End of an era.

[Juggular 5079]

Here in Chentenham, Pennsylvania, we have household hazardous waste recycling program few times a year. It might be Montgomery County's program. (For those who are not in US, a Township is small like 2km x 2km or so. A County is bigger, like 37km x 37km. There are 67 counties in the State of Pennsylvania, which is like 500km x 250km.)  

At any rate, I recycled most of my old NiMH packs that died long ago.  This really felt like I was closing a chapter of my life.  Is it strange that I measure my life in terms of RC stuff?  

Most were from 2003-2005.  I don't think NiMH are that toxic, so perhaps I could have just tossed them in the bin.  But they had the recycle symbols.  

I built some packs like this one with a 30w soldering iron.  I needed a 60w iron, but didn't know it at the time. 

A hump pack for Willis M38.  It looks terrible because I didn't have a shrinkwrap large enough for the extra one on top.  

I forgot why I did this.  I think TLC had a short bed?  

I've switched over to XT60 in 2017.  Batteries that held 300mAh weren't worth the conversion.  

A local school had cones set up in the parking lot.  Volunteers opened my hatch and took out used motor oil, transmission fluid, and a box of a dozen batteries.  But why was there a policeman?  Who'd steal used batteries?  Or is it because American school grounds are inherently dangerous?  

On the way back, I found a tiny park. There was only 1 woman and her toddler returning to her car.  One old dude sitting in a van listening to music.   

I found a little creek along the edge.  There was a small dam or flow control device.  If looked like you could jump over.  I'm sure teenagers do it all the time.  

Then I remembered that I recycled batteries that might be older than those teenagers and came to my senses.  

From under, it looked like 1.3m - 1.5m or about 4-5 feet wide.  With age, should come wisdom.  A tape measure!  If I know the distance, I can draw it on my driveway and see if I can jump it.  Wait a minute, why should I do it, when my DT-03 could do it? 

So, the life lesson was; don't break your old body that has hit Five-0.  Instead, find ways to break Tamiya bodies (or chassis).  I should check on my LiPo batteries to see if they need charges.  

Even in nature, all I think of is gears and wheels.  If you are the same, something's wrong with us, don't you think?  

 

[alvinlwh 6893]

.

[Saito2 7249]

That's a nice story. I too measure time (at times, lol) by when I acquired RC stuff, including batteries. I just wish I could part with defunct ones as you did, like dead batteries.

6 hours ago, Juggular said:

But why was there a policeman?  Who'd steal used batteries?  Or is it because American school grounds are inherently dangerous?  

Yes they are. But whereas I would give up all my RCs in a heartbeat if it meant even went just a hundredth of a percent toward saving a human life was in the cards, others don't feel that way. (that's oversimplification of a more complex issue admittedly). Much like our disastrous healthcare system, politicians won't touch the issue as we watch our children die. Isn't money and lobbying and politics a wonderful mixture ?  Ok, sorry. Off the soapbox.

6 hours ago, Juggular said:

So, the life lesson was; don't break your old body that has hit Five-0.

Isn't it funny? We take things for granted until we can't do them anymore. Fortunately some of us wise up and think of ways around...

6 hours ago, Juggular said:

Even in nature, all I think of is gears and wheels.  If you are the same, something's wrong with us, don't you think?  

Same here. I hike with my family weekly in the summer. As we go about, I think about how the terrain could be tackled by those gears and wheels. I guess its "built" into us.

[ADRay1000 423]

good on ya… God knows where mine from then are. 

[GermanTA03Guy 1372]

9 hours ago, Juggular said:

Even in nature, all I think of is gears and wheels

Haha, well said. But that Park looks like bashing ground for sure... 

[Otis311 265]

Batteries always had a special place in my heart. They were as much a part of my cars as any other part. Growing up without much money available I had one car (Dirt Thrasher with MSC), an old AM transmitter and one battery. That battery was the most important part of the car. It may have only given me 5 pitiful minutes of run time but it was all I had. That battery was abused by a timed quick charger but kept on ticking. I eventually got a two pack of the cheapest batteries I could get. They were intended for the oh so pined for, yet utterly unobtainable, Emaxx. Those batteries were also used and abused. It was bittersweet to toss (recycle) the batteries but also a relief to leave that aspect of my life behind.

[zerobug 5]

The best part about going through old nimh/nicad packs is seeing the old labels and the memories that go with them... old mail order companies long gone, local RC shops long closed up, your "lucky" pack for racing, etc.

 

23 hours ago, Juggular said:

But why was there a policeman?

Most likely it was for prescription medication disposal. Our local recycling events would have a table staffed by either local police or county sheriff deputies where they would accept bottles of unused medications that are then disposed of in some manner that was safer than tossing them in with the rest of the garbage.

[Nicadraus 6422]

Looks like a nice place for some trailing and crawling.

[bRIBEGuy 3349]

On 6/17/2024 at 9:58 PM, Juggular said:

At any rate, I recycled most of my old NiMH packs that died long ago.  This really felt like I was closing a chapter of my life.  Is it strange that I measure my life in terms of RC stuff? 

