EFuel Hobbies Lipos (Wanma cells)

Introduction:

I am preparing for the new Deuces Wild 25e to be released from E-Flite. This plane is going to require s 4s3300-4000 lipos. These batteries are a huge investment, but I wanted to go in a different direction than my typical Thunder Power route. I do not want to devote $300 to $360 for batteries on this plane. I decided to look around for some lipos that will deliver the power I am looking for and hold amperage they advertise.

While scouring the forums and the internet, I was directed to www.EFuelHobbies.com EFuelHobbies offers a 4s4000 lipo for $80. This is a wonderful price. I decided I was going to buy a small 3s1200 20C pack first and test them out. I do not want to test out new batteries in a plane I have over $1000 invested in. Mike graciously donated 2 lipos for me to test for him: 3s1200 and a 3s2100. I informed him, I would only test them if I can voice my exact opinion about them. He agreed and sent them over.

I will present all information that has been gathered from an Eagle Tree data logger V3, a Postal Scale, and digital calipers. Please understand that this review is my personal opinion and has not been altered in any way.

Appearance:

The 2 batteries arrived in a USPS Priority Mail box surrounded by pieces of Styrofoam. No matter what the Post Office tried to do, these batteries would have survived. Both of the batteries were shrink wrapped on a horizontal method allow the sides of the cells to be exposed. This also allows more air to hit the cells and keep them cool. The battery and balancing leads are shrink wrapped down so that they exit the pack along the side of the cells. This is great for planes that are very limited in space along the length of the battery.

Capacity:

Recently a lot of the less expensive brands of lipo batteries have had a problem with stated capacity versus actual capacity. The first thing I did when I received these lipos was cycle them to test the capacity. I was pleased to see that the stated capacity was the same as the actual capacity. So far so good!

Application:

I tested the batteries in a variety of different setups. Below are some of the setups used and an overview of how they performed.

3s1200 - Combat plane, sk400xt motor, 20A ESC, APC 10x4.7SF prop. 14A pulled
3s2100 - Extreme Flight Yak, Scorpion 3020-14, Scorpion 40A ESC, APC 14x7E prop







Pros

• Cells are shrink wrapped horizontally - allow more air to cool the cells.
• Wires exit the horizontally

Cons

• No "born on date"

Performance:

I tested the 3s1200 20C EFuel lipo first in my combat plane. Recently the weather was been pretty windy; I did not want to risk one of my nice planes on a new lipo and windy conditions. The power was immediately noticeable. I was pleased with the climb out. About 1 minute into the flight I felt the power slowly decreasing, but still putting out ample power. I ran at WOT the entire flight with some rolls, snap, loops, dives, etc… I was told to abuse them, and that is what I did. I ran the battery all the way until I hit LVC.

Once the initial flight was accomplished, I ran three more:
1. An old and abused 3s1320 TP lipo 2005
2. Fairly new 3s1320 TP lipo 10/07
3. True RC 3s1500 lipo 2007

As you can see from the graphs, the EFuel lipo held its own. I was impressed with the performance for the cost compared to the other lipos. I have placed an order for 4 other 1000-1500 lipos from Hobby city. I will run this on the Eagle Tree also to get some data from an equally priced lipo.

I did notice one thing worth noting. While running the EFuel lipo at 14A, I noticed it got quite warm after the flight. The label states that it is good to 20C (24A). When the weather gets better, I will place the lipo in a larger plane to get some different data.

Today I ran up the 3s2100 EFuel Lipo in the Extreme Flight Yak. This plane is running on a Scorpion 3020-14 motor with a Scorpion 40A esc. My goal was to compare this lipo to the 3s2070 TP extreme and the 3s2250 GeForce batteries. I started with the EFuel. There was plenty of power for the entire flight. I did not run this plane at WOT. In fact, I flew it as I normally would. Spins, hover, knife edges, etc… I did not fly for long as the wind at altitude was blowing pretty hard. Amazingly, I got over 5min of flight time out of the battery and only used 1050mah. I was quite impressed, not to mention that the battery was warm, not hot at the end of the flight.

Conclusion:

I like these batteries for the price. I still want to get some information of the 1200 lipo at 20C to see how it hold ups. Take a look at the graphs and notice the average voltage of each battery. This will give you a pretty good idea how it is holding up during the flight.
As with every battery, only time will tell how it really acts. As I continue to put more and more cycles on the batteries, I will report back here with my findings. Until then, happy flying!

Graphs:
True RC 3s1500
An old and abused TP 3s1320
TP 3s1320 from 10/07
EFuel 3s2100 (I know it says GeForce, I forgot to change the save file from the file before)
EFuelHobbies 3s1200 20C



I will post more graphs as I test more lipos. Stayed tuned for more information.

