Malakite
-
Posts
506 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Posts posted by Malakite
-
-
Hi guys and thanks as always for the advice. So am I right in thinking that I don't actually need a discharger for any reason? If so whats the point if it doesnt help the performance of the batteries? Also the ICE charger doesn seem to have a price?
If anyone could send me a link on lipos and the normal batteries to purchase, that would be great. I think i'll buy one or two of each and see if I can notice any difference between the two? I would like 3300 or above (if they exist?) as that would mean longer running time which would be great
Also do ESC make a difference to the life/running time of a battery to compared to a manual one?
Thanks as always
-
You get what you pay for with batteries. The main difference is capacity, but the cheaper battery packs can't give out the power like the better quality packs do. Then again unless you are using much hotter motors than what comes in the kit you won't notice the difference. At the cheap end Vapextech batteries have a good reputation, but just about all batteries are good these days, just avoid the really cheap ones.
You don't need to run a slow charge through modern packs, if anything it has been known to damage them. Discharging them fully before charging does help extend their life though and any decent charger will be able to discharge them as well.
Cheap chargers just do that - charge. The really cheap 20-30 chargers are simple chargers that charge at relatively low rates (so it takes longer to charge) and will get power into the batteries. Cheap ones also all seem to have a cut off timer built in as a safety feature, which means with higher capacity batteries you might have to restart it to get the pack fully charged.
Spending a bit more will give you a charger that can charge at higher rates and have a digital display so you have some idea of what is happening, such as how much power has gone into the pack. They can also discharge the packs before charging and quite often have the ability to charge lipo batteries as well.
At the extreme end the ProTrak enables you to hook your cells up to a laptop and get a set of charge/discharge graphs for each individual cell, will charge and/or discharge every cell individually and even run in your motor. It will cost you 196 or 242 with all the options.
I presume you will want a 240v charger, so you don't need to charge from 12v. In which case I would recommend the Graupner Ultramat 14 A bargain at that price, a few of them are used at my club, they are reliable and allow Lipo charging as well. It's what I would probably buy myself if I was after a new charger. If you want something to charge from the mains then make sure you buy it in the UK, buying over here also means if anything goes wrong it can be repaired. Buying electronics from abroad means you will have to send it back there if it goes wrong.
Lipo batteries have been around in r/c cars for about 3-4 years now. The big advantage is they can be charged one day and left until you need to use them, they don't go flat like other types. The batteries are lighter and being 7.4v instead of 7.2v they give you more speed. The downside is to prevent you overdischarging them you really need a lipo compatible ESC or a cutoff device. You can get away without, but if you run the lipo pack too low it will not charge up again at all. If you are considering lipo make sure you get a battery which has a hard case around it, there are cheap ones that aren't designed specifically for cars, these are without a hard case and they tend not to last too long before being damaged. I would stick to normal batteries for now but buy a charger with the option to charge them for the future.
May thanks for this great post! I think I will buy the charger you have sent the link on. As you say it seems to do everything, but does it discharge also? I couldn't see where it said it did?
Also would you mind sending me a good link for batteries please? When you say the 7.4, is that bigger than the 7.2v of old? I ask as I am going to buy a couple of old Tamiya re-re's, andwouldn't want to get a 7.4 new one and discover they don't fit!
Many thanks
-
duratrax makes a nice nimh 4200 mah battery pack for under $40. good quality and long run time.
i have 3 chargers. each has something good/bad. questions for you to consider:
1. will you ever want to upgrade to lipo?
2. if so, do you buy a charger now that can handle them or wait til later?
3. 1 battery at a time or 2?
4. where do you need it? ie, home or track? AC or DC?
5. discharger built in or not?
6. how much info, or how many set up options do you want to see/mess with?
7. how much do you want to spend?
