Overlander Batteries ?

[John Morrall]

Hi Guys - Having now started to use my Blade 350QX2 quad, I find that the one battery supplied is woefully inadequate (No surprise there eh!)

The genuine eflight LiPo which is a 3000mAh 3s 30c is quite expensive & I have found a far cheaper alternative in a brand called Overlander, which is 2900 mAh but otherwise same spec & with dimensions that will fit the battery tray easily, also has an EC3 connector, which most others do not!

Can you guys comment on the quality of this brand & is it a good alternative ?

Thanks in advance for any info available.

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

I have 4 Overlander batteries for my DJI Flamewheel and they have proved to be excellent. Overlander may not be the cheapest place to buy batteries (HK are much cheaper) but their quality is very good. For example all their batteries come ready balanced and in my experience stay balanced! The same cannot be said for cheaper sources where staying in close balance can be a challenge!

So - are they really worth the extra money? Well its debatable to be honest. The Flamewheel (and its batteries) I bought at work - so its work's money and I'll have the best thank you very much! But for myself I'll freely admit I buy my Lipo's from HK and just work a bit harder with the charger to get them, and keep them, balanced.

You pays your money and takes your choice. But in terms of your original question there is in my mind no doubt about the quality of Overlanders batteries. Also on the very odd occassion (over other things I have bought from them) that there has been a problem they are fully based in the UK and very helpful.

BEB

[David Hardaker]

John

I have several models I use with 3S/2200 Overlander Extreme Pro LiPo's. These are rated at 60C constant and 80 C burst.

These batteries are not cheap, but they're excellent quality, perform well and are worth the extra few bob !

David

[IanR]

I bought a few of the red 3S 2200 Overlanders a while back and they have all puffed up to some extent. More recently I bought some of the blue ones and they are all flat as a pancake - no sign of puffiness. (fingers crossed)

If you shop around you may find that you can buy these Overlanders in packs of 2 or 3 and get a wee bit of discount.

Ian

[Paul Marsh]

I won't buy any more Overlander batteries, of any type. All the rx flight packs have failed, never worked properly in the first place and the last Lipo pack looks like Puff the magic Dragon or Stay Puffed.

Seems that all the batteries are old stock, left on a shelf for years - flat (especially rx packs), when recharged are knackered from the start.

Lipo's are better, but there are still better packs from Turnigy and so on, much cheaper and better.

Wonder why Overlander don't do many shows any more...?

[Phil Green]

Here are a couple of pics of my pal Shaun's Overlander flight pack.
The cold-soldered positive wire simply fell off:

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

Well I've not used their Rx packs so can't comment. But for Lipo's I stick by what I said above, the four 4s packs of theirs that I do have have been excellent. No puffing, no loss of capacity etc. despite very heavy usage. First class. Different people, different experiences I suppose.

BEB

[Paul Marsh]

Years ago, I bought a new sub c rx pack for my Hype 3d. After at home running a couple of cycles and flying it the next day. (it was a 2200mah sub c pack) - plenty of power.

I took off, flew it round and Ian ( a member here) wanted a go, as he'd liked the model and interested him for aero's
As I was going to hand the tx over, I noticed the controls go soft - flat battery, I thought, although I had checked it before, 1st green LED on the plane. I could hardly turn it, and tried to throttle back, but control was going. I managed to level, get the rpm down and flat turn on rudder, and landed in the field 200m away. I saw it go down, but level and when I came to it, the u/c was stuck in the grass and the engine still running!

Phew! No damage, and checking the battery was almost flat! One cell had completely died and drained the remaining cells. I had only 2v total, and recharging it seemed ok, but after a few mah's it dropped off, although left it on charge overnight (before I had, or were chargers available for a decent price). Bought more, but lost two models due to duff batteries, and these were new and checked. One was repaired and still flies today.

[Dave Hopkin]

I would guess that Overlander Nicads and Overlander LiPo's are made in totally different factories (in, I assume China) so to compare them is perhaps clouding the waters somewhat...

I have a couple of Overlander 4S packs and have had no problems with them at all....... though I will confess I try hard not to stress my LiPo's either by over discharging or fast charging

[David Ashby - Moderator]

Posted by Paul Marsh on 29/12/2014 13:28:05:

I won't buy any more Overlander batteries, of any type. All the rx flight packs have failed, never worked properly in the first place and the last Lipo pack looks like Puff the magic Dragon or Stay Puffed.

Seems that all the batteries are old stock, left on a shelf for years - flat (especially rx packs), when recharged are knackered from the start.

Lipo's are better, but there are still better packs from Turnigy and so on, much cheaper and better.

Wonder why Overlander don't do many shows any more...?

 

Informed commentary please Paul. It does seem as if you have an axe to grind and some of your statements above don't do your arguments any service.

Like many I've had a lot of batteries from the firm. All the Rx packs have been fine - NiMH and LiFe. All Li-Pos have been fine with the very odd exception but I could say the same about most brands I've tried, including HK.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited By David Ashby - RCME on 29/12/2014 15:32:15

[David Ashby - Moderator]

One post removed, as I say, informed statements please people based on what you know.

 

Edited By David Ashby - RCME on 29/12/2014 15:44:26

[Tony Read 2]

I've had exactly the same experience as IanR. My batteries were well looked after and not abused, but one cell would soon start discharge faster than he rest, with the typical consequences. This was only with the red 'Sport' type. I'm sure things have improved a lot since I bought mine.

[Terry Walters]

I have Overlander Lipos and Nimh's and I am very happy with them. Recently, Pete B gave some of my other brand Lipos a look over with his IR tester and it was confirmation of my views. The Nano Techs I had never been impressed with were showing one or more cells with an IR far too high. My faithful, abused but much loved Overlanders all had good IR and lived up to my comment to Pete B before he tested them that they were my favourites.

Overlanders for me!

Terry

[Paul Marsh]

I've got 2 OL lipos left.They are quite old, one is puffed up, the other is okay. Looks like for me the Lipos are better than nimh packs. Thing is, it's all moved on, and they've stood still. Also O.L don't do the shows, if at all now, so is wrong to slate a company, although the people are okay, just would you trust the heart of your aircraft for something isn't 100%. The ANO says that.

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

Paul,

I'm afraid I have to disagree on the claim that Overlanders have not moved on. As far as I understand they have for example recently invested heavily in a UK manufacturing site for Lipo's. I could be wrong but I think this is the only one of its type in the UK. Secondly, again as far as I know, they are the only manufacturer who actually pre-balances Lipos prior to dispatch.

I must stress that I have absolutely no connection of any form with Overlanders - but let's be fair. Your experience seems to be based on two old batteries - hardly sufficient to condemn a company for?

BEB