Data Graph:

For some reason my entire graph was reformatted into code. I do not know why this happened. I will try to find it again on my laptop

[Liquidity]

Update: The 3s1200 lipo uses the Wanma cells. From the HC website. "
These packs are by far much better than any other packs I have used from China. [They] are produced by Wanma battery factory, near Shanghai. This is a very popular factory, they're ISO standard and supply packs to many brands in the US, and EU."

These are the same cells that are used in the Zippy-H lipos. If you compare the cost, they are almost dead on. PLUS the EFuel lipos are shipped from the US. You do not have to wait weeks to get them.

Zippy H prices EFuelHobbies prices
3s1200 $25.95 3s1200 $25.99
3s2100 $36.99 3s2100 $36.99
4s4000 $77.47 4s4000 $77.47
etc.......

[rcproptester]

I have tried the 1200 battery as you have requested Bryan. I can say that power wise, it seemed comparable to my TP1320 PL, if not a little more right off a fresh charge. It was way more than my other 2 older batteries I use on my combat plane, and I liked it.
Tomorrow, I will bring my Mini Ultra stick with me to work and try out both batteries in it. I should get a good workout for the 1200 as my MUS pulls about 18 amps. I also plan on taking my 3s 2100 FP battery to use as a comparison to the other 2100.
I'll report back tomorrow evening and let you know what I think.

[Liquidity]

Data comparison graph added.

[rcproptester]

Ok, here are some numbers I got at lunch the other day with a wattmeter.
These numbers are all taken before flight with a fully charged battery. I am comparing these 2 relatively new batteries to a Flight power 3s 2100 that has about 30 cycles on it.
All data is WOT. Outside air temp of 91 deg.
Readings taken with my Mini Ultra Stick. Scorpion 2215-18 motor, CC phoenix 25 Esc, 10x4.7 SF APC prop
FP 3s 2100
Volts-10.39 Amps-23.2 Watts-240
6.5 minute flight and used 1295 Mah out of the battery. Battery temp at landing was 110 deg. F.

Efuel 3s 2100
Volts- 11.63 Amps-28.3 Watts-315
6.5 minute flight and used 1180 Mah out of the battery. battery temp at landing was 101 deg. F.

Efuel 3s 1200
Volts- 10.9 Amps-25.1 Watts-270
4.5 minute flight and used 740 Mah out of the battery. Battery temp at landing was 118 Deg. F.



I must say that I am impressed with these batteries. Especially the 1200. the last 30 seconds of my flight, I kept it at WOT and flew around that way trying to push tha battery. It held up great considering it was right at 20c discharge. I expected my high dollar FP 2100 battery to outperform these, but was surprised to see them outperform it. The only thing I would like to see is how well the performance holds up over time. If these are able to hold up after 30 - 40 cycles, I'd definitely buy some. If they fizzle out after 15 cycles, then I don't think they would be worth it except in something that I think I may crash often ( such as my Lynx)

Bryan, keep us posted on how they make it as to longevity.

[Liquidity]

I am hoping to head out to the field later to get some comparison data with the UH lipos (zippy, zippy H , Zippy-k(loong max), HXT)

The cells in the zippy H and GeForce are the same. I am expected the same results.

[Liquidity]

As promised, here are a couple of more Eagle Tree graphs.

The first one is the Zippy-H 3s1200 from Hobby City - This battery performed REALLY well. This battery is also made from Wanma cells, same as the 1200 EFuel battery. However I got slightly better numbers from the Zippy-H

The second is the Hextronik D3 3s1300. - This brand has gotten a horrible wrap. The previous versions were constantly puffing. The factory says they have this problem fixed, however I will be the judge of that. I was EXTREMELY happy with the initial results. THe numbers look wonderful. I am having doubts if it will hold up over time. I promise to let you all know about this one.

[Liquidity]

I figured it was time for an update. I have been flying these lipos whenever I can get outside. The weather in middle GA has been pretty darn hot (over 100 in the sun) 98 in the shade. They have been holding up really well. In fact they are drastically outperforming my TP lipos. Yes, my TP lipos have many more cycles on them, but these are still running strong.

I was a bit nervous when I ran the lipo at WOT for the entire flight. When I brought it down, the lipo temp was around 120 degrees. I then decided to run my TP prolite, TP extreme, GeForce battery the same way. They all came down around 120. The problem, is it so darn hot outside.

There is talk that EFuelhobbies is going to carry a different line of lipos. If this is true, I will test these and post a seperate review to ensure you all are getting the most up to date information.

Nothing is better than a quality lipo and a bargin price. Stay tuned for more information.

[Liquidity]

I just puffed a 3s1300 Zipp-K from Hobby City. It happened on cycle number 16. this battery was only run on my SSX at 21A with an average of 17A.

This has nothing to do with EFuel Hobbies, but since I was testing numerous different batteries, I wanted to let you all know my results.

Cheers.

[Henry Sistrunk]

Really like the testing. Looks like a way to save some money. Most lipos must have gold in them. Had trouble with the link. This one works
http://www.efuelhobbies.com/