I saw a guy using a Sullivan hand held starter motor at an event . the unit had a small flat battery pack attached to the bottom of it.
Anyone have an idea what battery this is or have a recommended battery for this application?

I use the Makita adapter made by A FINER EDGE MFG but it gets expensive if you don't already use that battery and charger system

I use a 14.4 V Lipo zip tied to the bottom of my Dynatron, works like a champ
Tom

John, if the battery pack you saw under the starter body was a brown plastic housing secured by 2 steel L brackets to the starter than most likely it was Sullivan's battery pack housing. You will find it on their website. I had one with high end NiMh batteries and found it to be weak and generally the battery contacts inside were not reliable.

I used those steel brackets, however, to secure my Sullivan starter to a Hobby King car 4 cell LiPo hardcase battery pack to it. Oh, and the starter is now attached to a Miller belt drive reduction unit so it turns over my largest gas engines with ease.

I use an old 2100mah 3s LiPo for my glow engine starter, just rigged up on the bottom with an aluminum clamp that was fabricated. Originally the clamp set up held a 12v hobby battery, but when the LiPo batteries hit the market, many of us converted starters like this.

I've started glow engines up to 1.20 four-stroke size with no problem at all. I charge it about once a month when I'm flying alot, so it doesn't take much maintenance at all. Easy and light.

Larger starters(bigger then this one) most always have onboard batteries and are fully cordless, so these type set ups come in many sizes, or just make your own size out of what you have.

You are describing the old style Sullivan starer pack that held sub C Nicads. Use one for many years with no problem starting engines up to 30cc. Last time the batteries wore out I put four A123 26650 Life cells inside the Sullivan case. The new Sullivan case is the S642 and will accept several different battery chemistries. I have settled on A123 26650 Life packs to power all my starters. I have seen three Lipo batteries connected to starters erupt in flames. The A123 cells are much safer in my opinion. I had Radical RC make up a 4 cell pack for my regular Sullivan starter and a 6 cell packs for my Dynatron and Megatron 24 volt starters.
Here is a link to the S642 case.
https://www.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...iAAEgI3dfD_BwE

Holy smokes... $44 for a plastic box?... LOL Ok..

Does anybody know if Miller R/C is still operating? I need a new belt drive starter.

You can easily do something like this with some aluminum bar stock and some plastic or wood spacers.

Originally Posted by nappyroots2182

I use the Makita adapter made by A FINER EDGE MFG but it gets expensive if you don't already use that battery and charger system

I use the Makita setup on my dynatron... well worth it. plus now they have a battery powered blower. nice to blow the trailer out at events..

Heck yeah... If we can build planes and fly them, it's probably well within most hobbyists skills to fabricate/assemble a cordless starter out of a few things... either that or buy it.
For the time I use a starter(maybe 30 seconds or less to start my four-strokes(the only engine I use a starter on)), I just wanted something quick and easy. I already had the clamp for a bigger battery so I just shortened the screws to capture a LiPo... but I would just as easily velcroed a battery to my starter too. It doesn't have to be fancy, just functional, and if I want fancy I'll throw some stickers on it and make it look expensive. Mine isn't plastic though. LOL

It would have taken me longer to sit down at the computer to order up a box then it did to make what I have work though.... and it looks like it would have cost me $44 also... but hey, there's a few ideas anyway right.

Originally Posted by gbarnes

Does anybody know if Miller R/C is still operating? I need a new belt drive starter.

The web site has been absent for a month or two that I know of

Originally Posted by john rutledge

I saw a guy using a Sullivan hand held starter motor at an event . the unit had a small flat battery pack attached to the bottom of it.
Anyone have an idea what battery this is or have a recommended battery for this application?

I put EC5 connector on my Sullivans (shorten the lead) and use Lipo. I have them on my Standard Yellow/Black, Dynatron, and large two handle starter.

Good way to use older lipos

I fabricated an aluminum battery box. Then built 2 3S A123 battery packs connected in series. This gives me just about 20 volts. Plenty of power for my needs. Batteries last a long time before charging.