Testing GNB High Volt 6S LiPo's: Not what I expected!

[@gadgetrc94]

Yes! Please consider cycle testing. I've enjoyed every fresh battery I've owned, but for me the quality is in how it performs after months of abuse. I know that means destructive testing, but I'd love to see the metrics applied to batteries after some accelerated aging.

[@nextlevel_fpv]

I have been flying the high voltage 1300mah 6s packs for a year now and they have been amazing. I just got a new batch and my old batch perform just as well as the new. I don’t notice any difference. These are the best lipos I have ever flown hands down

[@ontariodoublex2713]

I got mine about 3 weeks ago and have only been charging them to 4.20 cuz I was always told it was super bad to charge them to 4.35 but I’m gonna see hopefully don’t ruin all my expensive batteries, I’ll take you’re work for it lol

[@GramGrinst]

Very interesting results. Thanks for testing so much LiPo Packs.

[@KnoxLife]

Very informative and consistent with my own flight feel conclusions. I have used the 1300 LiHV for a couple of months and used Tattu 1300 V4 for a long time before trying these. I loved the LiHV at first (compared to older Tattus). I still like them but I find the sag to be very noticeable after about 30 cycles or so. I also recently observed that the sag seemed worse with lower temp than the increased sag on my Tattus. My current recommendation is that if you are used to high end 1300 LiPos but want the density of the LiHV - get the 1550 LiHV and it will settle at similar power performance as the lower cap LiPo BUT will fly for longer at extremely low weight cost.

[@mjodr]

The voltage sag section of this test really explains what I was feeling on my GNB packs. I'm not running 6S, but the way you explained how they feel is what I was feeling. Great burst performance at first and then fall off really fast. I don't like how that feels and I don't want to use that option in BF that tries to level it out.

[@fpvkevlar8101]

I bought the high voltage GMB 1500s and ever since I bought and flown them. I won't fly anything but these now absolutely amazing. And the weight you save is amazing and you can feel the power across the board compared to regular Lipps in my opinion

How much do they weigh?

[@jessehoffman5302]

218g +/- 10g. they weigh less than most 1300mah lipos.@

[@FinDroneLord]

Thank you for doing this, your videos are really interesting and informative!!

[@Bruno-cb5gk]

What could be interesting to look at is combining the data from prop testing and battery testing, to see if it's better to go for a high energy density pack with a high power prop or a high power density pack with a high efficiency prop.

[@MikeMillerDrones]

Thanks Chris. Loving this test series. I have several; of these batteries and good to know which ones are really worth buying again. In the field testing can be subjective.

[@MCsCreations]

Fascinating results, Chris! Thanks a bunch for all the testing and comparison! 😊 Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊 And happy holidays!

[@dcdk1525]

Thanks 4 the info Chris. As always, U rock (G'Weekend)

[@LunicLynx]

Awesome review highly appreciated your work. Only lab testing can make sure stuff gets better!

[@JustInTime0525]

Now that you mention “Cycle life”, do you plan to include it as a testing parameter in your future battery testing? Thanks for the video as always!

[@JBarzdins]

Suggestion from racing scene, would be super interesting to see tests with real race flight backlog converted to a discharge profile. For such a tests there should be different flight/profile for different battery weights. So you don't claim better performance when comparing a profile discharge done on 240g battery to a flight log of 180g battery.

[@marianoaldogaston]

I was thinking the same, I would love to see that. is like when in F1 make engine dyno testing based in data for each track.

[@k4x4map46]

nice analysis!! def need a good pack for long distance AOS 7 inch testing!! thanks!!

[@phiveone]

My low-value anecdotal battery experience. GNB 1250 - Had 5 of these, they all died within 5 months of flying. Ovonic (4S & 6S) - I bought about a dozen of these and they have lasted over 2 years.

[@LostCloudx4]

Mine same.. my GNB HVs all died within 2 months of gentle flying. ALL other brand packs I bought and used the same are all still fine 6 months on

[@willpowerfpv3246]

Those Silver gnb 1250s were trash, and very heavy for the price. I dig these hv ones. Ovonic has been very solid for me, albeit a bit heavier, but also the least expensive available in my location.

I've had the xt60's wear out on the ovonics before the cells did.

