Recently, I had the chance to review the all new 5200mAH 35C 2 cell saddle pack by Protek.
The pack comes encased in two separate hard plastic packs. The look you might ask? A cool faux carbon fiber look….sure to look good on any car. The separate packs come pre-wired with jumpers and plugs installed at the factory.
The red 2-pin Deans style female plug and Align/E-Flite compatible balance plugs come standard on the unit.
I tried the pack in my Team Associated B44. The pack is flat on all sides. It can be used without any modifying pieces. However, both Team Associated and Diggity Designs make a nice lipo adapter for this vehicle. This requires the removal of the normal cell tray. This takes just a few seconds. The picture above shows the pack mounted before being fastened down. It fits very well, making for a tidy setup. The lipo adapter helps the battery stay in place during the stresses of racing. I have seen the pack and other similar units fit into other popular cars such as the Hot Bodies D4, Kyosho Lazer ZX5, and Tamiya 501X/511X.
As with all Lipo packs, make 100% 1000000% sure you use a Lipo safe charger. There are many on the market. A good pickup is the Protek iCharger. Use of a Lipo Charging Sack is also recommended for safety reasons. Proper use and charging can result in hundreds of runs. This is important.
The pack is secured in the B44 with the standard screw downs and tubes. It fits as secure and solid as anything I have seen.
The pack can be mounted one of two ways:
A. With the wires to the front
or
B. With the wires to the back.
When using with the Team Associated B44, I recommend running with the wires to the back. The B44 rear body mount has a nice lower clearance area between the upper deck and mount. This is a perfect space to store the jumper and lipo balance plug. Also, running the wires through the back keeps them away from the spur gear….a possible trouble spot.
Overall Pros: I found the pack to work great. It was used running a LRP X-12 7.5 Turn motor. I found it to have a ton of run time. I was able to run many practice laps, a complete 5 minute race, and a ton more laps on a single charge! Actual run times will vary depending on track, motor used, vehicle,etc. Expect to get at least 12-15 minutes with a fast modified motor (6-5-7.5 Turn) under normal racing conditions (4wd offroad). If you are using a 13.5 or 10.5, run time will definitely go up from there. When you add up the fact that this pack is only $112, its really a good value. Purchasing and maintaining normal cell packs would surely cost more.
Overall Cons: None. The Protek 5200 LiPo Saddle Pack does all that its supposed to do. It provides great power, healthy runtime and looks great too!
The pack sells for the street price of around $112.99 and is available through A-Main Hobbies here.
Thanks to Protek for providing R/C Evil Empire the opportunity to review their product!
Product Specifications:
Specifications:
- Type: Lithium Polymer
- Capacity: 5200 mAh
- Voltage: 7.4V nominal
- Connector Type: Utra T-Style
- Balancer Type: Align/E-Flite compatible (XH)
- Number of Cells: 2
- Weight: 321g (7.07oz)
- Configuration: 2S3P (wired in Parallel)
- Dimensions (WxLxH): 47 x 69 x 28mm per battery
- Maximum Continuous Discharge : 35C (182A)
- Maximum Burst Discharge : 70C (364A)
