suicideneil

Oh man, I didn't know those were a thing- leave it to traxxas to come up with a proprietary combined power and balancing connector style of plug for their models, batteries and chargers. That's awful ( for consumers- beginners to the hobby especially ). You'll need a specific style of extension lead with the proper male and female connector on the end that is compatible- if you google for 'traxxas id extension cable' you'll find plenty of options thankfully, not worth trying to make your own given everything you'll need to buy and solder together just to make a couple leads.

1) depends how brave you're feeling, I wouldn't leave it more than 2-3 days at most though. 2) As stated, conventional wisdom is to do a few 'gentle' discharge cycles to break-in the lipo before canning it. Bare in mind though not every brand labels their lipos accurately ( cough Maxamps cough ), so... yeah.

You're asking exactly the same question you did before pretty much, so the answer is exactly the same too- nothing different about the advice that I/we can offer.

In theory yes, in reality you really want a voltage checker for lipos so that you can actually see the individual cell voltages ( ~3.8v per cell for storage charge ). Better yet, buy a better charger- £30-35 gets you everything you need these days.

There are more options than you can shake a stick at, depends how much you want to spend & how fast you want to charge your batts essentially- some light reading for the lipo / charger beginner: http://www.robotwars.00server.com/tutorials.html

2.2v and 4.6v; yikes. Something is very wrong with that pack- it may charge up correctly but for sure keep a very, very close eye on it and check the voltage at the end of the next run- they should never be above 4.2v ( charged ) or ~3.0v fully discharged ( per cell ). Wouldn't hurt to check the LVC ( low voltage cutoff ) is set correctly on the esc, assuming it has one.

Being a brand new battery that isn't used? you might prefer to simply contact the seller and exchange it for a new one- depends if the cell voltage is just a little low, or it if there is actually a dead cell/broken wiring. If it came from overseas then it might cost more to send it back and replace it than it's actually worth- if you don't get any joy there, then read this, section 4.9: http://www.robotwars.00server.com/tutorials.html This assumes the pack is undamaged and the wiring is good- might be worth using a battery meter or voltmeter to check each cells voltage first just to be sure they are only a little low, no dead cells as such.

Yes, pretty much- the discharge curve is pretty flat right until you reach the cutoff point, just after that it drops off a cliff.

The LVC ( Low Voltage Cutoff ) built into the esc is what stops the model from running when the battery voltage drops too low in order to avoid damage- the battery itself won't have any built-in protection as such and can very easily be damaged if you keep running after the cut-off voltage is reached- say, if the lvc is not set correctly or there isn't one at all on the esc. Below about 3v per cell is potentially enough to risk puffing the lipo, or the charger will throw up a warning that the cell voltage is too low and will refuse to charge it. ~3.2-3.3v per cell is a fairly typical LVC setting for reference, depends what settings you have available to tweak.

You didn't buy the wrong battery- if the esc is rated for 2 to 4s then 3s is right in the middle, no issue there. More likely the issue is either incorrect gearing, or possibly some binding in the drive train ( pinion and spur set too tight perhaps ). I would say look up a manual for the model if possible and see if there is a gearing chart; typically you need to gear down ( smaller pinion and/or larger spur gear ) when using higher voltages. On a side note Deans connectors are the work of the devil- might be worth looking into upgrading to XT60s for a better connection.

Hobbyking are based in China, but they have global warehouses- not much in the UK one usually though so.... yeah. As for retailers- behold: http://www.robotwars.00server.com/usefullinks.html scroll down towards the bottom. I would also suggest modelsport as a good place to find lipos and a charger- won't end up waiting 2-4 weeks or more for delivery and dealing with import charges either.

Hard case lipos aren't a must at all- not unless you're racing at some kind of event or track that requires them for safety reasons, or your model's chassis leaves the batteries quite exposed- not sure what model you have so you'll have to decide that for yourself. If you can afford it, get the highest capacity you can that will fit your model- more mAh ( capacity ) will mean the battery is physically larger so keep that in mind- measure the battery trays and check the battery dimensions, buy the largest capacity/ highest c rating your wallet allows without going crazy. What I will say however is that look into buying lipos from reputable UK retailers if you can ( assuming you're Uk based )- hobbyking is great because they have lots of cheap options but if there is a problem then you're pretty much out of luck- most of us have played that game before. Don't overthink it though- there are literally millions of options for lipos that would be suitable, check sizes, check wallet, stick with good/known brands- there is plenty of info and reviews to read into if you want 2nd opinions, research is fun...

I wouldn't be too concerned about burst ratings on the esc/motor as any burst will only last for a split second under heavy acceleration. Provided your batteries are rated for at least the continuous current ( with a little overhead ) you'll be fine ( mAh x C rating ). I wouldn't worry about the specs vs manual either- most Chinese brands will use the same manual for all of their escs as they have identical programming features- saves time & money on having different manuals for no real reason other than to change the voltage or current rating in the specs list...

One of these, to replace my ancient Bantam BC6. Now I can charge a couple 5s 5000mah packs in just over an hour, rather than taking ~3-4 hours just to do one. Huzzah!

I never assumed anything- they said 'capacitor', so I took it too mean they indeed meant 'capacitor'- it does no good to second guess the article by assuming they meant something else- saying capacitor instead of super capacitor is like saying car instead of bus. The article was badly written and omitted important facts- I merely took what they wrote at face value, hence calling it out as ridiculous. That said, knowing who makes the module I wouldn't be surprised if there was just an electrolytic capacitor inside, probably ~ 2200uF wired to the mosfet, lol.