LiPo batteries for the Estes Pro Series II Launch Controller

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BorisBadenov

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My first post on TRF...

I purchased an Estes Pro Series II launch controller and wanted to run LiPo batteries in it rather than C cell batteries. There isn't a lot of information about doing this and I had to do a bit of research over the course of a few hours. I wanted to share my findings in case anyone is looking for the same information down the road.

I determined that I needed a battery pack with a JST connector and 3S (3 cell) LiPo batteries to work. I found these on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B5GV2D4K - it is a two pack for $30. I charged them and tested them in the launch controller. All works exactly as expected. They fit perfectly in the C cell compartment and the battery contact springs hold it perfectly in place. In order to charge the packs I used an old RC car charger that is built for LiPo batteries and got a Dean's female to JST female adapter on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FSM9KNZ - I charged them at 1 amp over the course of about 30 minutes.

I've attached a picture of the battery pack in the launcher's battery compartment. It's a perfect fit.
 

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If I read your post correctly, it sounds like you are charging the battery packs through the red JST connector. They are supposed to be charged through the white balancing connector. You should get the proper adapter to increase pack life.
 
T-Rex said:
If I read your post correctly, it sounds like you are charging the battery packs through the red JST connector. They are supposed to be charged through the white balancing connector. You should get the proper adapter to increase pack life.
Click to expand...
The manual for my charge controller has me hooking up both, which is what I did.
 
T-Rex said:
If I read your post correctly, it sounds like you are charging the battery packs through the red JST connector. They are supposed to be charged through the white balancing connector. You should get the proper adapter to increase pack life.
Click to expand...

Balance charging would be better, yes. That said, in this application that battery will need to be charged once or twice a year at most unless Boris flies a BUNCH. A cheap Chinese LiPoly pack will puff on its own and need to be disposed of in a few years in any event. Or so has been my experience.

That said, I've had the same ElectriFly 1250 mAh pack in my PSII controller for at least ten years now. It gets its once a year charge on a Cellpro4 charger, which charges through the balance leads. But more recently-acquired HobbyKing or Amazon packs have not lasted nearly as well in other applications including powering my three-pad system and the club's 10-pad system. Both of these use a larger pack than the 1100 mAh pack in the OP's post.
 
BEC said:
Balance charging would be better, yes. That said, in this application that battery will need to be charged once or twice a year at most unless Boris flies a BUNCH. A cheap Chinese LiPoly pack will puff on its own and need to be disposed of in a few years in any event. Or so has been my experience.

That said, I've had the same ElectriFly 1250 mAh pack in my PSII controller for at least ten years now. It gets its once a year charge on a Cellpro4 charger, which charges through the balance leads. But more recently-acquired HobbyKing or Amazon packs have not lasted nearly as well in other applications including powering my three-pad system and the club's 10-pad system. Both of these use a larger pack than the 1100 mAh pack in the OP's post.
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I did use the balanced plug. My manual calls for both leads to be connected.1692651885613.png
 
When it comes to Lipo's and LiPo chargers , cheap isn't the way to go. Unless you know what your doing you just may be asking for trouble. Remember the quality remains long after the price is forgotten.
 
MikeT said:
When it comes to Lipo's and LiPo chargers , cheap isn't the way to go. Unless you know what your doing you just may be asking for trouble. Remember the quality remains long after the price is forgotten.
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I have nice batteries for the RC cars, but went cheap on the controller because it will be lightly used. I do feel like I have a cheap charger and wouldn't mind upgrading it. Do you have a good LiPo charger you can recommend?
 
BorisBadenov said:
I have nice batteries for the RC cars, but went cheap on the controller because it will be lightly used. I do feel like I have a cheap charger and wouldn't mind upgrading it. Do you have a good LiPo charger you can recommend?
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I would concur. The batteries in the launch controller won’t come anywhere near the rated load, so even relatively high IR will have a negligible effect on battery temperature.
 
BorisBadenov said:
I found two of those myself, and the links refer to products no longer available.
Click to expand...
To be fair, your links may very well end up the same in due time...
Nevertheless, even links to unavailable products provide enough information to search for something similar that is available. So I wouldn't agree with the notion that there isn't a lot of information about using LiPos in the Estes Pro Controller.
 
