HPI Savage X Battery Level Indicator..

[ZxIRAX]

Will this work with a hump pack, or only with 6V rechargeable batteries?

[Larsenracing]

It will work with either one.

[ZxIRAX]

Thanks a lot Jason!

It's a pretty handy thing to have, seeing as I have one on my transmitter.. but usually it beeps at me for 30 minutes before it actually dies.

I will buy one of these.

[X]

You will like this. Never having to worry about the reciever battery level is great. Also this one looks like its supposed to be there stock for a clean look.

[Showsol2211]

I absolutely love mine!

[ZxIRAX]

only problem I have found with mine is that in bright daylight, the green, yellow and orange LED's are very hard to see. However you can see the red ones easily.. so when you look and just see the red.. you like ah nuts!!

It's a cool little mod, but can sometimes be a little inaccurate!

[Form]

Nice post, I will probably get one too.

Does the battery level indicator drain a lot of juice from the battery? i.e: is the time you can use your receiver pack shorter than without it or it's similar?

[ZxIRAX]

It's pretty much the same - as the current draw on the LEDs is tiny, you won't notice much of a change.

I'm still using mine =)

[Scott]

I would consider this to be one of the best upgrades that I have done..It takes the guessing out of when you hump or battery pack is going to die on you..

[Form]

Just got myself one from my LHS.. but I noticed it says not to use this with AA batteries because it could damage the battery level indicator (the illustration shows the 4-battery holder that comes with the Savage X RTR). The pack I bought for my Savage is an AA hump pack (5 AA cells) purchased from OnlyBatteryPacks.com. Do you think it's a good idea to try and see if it works? What batteries do you guys use? Anyone of you are using an AA pack with the battery level indicator?

Update:

I tried to use it with my AA 5-cell pack and it seems to work. It behaves a bit weird if you ask me though, maybe someone can tell me if it's normal:

When I turn the power on, 3 times out of 4 the indicator will flash 2 times (I think) and then stay fully lit (my pack is fully charged right now). 1 time out of 4 the leds will gradually light up beginning with the red ones towards the green ones, then all leds will stay fully lit.

Once the indicator is fully lit, if I pull the trigger or use the steering on my transmitter, the last green led will flash in sync with the servo movements.

Here's how it looks (vid): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFDds6wM_88

I have three questions:
1- How does your battery indicator behave compared to mine?
2- Could someone test the amperage of their "standard RC" sub-c cell pack and post it so I can compare it with my AA pack and make sure it won't eventually fry the indicator?
3- Anyone has an AA pack and the Battery Level Indicator?

At the price this thing costs, the last thing I want is to fry it after a few hours of run time.

[Form]

Bump bump! Does noone have the answer to my questions?

[NiteRida]

This is what I put on 3 of my trucks. I made a lexan cover like the HPI version. I plugged it into my 3rd channel of the specktrum receiver. If you don't have a 3 channel receiver, then you can get a "y" harness at link into the battery.

This costs 1/2 as much as the HPI and works perfectly.

http://www.myatomic.com/catalog/viewsku?sku=EXRA501

[Form]

I just found out that the video I posted was private. I've made it public, so you can watch it now and tell me what you think.

[Form]

UPDATE: The battery level indicator seems to work OK with AA batteries, at least with my battery pack stated earlier. It looks great and is very functional. Great upgrade!

[MikeK1981]

good info nitrida i might try that.