8. how much control do you want over charge rates? ie, automatic = easy, but not always optimal, OR manual = better, but fussy and you do the work
lots to think about, i know.
i got a 2 battery auto select charger to fast charge my stick packs for the emaxx since it takes 2x batteries at a time. its fast & easy, but false peaks fairly often and isn't great on the stick packs lifespan.
i also got a basic prophet. i select the amp rate from 1, 2 or 4 amps. works great, but absolutely no features at all. no discharger, no options, nothing.
i also have a duratrax piranha. nicer features, totally programmable, shows me the battery health, lots of options. no discharger still, and won't do lipos.
you can pick and choose the features and price that are important to you. i probably have enough invested now in 3 different models, i could have bought the mercedes benz of the lot and saved money.
at least i can do 4 batteries at once now. Thanks for the advice. What would the Mercedes Benz of the lot been then and how much?
Also if I were looking for an automatic quick charger that can do either one or two at a time, and can discharge, what would I be looking at/for?
Are Lipos the next generation of battery to hit the market soon then? If so when are they due and is it worth getting a charger that does these too? I guess the answer to that is yes right?
-
Hi guys,
OK I will be ordering my first new Tamiya kits (the first time in about 20 years and im really excited!!). I just wanted to ask advice on the best batteries (7.2V) to buy and the best quick charger to get for them? I know the more 'Milliamps' the batteries the longer they last (i.e. 3600 will be better than a 2600 for example) but i'm not sire the best brands etc and what to look for and what to avoid. Also is it still the case that you need to run a 'slow charge' once in a while with the batteries too as quick charges always fry them? Whats the difference between cheap and expensive chargers? Any names of models and link would be greatly appreciated. I have done as much reading as possible on the subject but info only seems available on each charger as opposed to telling you what to look for etc!
Many thanks as always
-
Look at the Manuals section on TC - the back of every manual has a graphical display of all the parts, complete with Tamiya part numbers and quantities, that make up the kit. Pick the model you fancy, write down all the part numbers and quantities, and get searching!
Ebay is a good start, most sellers list parts by Tamiya number so just type in the part number you're looking for and search. Bear in mind some parts for some models are getting very rare, so you could be looking for a very long time and end up spending a lot of money - very disappointing if you're 95% complete and way out of pocket when Tamiya announce a re-release
Places like the Tamiyaclub Sales & Wants are very useful for tracking down particular parts if you can't find them on ebay or through vintage Tamiya stockists, and often cheaper too.
Best of luck!
Brilliant thanks! The only trouble of course, is the fact that Tamiya MAY re-release the Beetle, then I would most probably burst into tears!
B) -
Yes, it's possible, but it may take a while to track down some of the parts. It's quite fun to do it this way, although can get expensive of course. An original body parts set is going to be the most expensive thing to find, unless you're happy just to use a Blitzer Beetle body parts set.
I've built a few cars out of spare parts bags I've acquired. I collected all the parts to build a Super Shot, then found I had enough doubles of major chassis parts that I set about to get the rest of the parts to build an original Hot Shot to go with it. I've built a Frog and a Fox from brand new parts, and have enough Fox parts left over to build another one.
I think that there is a small chance we'll see the Monster Beetle re-released at some point.
- James
Cool, I imagine that would be a laugh collecting all of the parts to build a car from scratch! Would you know of any sites where they list all the parts that make up an entire car??
Also I wonder if Tamiya have any regular news when they annouce ideas on re-releases, do you know?
Thanks
-
I think it would make great sense to re-re the MB as it was such a successful model first time around, plus (unlike many popular vintage models) is actually not too flawed in design. OK, it's a bit top-heavy, and the drivetrain wasn't the strongest, but unlike most Tamiya trucks it came with oil shocks as standard, and with a lexan shell included (like the Brat) and a Frog re-re drivetrain it would be much better and more desireable than Tamiya's current (and rather basic) 2wd monster, the Blackfoot Extreme.
I never had a Monster Beetle in the old days and am not a huge Beetle fanatic. However, I'd go mad if they re-re'd the Mud Blaster, as this was my only kit I ever built from NIB "back in the day" and I have so many happy happy memories of building, painting and destroying that truck
If they could include a lexan basher shell and some Monster Beetle oil shocks, that would make my day...Come on Tamiya - listen to the people, we NEED more re-releases!