BorisBadenov said:
I have nice batteries for the RC cars, but went cheap on the controller because it will be lightly used. I do feel like I have a cheap charger and wouldn't mind upgrading it. Do you have a good LiPo charger you can recommend?
Click to expand...

Since I fly R/C planes and helicopters I use Hyperion Chargers a bit pricey but handle my 6S packs. Several chargers out there for under 80 bucks. This HiTech would be good for the price , just one of many oiut there and adapters for whatever you lead is.

https://www.horizonhobby.com/product/rdx1-mini-ac-charger/HRC44295.html
 
BorisBadenov said:
I have nice batteries for the RC cars, but went cheap on the controller because it will be lightly used. I do feel like I have a cheap charger and wouldn't mind upgrading it. Do you have a good LiPo charger you can recommend?
Click to expand...
Most of the current chargers are good. Make sure it is a balance charger and has a function to discharge your LiPos to "Storage Charge". Don't leave your LiPos charged for prolonged periods of time. It will shorten the battery life.
 
What is the maximum amount of mAh this controller can be used on. Too much can fry the components inside. I have two of the controllers new not used yet and I’m looking for a Lipo battery setup with a charger but don’t want to go over the suggested mAH?
 
flyingeagle said:
What is the maximum amount of mAh this controller can be used on. Too much can fry the components inside. I have two of the controllers new not used yet and I’m looking for a Lipo battery setup with a charger but don’t want to go over the suggested mAH?
Click to expand...
Actually, that is not correct. Milli-amp hours describe the capacity of the battery, how long can it deliver current at or near the rated voltage. The issue is you don't want to use a battery with too high a voltage. Too many volts will deliver too many amps and fry components.

The terms for describing Lipos are:

1. (x)S where x is the number of cells and S shows they are in series. This describes the voltage the battery delivers. A 3S has a nominal voltage of 11.1 volts and a maximum voltage of 12.6 volts.

2. "C" rating. This describes how many amps the battery can deliver. Convert mAH to amp-hours and multiply by the C rating. A 50C 4000 mah battery can, theoretically, deliver a constant 200 amps until discharged. Most advertised C ratings are exaggerated.

3. Milliamp hours. This is the capacity of the battery. A 1000 mah battery can deliver 10 amps for 1/10 of an hour, or 6 minutes.
 
It’s all new to me using a Lipo battery in this controller rather the C batteries. What would be the max that I could use safely in this controller? I did see an editorial video with Apogee Components but not to sure on what is best for the controller. I am also looking for a charger to charge them. I see in the post a plug that can hang out the back outside for charging.
 
I have one of these launchers and considered buying a LiPo battery pack for it, but now I'm reconsidering. I'm only going to use it occasionally with my grand-kids so I figure the Energizer C cells should last a good while. It isn't the cost of the batteries that is deterring me, but the cost of a decent charger. I'll pull the batteries between launches and measure them before a planned launch. If the C cells seem to be going down fast I might consider a battery pack. The following charger seems pretty cheap at $12, so I'll see what you guys think of it for this application:

https://www.amazon.com/SUPULSE-Batt...6?keywords=lipo+charger&qid=1692799277&sr=8-6
 
flyingeagle said:
What is the maximum amount of mAh this controller can be used on. Too much can fry the components inside. I have two of the controllers new not used yet and I’m looking for a Lipo battery setup with a charger but don’t want to go over the suggested mAH?
Click to expand...
Think of Mah as fuel tank it's just that simple.
 
This is "Amazon's Choice" currently for inexpensive LiPo chargers. For a setup like the launcher, seems like it should be plenty sophisticated. In another thread last year, @BEC tested a different, similarly priced charger from Amazon and found it slightly overcharged the batteries. Anyone have experience with this SUPULSE unit?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B099K8XFG6/
On the other hand, I keep waffling back and forth between the lightweight, self-contained nature of the LiPo and the durability and forgiving nature of a ~7Ah VRLA battery wired externally to the controller.