 

18 hours ago, zerobug said:

The best part about going through old nimh/nicad packs is seeing the old labels and the memories that go with them... old mail order companies long gone, local RC shops long closed up, your "lucky" pack for racing, etc.

Reading this made me smile, as I actually did the same thing recently.  A friend of mine was getting out of the hobby, so he brought me bins of his old stuff to go thru for him.  I completely forgot that he had most of my old batteries too, as he wanted all my NiCd/NiMh stuff when I went to LiPo.  There were old stick packs from when we raced M03's, custom packs I had built for crawlers, E-Maxx's, and Savages, and a few other odds and ends.  It felt good to "move past them", but it was also a silly moment filled with memories and smiles.  It was different times back then... I seriously doubt I will have the same reaction to one day disposing of the GensAce shorty LiPo I just picked up last week....LOL.

[SlideWRX 883]

I think the police was there because they were dealing with "hazardous materials".  Someone with training probably had to be there for the insurance.  You know, toss the cat litter on the spill...

[technics 3163]

@Juggular Nicely written and poetic thoughts if you think about it - the battery is the soul of the entire rc experience. It is handled double or triple the amount of times than the rc itself. It is what brings movement to the objects on our desk and shelf. It’s something you have to look for sometimes and remember where it is. Definitely appreciate the heat exchange after running or charging.

As a side note, having gotten back into the hobby post career and kids since 2015, the lipo battery is the dream come true in terms of power boost to any setup as simple as a silver can and a 60-80A esc. It’s what was always missing for me as a kid. I knew nothing about gear ratios and motor trickery back then that can help. But as a single leap forward it’s one of my main reason of my excitement now is how much pep any setup has with a decent 70A+ esc and a lipo. 
 

 

[RichieRich 771]

One time, I bought a very well used rc10 at a hobby shop in Burbank. After I paid and the shop owner handed me the car, I turned around to leave and he said, "WAIT!" He then proceeded to hand me a bag full of old NiCd battery packs. He said they were part of the sale. There were 15 packs in various states of decay. They sat in the shed for years until we moved and that's when I took them to a recycling place similar to what Juggular did. And yeah, I'm 100% sure those batteries were older than the kids taking them out of my truck and putting them in the proper boxes.

[Wooders28 4865]

I've some lipos that I should really get rid of, but not, as they've been my 'goto' favourite (?) lipo in the past (like a good 10yrs ago..) but now take an age to balance charge, and even the casing on one is starting to puff....😳

Thanks @Juggular, for the elbow nudge.

[Juggular 5079]

23 hours ago, technics said:

It’s what was always missing for me as a kid.

Oh yes!  I forgot about the frustration of 5-minute run with a 1200mAh NiCd battery. (I only had one battery back then. Multiple batteries was a bit of a luxury.)  

5 minute is a strange thing.  Sometimes when you are racing and focusing on every turn, it feels like forever. I'd go like, "wow, I raced twice with one battery!"  But when you are bashing, it goes flat in a flash.  I'd walk all the way to the playground and bash for 5 minutes and come back.  "Back so soon?"  "Yeah mom."  "You must have left right away." "Pretty much."  

You lose a screw on your servo horn.  Before you go home, you want to drain the half-remained charge, so you can to avoid the memory-effect.  You turn off the transmitter and receiver to save those (many) AA batteries.  You turn the mechanical speed control and drain the battery.  You flip your grasshopper upside down on your lap. Of course, the battery runs F..O..R..E..V..E..R.  You get bored, so you play with the MSC many times.  It's inevitable that you end up touching the hot resister and burn your finger...

Good old days only those who were kids in the 70s and 80s remember...  

 

=========== About the photo ==========

Not to self:  Do not name your photo "hump pack." 

The photo-hosting site will see that it's a long-ish object, it will see the title of "pack" and "hump," and decide it's totally inappropriate, and remove the photo repeatedly.  Get your mind out of gutter, Imgur AI.  

(image borrowed from @Jamesssb for educational and satirical purposes.) 

 

[ADRay1000 423]

anyone ever put a NiCad on one of these bad boys and forget about it? I forgot when I was about 10, and I came home to the battery so hot it burned a mark in the finish on my desk in my bedroom.
 

I can still hear my mom saying “you could have burned the whole house down!!”  

[Otis311 265]

3 hours ago, ADRay1000 said:

anyone ever put a NiCad on one of these bad boys and forget about it? I forgot when I was about 10, and I came home to the battery so hot it burned a mark in the finish on my desk in my bedroom.
 

I can still hear my mom saying “you could have burned the whole house down!!”  

LOL. Yep I have that charger. Melted my DF-01 tub with it. Chassis still worked but was all demented looking. The whole "never charge a battery in your car" rule was proven on that day.

Pro tip: Your battery is fully charged when the shrink wrap on the pack starts to tear open. If the shrink wrap on the individual cells starts to melt and tear you have over charged