipo's is made when they start building their own planes instead of just flying RTF kits. Lipo's give more power, longer flight times, and lower weights than the NiMH packs do, so it makes sense when you're concerned with those factors while building. I'm really happy to hear about the Lipo's working fine in the SC, because that means we can keep using the more expensive lipo's we've bought for the ARF warbird planes when we want to get some extra performance and flight time out of the Super Cub.

Can't wait to try it out!

[nzsupercub]

This may be a belated answer. However, this might be useful to some one. I am using a 7.4v 800 mAh LIPO that I used with my E-flite helipcopter in the Super Cub (NiMH version) with no modifications at all. It is flying well with at least 10 minutes of flying time. I changed the tamiya connectors to JSTs , which the LIPO batteries came with.

Love to hear more on this.

[Cwpowell]

The battery that came in my lipo version is 11.1v 1300mAh 15c cont disc 20c burst.

[nzsupercub]

Thanks. I see that the motor in the LP version is still the same as in the non LP version. It seems that a higher voltage battery can be used with the same motor. Of course the LVC may have to be removed.

[flydiver]

Originally Posted by nzsupercub

Thanks. I see that the motor in the LP version is still the same as in the non LP version. It seems that a higher voltage battery can be used with the same motor. Of course the LVC may have to be removed.

2S gives you about the same performance (maybe a tad better). The LVC is WRONG! If you fly consistently to LVC you will shorten the life of your lipo. LVC with the jumper in place is 5.7v. You don't want to go below 6v, 6.6v would be better.

Removing the jumper will not fix it. It only raises the LVC to 8.8v. 2S will not even run. Even 8.8v is to low for 3S IMO.