[@garretpickens5745]

Same with ovonic, my favorite is tattu batteries but if money is tight ovonic is my go to for best bang for the buck. Was not impressed with cnhl or gnb

[@nazarkokhan]

@@LostCloudx4 What do you mean they died? Did one of the cells died? I have two gnb 1300 6s lihv and i crashed one of them really hard so all cells slided, i just wrapped it with new insolation and it is still doing good. I discharged them below 3v many times etc. Still good

[@stevejakab]

Nice vid, glad you took my suggestion on testing the GNB HV batteries. I would recommend you test the 1500mah HVs though - they are awesome and equivalent weight to around 1300s - great for 5” and so

[@Mangorille]

Thanks for this test, I've been trying different packs for my sub-250g builds (650 and 530mah) and so far am finding that the GNB HV packs have quite a bit more internal resistance than my typical Tattu packs. Did you notice the same?

[@mjodr]

I notice that. My Tattu R-line packs perform way better.

[@Mangorille]

@@mjodr I'm not sure I'd say they perform better because there is a ~5g weight difference. I did a test on my channel a while back and did get more flight time and less sag with the HV packs but the IR was surprising.

[@mjodr]

@@Mangorille GNB packs are lighter because they are literally smaller packs over-rated on the label. It makes an RDQ or Tattu pack look "heavy", but to me the heavier pack is actually the standard if you know what I mean.

[@Mangorille]

@@mjodr I've heard this as well. I also heard that the HV packs use a different chemistry, that's why they're lighter. Not much information out there to support either.

[@basquiatfpv]

14:34 I've been using the LiHV 1500 for about a year, and I often see them reading 3.7V when first plugged in. Sometimes, after unplugging and replugging, they reset to 4.4V or 4.35V, but they still perform well overall. Speedypizza lipos are a great deal at $21, while Tattu batteries cost $33 and perform better, making them a clear choice. I haven't tried Dogcom batteries ($41), but I've used the Lumenier N2O Feather-Lite 1300mAh and won't pay $60 for a lipo again. I'm honestly impressed with the Gaoneng GNB 1300mAh 120C; it's my favorite battery so far, but at $28, I might switch to Tattu after reviewing the data seeing the Gaoneng LIHV’s are $2 dollars less.

[@Simofly]

Hi Chris, I got a GNB 6S HV 4000mah lipo to test on my 7” for mid range flights. I compared to my 6S no hv 4500mah have to say that the weight savings are huge, but mah are not there. I think it’s kind of the same results you got isn’t it ? In the end , beside the first minutes of flight with more voltage, is it worth it ?

[@FalconRadFPV]

The 120c and 130c difference makes me wonder if the cooler running 130c pack will puff less after a really hard flight, possibly giving it a longer lifespan than the 120c pack under regular high current use?

[@seanmetzger4780]

There was a very large and popular battery test on Rcgroups mostly focused on larger 5000mah 6s edf jet lipo’s…what he hypothesized from his testing is that most if not all “hv lipos” are actually one size smaller in capacity then their label would suggest. They are gaining the “extra capacity” by overcharging. You can also often see this with the size and weight of the pack. I would be interested to see your thoughts on if this could also be the case with our multirotor sized packs.

[@mjodr]

I've heard that theory before and I actually agree with it after my testing. On my GNB LiHV packs they do not even get the rated capacity and they are really light. I think they just bin their manufactured cells like silicon wafer chips. The good packs get the LiHV tag and they market it as being able to handle the higher voltage and then over-rate the capacity on the label. The stuff that comes out accidentally at a lower quality gets the standard voltage label. The problem is burst performance suffers after the first hit. In other words, you buy a 1000 mAh GNB LiHV pack and it's actually just an 850 with good chemistry that they tell you to shove more voltage into...and it's lighter because of that.

[@Curiousity0309]

I have same situation with yellow GNB 4s 1550 mah packs, compared to CNHL Black 4s 1550 mah. GNB have more sag, but they weigh less.

[@josephrsalexander4589]

Cam you do lithium ion packs for long range?

[@seanmetzger4780]

Just look what cells they are using…there are a ton of tests on the cells, which will tell you what the pack will perform like.

[@achimberend9310]

Great work! would be interesting to see a test of preheated batteries! Also: did you make sure the Packe had the same temperatures as you began the test? As you jokingly said in the beginning of the video I would assume that you heat up the room durcing testing so that the Batteries testet at the end get an advantage.

[@ChrisRosser]

I do all the testing at 20degC in the room (it's air conditioned). The start of the video was just a joke as you say.