With the discussion above, what are thoughts on a larger VRLA 6V vs. a 12V battery? Both are readily available. Charging isn't a problem. Will be using upgraded 16AWG cabling from the controller to the pad (extension cords). So the weak link would be wiring and circuitry internal to the controller. One thought is that the 6V battery, although having enough mAh to last for a large number of launches, would at least self-limit the current to about half the level of the 12V. For clusters, I reckon it would supply enough current, but does 12V hitting Estes igniters on clusters make a difference in how well everything lights as close as possible to the exact same time?
 
I'm sure that would work but the big advantage of a 3s lipo is size and weight. On every application from low to cluster to high powered Lipo's have not let me down. With a bit of knowledge they are safe and trouble free.
 
LiPo's are fine, but they have a huge "fiddle factor". Unlike C-Cells and 9V batteries, they have to be removed, charged, monitored, and messed with. Personally, I would rather spend more on single use batteries and swap them out when needed, then opening av-bays, nose cones, controllers and charging batteries every time I want to use the device. I have better things to do with my time then mess with LiPos, but that's just me. YMMV.
 
Handeman said:
LiPo's are fine, but they have a huge "fiddle factor". Unlike C-Cells and 9V batteries, they have to be removed, charged, monitored, and messed with. Personally, I would rather spend more on single use batteries and swap them out when needed, then opening av-bays, nose cones, controllers and charging batteries every time I want to use the device. I have better things to do with my time then mess with LiPos, but that's just me. YMMV.
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That's news to me. I've been using them for a very very long time for my R/C planes and rocket launch equipment and my electronics in my rockets. Not to mention cordless lawn equipment I have. They require no more "fiddling" than any other battery. I must have 30 or so in my shop They are light and dependable.
 
Eliot Ness said:
I have one of these launchers and considered buying a LiPo battery pack for it, but now I'm reconsidering. I'm only going to use it occasionally with my grand-kids so I figure the Energizer C cells should last a good while. It isn't the cost of the batteries that is deterring me, but the cost of a decent charger. I'll pull the batteries between launches and measure them before a planned launch. If the C cells seem to be going down fast I might consider a battery pack. The following charger seems pretty cheap at $12, so I'll see what you guys think of it for this application:

https://www.amazon.com/SUPULSE-Batt...6?keywords=lipo+charger&qid=1692799277&sr=8-6
Click to expand...
That charger looks to be essentially the same unit as the one I tested in the other thread that @SolarYellow referred to.

That said, if you’re only going to use the controller occasionally and you don’t already have a good charger and familiarity with using li-poly batteries then yeah, get a good set of Duracell or Energizer Cs and change them out every two or three years whether they need them or not.

Since I’d been building flying and testing electric-powered RC airplanes and related equipment including chargers from the early 1980s through until rockets pushed them to the back burner about a dozen years ago, I have lots of charging experience and am used to changing connectors on battery packs and so forth. So for me a 3-cell li-poly battery in my most-frequently-used controller, which is a PSII unit, is a no brainer. But I fly on my own quite a bit, too. The second PSII controller I have just has the C cells in it and it only gets used occasionally.
 
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I can't remember the last time I changed a Duracell that just went dead and didn't leak. I don't leave them in equipment anymore. Our IT guy has migrated over to lithium cells for anything that's valuable because of the risk of damage from the craptacular alkaline batteries that are the standard this decade.
 
MikeT said:
That's news to me. I've been using them for a very very long time for my R/C planes and rocket launch equipment and my electronics in my rockets. Not to mention cordless lawn equipment I have. They require no more "fiddling" than any other battery. I must have 30 or so in my shop They are light and dependable.
Click to expand...
In may ways your are right, especially when the LiPo is the primary power source for the device, they have to be charged. You can't fly your R/C plane multiple times on one battery charge because the LiPo is basically your motor, not the control enabler. Do you have to wait between flights to charge your radio controller also, or is it good to go for a season or two because it uses non-LiPo batteries? I have flown some DD rockets as long as 3 years, +20 flights, with a single 9V without having to open the av-bay. Yes, I have to prep a motor each time as the primary power source, but if I had to disassemble the av-bay, recharge a battery, and reassemble for every flight, that's lots more fiddle factor than my 9V required. That's all I'm saying.
 

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