Hi, Guys.
Blake has given the nod to gather numbers for a club battery purchase. In order to have these in time for the opening of our season, we only have one week to gather the numbers. The distributor has asked for 4-6 weeks lead time. As such, we only have until Sept 1 to get the order together. Please PM me with your requested type/brand and number of packs. I will have prices later in the week (hopefully - but no guarantee) but info is slow in coming from suppliers. Rest assured that the pricing will be based on last year's costs adjusted for any real increases from suppliers (i.e. increases due to fuel costs in shipping etc) that may have occurred over the last year. I do not have last year's prices handy but they are archived on the site somewhere.
Your choices are:
Corally IB 4600 SHV
TRINITY EP 4600
SMC Ener-G 4600
The Ener-G cells will be the best bet in my opinion and I have used and tested them all. Once again, PMs only, please. If you know of a fellow racer who does not check the site frequently, please help them out and send the message along.
Thanks!
Phil
Do we know which cells SMC is currently using for the Ener-G cells (Grepow, IB, EP, etc?)
Hi, Kurk. Nope. They are branded as Ener-G and any other info is not avail re: manufacturing source. BTW, we don't recommend Grepow cells based on low voltage and other issues (we did plenty of testing) so we are sticking with these three labels. I have assurances, however, that they are not IB-based whatsoever.
Keep the orders coming in, Guys!
Phil
Hi, Guys.
Found the prices from last year's battery order. They were:
4-cell race-grade TRINITY EP4200: $47.18 Taxes Incl
4-cell team grade TRINITY EP4200: $54.23 Taxes Incl
That's all we ordered with the exception of a few ad hoc IB orders. I fully anticipate that we would be less than $47 taxes incl based on my discussions with the supplier so far. The distributor still needs to contact the matcher to obtain an accurate price but Vegas is on at the moment and folks are hard to reach.
Here is something to consider for you: Since most manufacturers are holding to the warrantee practice of testing voltage out of the box, but voiding the warrantee if they are used (except for some catastrophic failures which are becoming significantly less frequent with the new cells), we can bring in a few extra packs to help folks out. This would mean that we would consider $1 or $2 surcharge depending on the number of packs we order as a club (the special pricing is for the club and not for T-Bang!) to hold extra packs on hand or IROCC can purchase them. I think it would be very helpful to do this and limit to the number of spares to maybe three packs at the most and to be replaced only if we see 0.0V/cell. What do you think? Sort of our own warrantee insurance. Your call. Thoughts?
BTW, please keep the battery order numbers coming in! We're low but doing OK so far. I think if we hit 50 packs we'll get more of a break from the matcher. Just speculation at this point, though.
Phil
Phil
id be interested in 2 packs, but waitin to see what hapens with the motor argument yet..
Hi, Guys.
I will extend the deadline until Sept 2 for the battery pre-orders. I know some of you have said you were going to PM me but have not. Please PM right away. Thanks!
Phil
Hi, Guys.
Just got off the horn with CanWest RC. SMC was delayed a couple of weeks with the batteries which is why we didn't receive them on time. He says they will be to us within the next 10 days. He is expecting them to arrive at his location later this week and then turned around to us asap. Apparently there was a priority order for Europe which are shorter cells and ours us next in the queue with the regular cells. I will be sure to post here as soon as I have the information and we can set up a lunch at BP to distribute. Thanks for your patience. I am chasing them down regularly.
Phil
Hey, everyone.
Looks as if the batteries had been delayed at the manufacturer. They are now being cycled and matched. I was given the option of only being cycled and matched once then shipped to us for this Friday but I erred on the side of caution and went with the full treatment as a measure of quality control that I am sure we can all appreciate. The batteries are due in to me next Thursday, 16 Oct. Sooooo, in order to make it for race night, I'd like to propose we hook up at Boston Pizza next Thursday at 7:00. This is the only time that we really have in advance of the first race night. I will make the reservation at BP. Please pass on the good word to those who don't regularly access this forum. I am working on obtaining the invoice so we can figure out pricing and as soon as I have it I will PM each of you with your total amount.
See you then and there.
Phil
Hey phil is boston pizza still a go or have the betterys arrived yet? i havent recieved a pm on the costs yet so i would think they havent arrived yet.
Hi, Gerry.
All of this is for NEXT WEEK, THURSDAY OCT 16. I have asked the distro yet again (yesterday) for a cost but nothing has come back. I suspect they are waiting to see what happens with the final landed costs as well. Since last year, we are in an $0.19/Dollar deficit compared to when we bought the last round (we bought at $1.08 and today we are $0.89), and fuel costs have risen as well. I suspect we'll see a rise. Hard to avoid with the economy the way that it is. As soon as I have the financials I will post here and let everyone know individually. I have been told they will be shipped from the mainland on Tuesday to us. They are due at the distro at the end of business tomorrow so he can't turn them around the same day to us unfortunately and it's a long weekend.
See you NEXT WEEK.
Phil
any word on batts yet ?
Hey, guys. Just emailing everyone with their totals right now. Yes, there is a slight price increase over the TEAM grade cells from last year. Our dollar has conspired in this fashion. Last year we were $1.09 and this year we are $0.86. The cost from the distributor has increased accordingly. Thankfully, the distributor absorbed the priority courier costs from the US such that we can have the batteries for this weekend, and has extended to us a 30 DAY WARRANTEE from the time of sale. T-Bang will be absorbing some of the cost increase and we will provide shrink wrap and gold battery bars using whatever stock we have on hand. When it's gone, it's gone. See you Thursday night. BTW, the shipment is due to arrive just before the meeting and is not something that we can control - so I'm doing my best to make this happen. Let's keep our fingers crossed.
Phil
Quote from: BigDawg on October 15, 2008, 07:20:45 PM
any word on batts yet ?
HEY!!! Empty your inbox, man. I keep getting a message saying its full - can't PM you the specifics of your order. Ciao.
P.