[@ugpfpv361]

Got some of the gnb hv for my 2.5" because of the weight, they performed really good, BUT they also didn't last very long before becoming too puffy for my liking, I'll just go with a regular, probably tattu even though it will put me slightly ove 250g

[@vincehogg8935]

Hi Chris. Question, not related to this vid. I cant find much info on the expected current down the 3 motor wires. Its just occurred to me because I was wanting to connect my motors with 3 pin MT30 connectors. The ESC can do 50A and obviously the XT60, 60A. The required rating of the 3 motor wires and any connectors is not so obvious to work out. Probably RMS power etc but its not my area.

[@ChrisRosser]

The design current through each wire should be the same as the ESC rating so 50A in your case. At any time two of the three wires are carrying equal and opposite current. The RMS power through the connector will be reduced by 2/3 because there are 3 wires and 2 active at a time. MR30 is commonly used for this application as it can carry 30A continuously I think and we only draw more than that per motor for short bursts and there is lots of cooling.

[@DigitalCruzer]

I got 3 of the gnb green 1300mah 6s packs in August, only one hasn't fail so far, will not buy again, still have my very first 6s i got almost 2 years ago, it was a chnl black

[@marinehm]

I mistakenly purchased 3 LiHV 2S batteries. 450, 550, 650 mah to determine which produced the longest flight time for the mah/weight ratio on my 2" Odanata. I seem to have lost an entire minute across all the batteries after the 1st flight. Could you explain what might be happening there?

[@ugpfpv361]

Would like to o see how the ovonic lipos stack up against the cnhl Great info as always!!!

[@RCRitterFPV]

the weight is why I moved to the 1300hv's seemed like the power of a 220g pack at 180g.. so much more nimble.. the 1250's were my old packs...

[@xforce9927]

for racing application i would love a complete high c discharge over the whole capacity

[@scottyh72]

So would everyone.

[@BuddsSkyCam]

On the HV batteries are you charging them to 4.35 vs the lipo at 4.2?

[@ChrisRosser]

Yes 👍

[@ronboFPV]

Thanks for the Testing, What if I put 2 x 3s(12v) 120c in series, do I get 24v and 240c?

[@badraven9532]

120C is the supposed/claimed discharge maximum. In series therefore still around 120C, since the current has to pass through every pack and so its chemistry limits the max? Output voltage will be the sum of the packs. I run 2 x 6S in series on a couple of my 600 size Heli's with nominal 50v motors.

[@figiv]

Hi ,In My mini long range 4 inch i use GNB HV 650mah 4S 60C and i did out 2.2 km and in 2.2km with 1500mt of elevation gain. 620mah consumed. I'm very surprised about this performance!

[@vdz89]

Please test Ovonic batteries.

[@ImperialArmour]

I charge all my LiHv packs to 4.2 and they last a pretty long time. probably longer than my Tattu rline v5 packs.

[@stevejakab]

I’ve been using my 1500 HVs for 2 years (don’t fly loads) and they seem to work just as well as when I got them. I’m impressed with them. The quality of the 650 4S HVs isn’t good in terms of wires/soldering etc.

[@BeyondGravityFPV]

My experience with gnb, a lot higher internal resistance, massive voltage drops on moderate load, shorter lifespan and cycles. Build quality was really good but performance was worst out of any packs i had. Never bought them again. Using cnhl since then.

[@mjodr]

I would agree with all that.

[@badraven9532]

@@mjodr Yet not my experience, odd. Maybe the way flown?

[@BuddsSkyCam]

I run the gnb hv packs and they have had the longest life spane of any manufacturer hv or non hv packs i have ran. I cant tell you vs their non hv but just compared to other brands

[@MindRiderFPV]

Test the Lumenier Feather 150C?

[@Inconvenientruther]

Tattu is still king

[@BadRavenFPV]

Well, absolutely not from my experience, which goes only to prove how individual use and handling variations make subjective statements worthless.

[@Voyajer.]

@@BadRavenFPV No battery is going to perform well if abused

[@mjodr]

I agree, but be careful because they also have different tiers. The R-line stuff is the best IMO, but the labels of the standard chemistry packs look very similar.

[@Inconvenientruther]

@@BadRavenFPV well can we say you might not have taken the best care of them.. I am particular over mine and the r lines last my hard use exceptionally well. I stop at 3.7v showing and never store them up overnight.

