Shocked by Hobbyking

[KevG]

Well most of the time they shock you its for a bad experience but today I ordered batteries at 08:30 and they have been marked as dispatched at 14:00.

Omg I am blown over,

[Graham Lawrie]

They are improving Kev:) especially the UK:) downside the prices are dearer

[KevG]

Maybe a little more expensive than international warehouse but still a lot cheaper than other options usually are in the UK,

Plus they had about a quid off each battery, can't fault that,

[Graham Lawrie]

Nope you cant:) ordered my antenna from Simon:)

[KevG]

Nice, been trying to move things around so I can order the preds but it's a no go at the moment,

[Graham Lawrie]

Good price on HK to:)

[KevG]

Yeah it is, wish there was a UK supplier even close to that price,

[xokia]

I'm kind of changing my mind on HK batteries. They are cheap and they work well for the smaller helis. Anything under a 500 size that is. But if you have a heli that is hard on batteries I am finding the HK batteries just dont last as long as say Pulse. YMMV

[Derek]

Without a doubt, HK seems to be getting their act together. The last several orders that I've place have been marked "Shipped" within 24 hours and I've gotten them within 6 days....most of them were 4-5 days. Granted, the US now has two HK warehouses and I've been ordering from the closest one but I'm still happy to see the packages at my door faster than usual.

As far as the batteries, I really can't say anything negative. I sure have puffed my fair share of batteries in a few of my planes but I'm sure that was just due to the fact that my skills and confidence are improving, so I'm flying harder and faster....FULL THROTTLE BABY, LOL. As far as helicopter use, I do have three 3S 2200mah 45-90C Nano Tech's for my 450 that I've had for nearly a year now and they are still very square and solid. No signs of puffing. I have a pair of 6S 3000mah 30C Blue Turnigy packs for my 500. I've had them for about two years and they are only starting to show the slightest amount of puffing.

I have spoken with Paul, a couple of times, and he strongly suggested to me to not use HK packs for my 600. I don't have any negative experiences to speak of with my 600 packs. I have a set of Gens Ace packs and a set of Glacier packs for my 600. Both sets charge well, balance evenly, and come down only slightly warm. I think I am going to keep getting the Glacier packs because they can be charged at a higher C rating.

I'm certainly not taking anything away from Pulse nor Thunder Power....I just dont want to pay "that much." Glacier packs for me.

[pvolcko]

I have no issue with standard HK blue turnigy packs. Great bang for the buck. I use 5000mah 6S blue turnigy packs on my 700 and 550 without issues. I've also heard good on their a-spec packs, but have not personally used them. But I strongly recommend against the nano-tech packs. Nano-tech packs blow IMO. You'll get some good flights out of them for 6 months or so, but don't expect them to work that well next season. Something about them just fall apart while in storage.

Glaciers are also a great pack IMO. Haven't tried Gens Ace. Pulse have worked well for me (will see how they hold up over this winter down time).

[Derek]

I'm not happy with this "winter down time"

I haven't actually flown anything since just before Christmas.

[Vipertech13]

Hobby king has been doing very well for me, as I order from the east coast warehouse it has been less than a week! very happy with their service lately.

I'm not happy with this "winter down time"

I haven't actually flown anything since just before Christmas.

I feel your pain! The Sim only helps so much, Need air time! Have been encouraged the past week as the sun is still up when I leave work at 5:00PM

[KevG]

Well I got the batteries and it took about 49 hrs from order to receipt I gotta be happy with that,

[xokia]

I have no issue with standard HK blue turnigy packs. Great bang for the buck. I use 5000mah 6S blue turnigy packs on my 700 and 550 without issues. I've also heard good on their a-spec packs, but have not personally used them. But I strongly recommend against the nano-tech packs. Nano-tech packs blow IMO. You'll get some good flights out of them for 6 months or so, but don't expect them to work that well next season. Something about them just fall apart while in storage.

Glaciers are also a great pack IMO. Haven't tried Gens Ace. Pulse have worked well for me (will see how they hold up over this winter down time).

My take on it is this.
Blue packs -> are hit or miss they can be better than nano-tech you just don't know what you are going to get.
Nano-techs -> They can puff easy get the next C rating up from what you think you need
A-spec -> better than nano-tech....they start out strong but lose steam over time

I have had pretty decent luck with Turnigy batteries. The only set I have "puffed" were 45-90c 3S 2200mAh batteries that I had on my trex 450 running my KDE motor. Those I puffed like stay puff marshmallows. I use these to power my hand warmer now.

I primarily will only buy A-spec but my experience with these is they start out strong they just don't last. Maybe I just fly harder these days? I also use Pulse batteries and those seem to last longer. ThunderPower has come down in price recently. I have read bad reports about them but I might give 1 or 2 a try. I like their replacement policy and that may be the determining factor for me. If I pay a little more upfront bet less down the road that sounds like a good idea to me.

[Tony]

Sounds like a big improvement, look forward to my next buy then as I gave up with them. Last time I ordered lipos it cost as much for delivery, cheaper on eBay at the time..

[KevG]

Yeah Tony postage is never going to be really cheap, and worse lately with people being paranoid with shipping lipos,

But I had 2 zippy compact 1500 25c batteries for £8.50 each delivered, can't grumble to much on that as no where else got even close,

[Tony]

That's a pretty good price Kev, I'm going to need more now. Only got one.... Plenty of 2200's though..