-
They are quite a few parts tree's short to re do the chassis, it doesn't share as much with the frog as many people think.
If they do re release the chassis, I think the mud blaster would be the choice of truck, as the shell is already in production again, along with a lexan copy.
I'd like to see it re released, but japan dictates the re release market, so expect more of those cool 1980's space age style buggies first.
Don't say that I need one NOW!!! hehe. So what about building one from scratch? Is it possible? Could it be done by buying all the parts? I bet it would cost a fortune though am I right? After all I know the body shells for the beetle go for a small fortune don't they!
-
Hi guys. I was a huge fan of the Monster Beetle, and owned one a long time ago. It seemed a hugely popular car and I wonder if those on here think it will be re-released? Tamiya seem to be releasing so many old classics, I wonder if this is next on the line?
What do you think?
-
If this helps at all there is a site we could all go and learn a little something from. It is simply "www.batteryuniversity.com" and it has a bit of information on batteries as a whole.
Nice one i'll have a read
-
No, they're all 7.2 volts. The higher numbers mean higher capacity, so they last longer on a charge. What they allow, however, is the use of hotter motors or lower gearing, for more speed without sacrificing run time. But in a back-to-back test, in the same car, you won't notice any speed increase just from a higher mAh battery.
The older 8xAA cars were slower because they had much smaller motors and were very conservatively geared.
Sure, but why were the cars twice the speed if you put rechargable nicad batteries in them instead of just standard say duracell ones?
-
Brilliant. So I presume that the newer batteries (higher capacity ones from the NiCd for example) produce better output (more power to the cars)?Your spot on with the numbers, the higher the number the longer the battery will last. Letters at the end of the numbers, do you mean mAh or NiCd, NiMh?I am not an expert but here is a basic run down:
2100 mAh NiCd = 2100 milliamp hour Nickel Cadmium battery (NiCd is fast becoming old school)
mAh is the unit of measure for battery capacity, Nickel Cadmium is the chemical compound the cells are made from.
There are other types of battery also, the two other common types used in r/c are:
NiMh = Nickel metal hydride, higher capacity than NiCd (I would say just about main stream by now)
LiPO = Lithium Polymer, even higher capacity again, very light, but starts to get complicated with cell sizes and shapes, charging proceedures and the type of charger needed. (cutting edge stuff but gaining popularity fast)
RC Driver magazine has had some really good articles on battery types and chargers over the last few months, see if you can get some back issues they will help.
I remember when NiCad came out and man did R/C cars go twice the speed with these in (the eight AAA battery ones!) than they did with normal Duracell ones - I presume this is why, is that correct?
Finally, I also presume the higher numbered batteries not only last longer but also produce a little extra power too, would that also be correct?
-
i am now 28 but i feel 98 and act 18.
Ahahahaha ROFL nice one that's quailty (not to mention that's exactly how I feel!)
-
Great posts guys! It really is great to read everyone's stories from years gone by, and makes me feel a little better knowing there are others of similar age to me on here
Ok so who is next up then?
-
Contining on from the NIB question, does anyone know what s/h means?
-
Here is a post that was about this topic a few weeks ago. I guess it comes down to how much you want to spend, dollars vs features. A top notch charger is something I always wanted but never seem to get around to purchasing, somehow end up buying a NIB kit instead
That's great, thank you so much for your help
One thing though, is there any translation as to what the letters mean at the end of each battery? Are some just a better quality or does it mean some last longer / have more power? Am I right in thinking that it's the numbers at the beginning of the battery that make it last longer? i.e. a 3300 is going to last longer than a 2300? I have no idea what the letters after these numbers mean though?
-
There is a Sales/Trades Wanted section in the root of these forums.
http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?showforum=13
But if your talking about the classifieds on the main Tamiyaclub.com website I am pretty sure you have to be a paid subscriber to be able to add those. (paid subscription is another thing I keep meaning to buy but end up spending on ebay instead
... I should get onto that..)Ahhhhhh right, ok many thanks
-
Does anyone know how to do this? I just can't appear to find where to do it!