[@Inconvenientruther]

@@mjodr yes I could have specified r lines for sure, although I’ve got a few regular labels that have been used for many years on low loads. Still are reliable

[@crash_lander]

My new GNB 4S packs suck. I just packed them back after just a couple of flights and ordered for tattu packs. It’s so annoying when you throttle up in the first minute of the flight and it already starts blinking battery low alarm.

[@mjodr]

Yep, very annoying.

[@kennykobitsfpv]

Cambridge Massachusetts?

[@ChrisRosser]

Cambridge, England!

[@nazarkokhan]

I would like to see ovonic green batteries (1050, 1300)

[@fededabz52]

my experience with HV batterys is that id be happy if i couldve gotten 30 flights out of them before they went to crap. Tattu r lines. im sure a HV would be worse if they failed (caught fire) as well.

[@JohnIn2SonAZ]

I have never had good luck with GNB batteries.

[@scoptimizations]

Hmmmm…. The highest C rating is a bit unfair or more biased to „bad“ cells. I buy many packs to compare them myself. Spent like 450€ into 6S Li-Po in less than 2 months. I like the hobby more from an technical aspect than the flying itself. Anyway. For instance. If I measure a cold (20°C) Tattu 5.0 1400mAh. It comes out at around 5mOhm. Around the same as a CNHL 1550mAh 150C or DroneIT 1380mAh 150C and now comes the but, the CNHL 1300mAh 100C, has as well around the same IR! But when I place the Li-Pos into my heater (which doesn’t cost more than 25€ in DIY, so anyone which seeks performance would surely have it!) the 150C packs go down to 1.8-2.5mOhm, while the 100C remains at around 3.5-4! (~35°C) I think that’s something to consider. I’m not saying the test is BS or something. I just wanna say it depends and it should be included. The gap will spread out and when people spend a couple 100 on Tattus (which you do easily) a battery warmer for just 30 bucks is „nothing“ and also helps the battery to cycle a few more charges.

[@LostCloudx4]

I bought 5x GNB HV's of various size. after 2 months all of them have puffed up huge and are RIP... my cheaper CNHL are all fine along with pizza & coddar branded.

[@zoey101dogwablog]

you charging them at 5c or something? damn

[@badraven9532]

Woah! 😯The ONLY GNBs I have ever had swell (eventually) were tiny 1S used brutally run to 3.1v regularly and never storage charged and also 2200mAh 3S used in EDF "jets", again pretty brutally. Not had 4S or 6S GNB on my quads swell, ever. Something very wrong there, a safety concern! I am around several others in a group, we all use GNB, and they just do not swell. It may be that the other brands just cannot have the current sucked out of them at rate TO swell or as Damon says, it's a charge issue??

[@mlentsch]

I know that the early LiHv batteries lasted about 1/4 as long as regular lipos....

[@Vousie]

So you've just tested one of each battery and assumed it's totally representative of all that product? You need to get at least 3 or so of each for the data to be worth anything. Then look at whether the results for the three are different by much.

Gnb packs do not hold up after about 20 flights/charge cycles they puff up and go high ohm. All of these tests will be significantly different if you put a few dozen flights on them first.

[@PabloEscobarKRSK]

Крис спасибо 😘

[@TweakRacer]

LiHV = Relabeled LiPo charged to 4.35V 🤣

[@badraven9532]

Why bother labelling? 🤣🤣

[@ChrisRosser]

The discharge curve looks to be quite a different shape so it's not the same chemistry. At least with GNBs.

[@Spadle0208]

oh crap. i just bought a whole bunch of chnl blk

[@ydnubm]

First 😂

[@AtradiesInc]

Yes I have noticed the best batteries I have flown yet have been GNB 1300 LIHV and Dogcom Sbang or Five33. BUT the very best for some reason is RChackers 1300. The GNB last for a long amount of life time in cycles and has a lot of punch for the first 3 weeks. The Dogcom has a crap load of power but when they drop out at the end they drop fast and hard. The rchackers have less punching power but longer flights and longer amount of top end power and way less sag. You cant beat a rchacker for 37$ for two and get to fly longer. So I keep those three. I hate Pizza batteries they are junk and crap out in a few weeks for me.

[@William_NS]

I absolutely love my RC hackers 1300s! I've bought 32 of them so far. About to order another 12. They are just good, solid packs at a fantastic price!