9.6v Ni Cd battery to a 6V 12Ah Lead Acid

[my-moto]

Hi

I have just brought a boat with a 9.6v Ni Cd battery in it and I was just wondering if I could change it to a 6V 12Ah Lead Acid. Would you recommend doing this?

Would the Lead Acid battery last longer and be charged faster.

If I was going to change it what will I need to do?

Thanks Craig

[Fluid]

..a 9.6v Ni Cd battery in it and I was just wondering if I could change it to a 6V 12Ah Lead Acid. Would you recommend doing this?
I would never recommend doing this. The lead acid battery is messy, old tech, and probably too large for the boat. I used them 30 years ago in my electric boats, but have not used them for many years. Thank goodness we have better batteries today. BTW, NiMH cells are even better than NiCads.

Would the Lead Acid battery last longer and be charged faster. The lead battery would last longer but it would be far slower for two reasons: one - it is lower voltage; two - the lead cells give up energy very slowly compared to NiCads. The lead cells would take longer to charge too. Keep the NiCad pack, or get a new one. Forget the old school lead acid cells!

[CG Bob]

It would help to know the type of boat and the mAh rating of the 9.6V NiCd. I assume by lead acid that you mean a lead acid "gel cell" battery. If you have one of those little hydroplanes or deep vees, don't use the gel cell, stay with the NiCd. There are certain advantages to gel cell lead acid batteries: higher Ah means longer run times (but also longer charge times); and they are heavier than NiCd, NiMh or Lipo, which means that the battery is used as ballast in a displacement hull (tug boat or freighter) is actually providing power.

[my-moto]

The tug I am getting is this one....
http://www.hobbytron.com/RCSeaportTugboatRemoteControlWorkBoat.html?AID=101 17481&PID=1618892

[Old Sloppy]

So, it is a 60" tug boat.
What is the rating of the ESC ? ( electronic speed controller )
This will be the biggest factor in picking a new battery.

As far as charging, Astroflight 112DX gets the job done.

[CG Bob]

So, it is a 60" tug boat.
No it isn't. From the website: Dimensions: 60L x 23W x 45H cm. 60 cm length converts to 23.62 inches. The radio range is listed as 100 meters. The big name radio companies (Futaba, JR, Airtronics, Hitec, Spektrum, et al) have surface radios with a 500 meter range as the standard. IMO, the Seaport tug is a toy boat.


I would recommend saving your money and getting something like the Aquacraft ATLANTIC (http://www.aquacraftmodels.com/boats/aqub59-main.html) tug

[Old Sloppy]

No it isn't. From the website: Dimensions: 60L x 23W x 45H cm. 60 cm length converts to 23.62 inches. IMO, the Seaport tug is a toy boat.
I would recommend getting something like the Aquacraft ATLANTIC (http://www.aquacraftmodels.com/boats/aqub59-main.html) tug


@ CG Bob, Thank You for pointing out my mistake... :eek:

Big differnce between inches & metric.

23 inches is a swimming pool boat.

In this case bigger is better..... ;)

Harry :)

[mjmsprt40]

23 inches??? If you're going to use lead-acid, suggest also equipping the boat with dive planes and ballast tanks. I'm not kidding. Tugs don't have much freeboard to begin with, and that heavy lead-acid battery will gobble up what you do have mighty quick. Stay with the Nicads, they're lighter, easier to maintain and lighter than lead-acid.