why do duralites cost so much

[RTHanley]

i would run them but the initial cost is very high

I have no duubting they are good everybody who uses loves duralites

why do they cost so mouch more than other battery types

[DavidH]

The Duralites are Lithium Ion cells. They have a charge safe and cell balancer circuit built into each pack. Also the larger capacity packs are wired so that they are redundant. There is 4 cells, but if one of the four cells has a problem, then all that happens is that capacity is less than the pack rating. The voltage will still remain the same.

Don't know what other battery types your comparing the Duralites. But as for Lithium Ion cells they are comparable to other Li-Ion cells as for cost. Maybe a little more expensive.

David

[3DWannaBe]

They cost maybe 10 percent more than any other liion cells. They are worth the money. There is no better bettery systems than Duralights.

[Dan Lewis]

I also think it's worth mentioning that their service is second to none. If you do have a problem, consider it fixed. They're good, honest people.

[WillJames]

I would never go back to using anything but Duralites. For me they are the mose easy to use Batts I have ever owned. Simple is good for me, I'm a simple kinda guy. No more field charging either. :)

[bigrcr]

Ditto all of the above! The Lithium technology is just still a bit more expensive than the others. The price on this technology has dropped drastically since three years ago and most likely will continue at some point in time.

[esmith]

Would it be safe to say the other lipo's being compaired to do not come with a voltage tester or a charger?

I would think you have to compair Systems to Systems, not one battery to a complete battery system.

-eSmith.

[Gary Travis]

I agree that they are the best I have used, when flying turbines the expense of good reliable batteries is somehow not an issue. I also run them in my gasser as wellas the glow heli's, it sure is nice to get that much flight time out of a charge.
Gary

[Sar]

I got a set with an R50 I bought and I love them to death. I know they're quite overpriced for what they are but that is the advantage of owning the market with a ready to go product that's no hassle. :)

Realisticly...? When you can buy 50 2000Mah Lion cells for $250(HERE (http://www.batteryspace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=990)), paying $100 for 4 of them with a circuit board attached hurts(the link above sells 2 cell protection circuits for $5 ).

The accesories could be better priced as well. For the price one might expect custom cases but all of their testers and chargers come in generic 'project boxes'. But that's okay works just as good as a $5 custom molded box but much cheaper.

So... Why are they so expensive? Because that's what the market will bear, they back it up with their service, and for most people it beats building packs, chargers and testers from scratch :D

If you want to save a boatload of $$ do some reasearch all sorts of stuff out there to make it a reality, but it's faster and cheaper time wise to just buy Duralites.

[Zilly]

Realisticly...? When you can buy 50 2000Mah Lion cells for $250(HERE (http://www.batteryspace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=990)), paying $100 for 4 of them with a circuit board attached hurts(the link above sells 2 cell protection circuits for $5 )

Thats exaclty how I felt so I bought 8 of the cells above for $55 and built 2 x 4000mah packs a hot glue gun and heatshrink were used and I decided not to bother with the balancing circuit instead I opted for a pair of balancing leads so that I can test the cells and if they go out of balance I use my charger (Schulze ISL6) to charge each pair of cells seperately. Although in over a year of using these packs I have only needed to balance them on one occasion and even then they were only .04 of a volt out of sync.

As for redundancy I get that as well in fact you would always get it. Its nothing special but simply what happens when you connect 2 lithium cells in parallel and the two pairs of cells in series. If one cell fails the other three continue.

I have just finished fitting 6xAA sized lithium cells into my 10x which can literally run for 8 hours between charges again I bought the cells for $25.

I can see why people use the Duralite system as it is all nicely packaged up however in my opinion its a bit of a rip off.

[bkervaski]

Duralites rock. Customer service is 5/5 stars, imho.

[Tom Fiddler]

Not to get up anyones Butt.
I fly Nicad cells.
Just can't see spending $300 to upgrade to Duralite cells , regs, and chargers.
I have never seen anyone fly 7-8 flighs in a row at ANY funfly.
If you want to go this route "Buy-ON"
I'll just keep charging

[bkervaski]

I'm packing up to go to "The Ditch" today. No charger in site. Two helicopters, about 10 flights each. Spare battery for the 14mz, just in case I need it (it typically will last all day if I'm not messing around with the touch screen).

This is why I like my Duralites. Fuel and go.

[tnreefguy]

What do you mean no more field charging Will? That all you did at Birmingham. LOL By the way electrics rock.

[WillJames]

I did not have to charge any RX packs while I was at Chatti and I run the Duralite regulated power in both my Ion's due to not fully trusting a UBEC or any other BEC. Makes working on setup a lot simpler as well.

Now that I am flying all E-Powered machines, I do have to charge the Li=Po's though. How did you think they performed Jon?

[tnreefguy]

Awsome. I have been thinking of another electric but for right now I am sticking with the electric micros. I was just joking about you and alan charging those lipos all weekend long at birmingham. By the way did you get your two stage Ion back together?

[WillJames]

Yes 2-Stage is all better now.

Looking forward to seeing you soon. You coming to Chattanooga?

[tnreefguy]

I am trying to trade with somebody so I can get that weekend off. Plus my wife and I are looking at getting a bigger camper if the gas prices dont get any higher.

[GRIFFON]

Hey Guys,
Is the Duralite warranty voided if an onboard charger is used ? Am considering one for a gasser for redundancy.
GRIFFON

[Zilly]

Unless you told Duralite how would they ever know you were even using one?

z

[BarracudaHockey]

My guess would be if the stay balance circuit is fried they will know you were using a different charger, the Duralite charger is fairly conservative.

[DavidH]

Don't know why you would even want to use an onboard charger with Li-Ion batteries.
Most of the them have 4000-4400 mah capacity. On a gasser that would give you approx 2 -2.5 hours of flying time with all digital servos. If the servos are analog, you can add approx another hour to that time.

If you want to use the onboard charger like Raja sells. I would suggest using a nicad pack.

David