Many thanks
-
The Ninja was followed by the Shogun, which was just an upgraded Ninja. Spares for Maruis are very hard to come by as of course spares were only made while the kits were available, but the usual source of parts is either ebay the Tamiyaclub traderooms. For a full list of Maruis, check out RetroR/Cs collection
That's great Terry many thanks
-
I notice that nowadays there are literally hundreds of different types of chargers on sale. Way back in the day when I first got into R/C racing, it was a simple choice between an overnight 'trickle charge' or a fast charger (30 mins). Now I see there are soooooo many differently names chargers, I really have no idea where to start, can anyone point me in the right direction?
Thanks
-
Hi guys, I wondered if anyone has a NIB Mauri Ninja that they may want to sell? If so do PM me,
Many thanks
-
and i should say that the MSC is not utterly useless, its just that i don't like them. i think they work fine if you maintain them and keep them free of dirt and debris, but i just never liked messing with them.
some folks like them because they were original equipment and they grew up with them. by the time i got into the hobby the ESC was standard and i think they just perform so much better than the old technology.
MSCs remind me of the old points and condenser that were in my 1968 vw bug when i bought it. i promptly removed it and threw it away the 1st time it needed maintenance and replaced it with an electronic ignition module. nearly the same analogy.
I know what you mean now. It would appear all of the R/C cars I ever built or owned had ESC's..shows how long it has been since the last time I built a car hey!
-
"Now just turned 18 last month and not bad really for a college student collection, "
Geez no thats good, you must be loaded
-
Welcome to the forum again.
mine started off when I was 6 with a Tandy off Road Tiger - great Machine with loads of torque and no real top speed, was tough as old boots and took 4 x C class batteries allowing me to go on really long runs with the family walks.
Over time I had many other "cheap" and "semi cheap" cars from the likes of nikko and more from Tandy, still nothin proper so to speak.
then for my 14th Birthday I got my first car a tamiya TT01 Subaru Impreza WRC 2003. From then its just grown a grown and I still have that very car in my cupboard as a chassis, Current list of cars I have had (that I can remember now) and there present state is below.
2x TT01 - My original I still have and one I passed thourgh as a trade.
1x TL01 B baja king - Sold
2x TL01 - both sold
1x TA05 - sold as belts and bashing + stones dont mix.
2x TB02 - 1 sold then bourght another that now underpins my Touareg
1x CC-01 - Sold as didnt like the steering, not really race touareg material :L
3x TB01 - 2 sold and one kept which is my full option LA one.
1x DF03 - Dark Impact that underpins my Pajero T3
1x MO4L - that is underpinning my 2wd dakar buggy project.
1x custom truck chassis for a dakar support truck project.
Also here and part owned with dad is a Merc 1850L box lorry and a knight hauler with flat bed trailer. Further dad has a TB01, TT01 and CC01 based defender.
Now just turned 18 last month and not bad really for a college student collection, I also have a fair few Nib bodysets that are there for a rainy day.
Done Bodysets
- CLK GTR sportsware
- 99 Impreza WRC R.Burns (RIP)
- 2006 race touareg (used)
- Impreza 2001 Proto (used)
- Lancer VI (used)
- Impreza 2007 Irish Rally (lightly used with lights)
- HKS CLK (used)
New ones
- CLK GTR sportsware
- Lancer VI
- HKS CLK
- Bowler Wildcat
I also have some shells on ebay and a load of various Wrc decals.
Best Wishes
Ryck
Cool, so how old are you now?
Paints With New Kits!
in General discussions
Posted
Hi guys,
Can anyone tell me if paints come with new kits or if you have to purchase them separately? I ask as I am going to buy a new Hornet and also a Lunchbox and need to know if I should be ordering paints etc for them?
Also can someone tell me in a nutshell the difference the between a 3000mah batter and a 4200 one?
Thanks