cheapest NiMh charger?? thats any good..

[NervousXtian]

i'm thinking of switching to NiMh for cost of battery and life.. but whats the charger cost??

any tips

[Grizzbob]

I hate to dissappoint you, but right now NiMh packs for electric cars won't help you much for lowering cost or lasting that long. Run time is about the only advantage they have for now(they're still pretty early in development, but I imagine they will get better with subsequent generations), right now they still have a hard time dealing with the high current load of electric motors, so over time they degrade much more than NiCd's. For now, I really think you'd be best off with NiCd 2400's, until NiMh's are more proven, since you apparently need longetivity. On the charge issue, there are a few good ones that can handle NiMh's fine, but many of them are expensive, race-oriented units, like the Tekin BC112A(and C), the Competition Electronics Pit Bull, & the Novak Millenium. All of the ones I mentioned(except the BC112C) also require a DC power supply, which at the very cheapest can run you $30-50, & as much as $130(that's just the power supply). There are a few others, like Duratrax's Intellipeaks , but I'm not sure I'd trust them to do NiMh's properly(I toasted some on the Integy equivalent, the Indi 16X2 Pro)..... :cool:

[NervousXtian]

anyone else got any tips?? i'm looking mainly for run time.. and 2400 packs are REALLY expensive.. so what is the cheapest charger that will work? and why does RC have such a hard time with NiMH is because of how much draw of the motors??

[Obi112]

2400s are about as expensive (if not cheaper) than the 3000 cells...

[Grizzbob]

Very true, 2400's are just as affordable as 3000's, & in some cases, cheaper. As for the trouble, it's simply because NiMh's for R/C are very new, they may have been around for awhile, but for high-current applications(like R/C) they're still somewhat vulnerable. FYI, NiCd's used to be like this too, about 12 years ago(when I got started in R/C), the highest capacity NiCd back then was a 1700mah SCE cell, & believe it or not, it was even more fragile than today's 3000 NiMh's. If you tried to run the old SCE's more than once in a day, they would more than likely melt & possibly take down whatever they were hooked up to(happened to me, I tried to use it twice after it cooled, & it did a meltdown in the car, even melted the connector & fused the metal within it). After that, I stuck with more reliable packs. Of course, when 3000's came out, I decided to give them a try & bought 5 packs, but each & every one of them degraded horribly after a few months, & then began to short out altogether(& I did do everything the experts recommended). I'm sure that NiMh's will mature & become as reliable as we expect, but until they're proven I can't recommend them & I for one will wait & see how the newest ones hold up over time before I buy any more...... :)

[Railman]

As always, good info Grizz!

[Grizzbob]

Thnx, I figure all this info in my head oughta be good for something, & if I can prevent someone from making the same mistakes as I did, then that may be one more long-term R/C'er to make the hobby stronger.... :)

[very low budget racer]

I thought that NiMH batteries were gonna be charged normaly when I bought one of the original batch's. But now I used it 5 times, the lables are peeling but It somehow still works good, less punch Vs my 1700 but lasts just as long since I didnt fully charge it, hrmm...i must be lucky so far my NiMH hasent taken a long walk on a short pier.

[old phart]

Grizz: I am new to elctric. All I have are 6 packs of NiMh batteries, and I have been using them since February. They are the "low cost" 3000 mah brand.

What do you mean by degradation of the packs? What should I be on the lookout for? I have noticed on one pack, that it seems to have a shorter run life than the others. Is this the degradation?

Are battery packs to be considered as normal "consumables" of the electric r/c hobby? I previously had thought of them as lifetime items, such as motors, radios, etc.

:eek:

[Grizzbob]

Yeah, you'll likely notice them losing run time first, & they'll also lose more voltage before they short out(assuming they will). I imagine that some companies view batteries as a consumable item, but I don't(they cost way too much for me to waste my hard-earned money on them), so I stick with batteries that offer the best value for my money, & right now I think that 2400's are it. The only forms of racing that they may be vulnerable in are mod classes on huge speed tracks(where you may need 6-9 turn motors to have any speed) & 8 minute mod racing(2400's are fine for 1/12 scale stock but mod for 8 minutes I think would be another matter). For all other forms, stock or mod, 2400's are plenty competitive, & you can bet the bank they'll last a good long time..... :)

[Jason_R]

How is the BC112C as a battery charger? I don't think i could buy one new but i think i can get one used for a good price. I am at a impass for what battery charger to get next.

Later

[Grizzbob]

The BC112C would work perfectly, as long as it has the proper firmware(that's the internal chip's programing). I believe as long as it has version H27 or later, then it'll handle any cells you want to charge, NiCd or NiMh..... :)

[old phart]

Thanks for the input Grizz :)