Saito 5 Posted January 30, 2009 A friend of mine is looking to get back into RC and is debating about what charger to get. He asked what was current and what was coming in the future as he does not wish to be spending money on a charger that will soon be obsolete. I honestly didn't know. NiMH are pretty much standard now. Will LiPo or Li-Ion be the way of the future and should he get a charger capable of handling those? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
civilguy 1 Posted January 30, 2009 If he has the financial means (the cash ) he should get a charger capable of nicds, nimhs, and lipos. Mine even does gel cells (starter boxes) and doubles as a power supply for my lathe & breaking in motors. I think lipos will be around for a while-- you can get all sorts of sizes & capacities for many r/c toys. These are just my thoughts-- so take them as that! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
terry.sc 16 Posted January 31, 2009 Current battery technology is both NiMh and LiPo. Any decent charger these days can handle both types of battery pack, if a charger can't handle both types then it's not worth having as it's unlikely to have the technology inside to look after your batteries anyway. LiPos are a stopgap technology, they give a performance increase over nimh and available in higher capacities with big price tags to match, but are likely to be replaced in a couple of years by LiFe (also known as A123) batteries that are lithium technology but compared with lipos they charge faster, handle more current, can be overcharged without catching fire, higher average voltage when under load, and a lot cheaper. I'm sure some would want to stick with lipo as they have a higher voltage. Currently they are only used in DeWalt cordless tools and electric cars, although Tamiya have announced their own LiFe battery packs. Being new technology still under development you can't buy chargers designed for them yet. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Saito 5 Posted January 31, 2009 So NiMH and LiPo will be around for some years to come then I take it? What is Li -Ion? I've never heard of it. My friend said the local hobby dealer made mention of it as the next possible big thing. Battery technology is getting to be like computers. Its not long until the "new" one you just bought is yesterday's news . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HereBeMonsters 9 Posted January 31, 2009 Li-Ion is the battery you'll get in a decent modern phone. I had one in my previous HTC Touch, used to last a week before it ran out. Brilliant tech. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
loaded 4 Posted January 31, 2009 I have nothing to add, save two irrelevances, if you will indulge me once again. 1) Believe it or not I have NiCads from 1976 and later which still work. 2) Reading this thread made me think of that scene in back to the future when Christopher Lloyd uses 'Mr Fusion' to get 1.21 GigaWatts of electricity into his DeLorean. There will be those of you who have no idea what I am taking about, which makes me feel sad and old ;-) Keep well, Paul. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Backlash 481 Posted January 31, 2009 Being new technology still under development you can't buy chargers designed for them yet. I have a "HotPower Balance Charger" that has the ability to charge, NiCd, NiMh, Pb, LiIon, LiPo and Life batteries... Its one of the "inexpensive" Chinese made units that was sold off by various companies under different names and colours... I also have a Hyperion LBA10 balancer that will also balance the A123/Life battery packs, and I just noticed that the new Hyperion chargers now have the ability to charge them also.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Backlash 481 Posted January 31, 2009 I have nothing to add, save two irrelevances, if you will indulge me once again.1) Believe it or not I have NiCads from 1976 and later which still work. 2) Reading this thread made me think of that scene in back to the future when Christopher Lloyd uses 'Mr Fusion' to get 1.21 GigaWatts of electricity into his DeLorean. There will be those of you who have no idea what I am taking about, which makes me feel sad and old ;-) Keep well, Paul. 1. I have a few 4200mAh NiMh packs that dropped a cell at only 1 month old.. I also have some 1200 Tamiya packs from the 80's that will still hold a "fair" charge.. 2. Didnt they use the 1.21 GigaWatts to power the "Flux-capacitor" in the DeLorean?? LOLOL... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
loaded 4 Posted January 31, 2009 The 1.21 Gigawatts of electricity was supposed to be created by a nuclear reaction, which is why he enlisted the Libyan terrorists in 1985. When Michael was sent back in time to 1955 to flirt with his mum, without the plutonium they needed to harness the power of lightning to create the energy required for the Flux Capacitor. Later, very near the end, Christopher Lloyd comes back from the future with a 'Mr fusion' attachment on the car which runs of waste, like banana peel in order to create the energy for the flux capacitor. I now feel like a geek of gargantuan proportions and am off to crawl behind my sofa and rethink my life priorities. Paul. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Saito 5 Posted January 31, 2009 Nah, don't feel like a geek (though there's nothing wrong with being one), Back To The Future is a great flick and John Z. DeLorean's stainless steel dream machine is one cool ride. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mymonsterbeetleisbroken 16 Posted January 31, 2009 Are you telling me that you built a time machine... out of a DeLorean!? I'm planning to get Lipo's soon. With brushless motors high quality Lipo's work better than NiMH. Seeing as brushless is the future, i guess NiMH will be phased out eventually. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
redzone 212 Posted January 31, 2009 i'm 99% sure my swallow EQ charger charges LiFe Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
grizy 12 Posted January 31, 2009 The 1.21 Gigawatts of electricity was supposed to be created by a nuclear reaction, which is why he enlisted the Libyan terrorists in 1985. When Michael was sent back in time to 1955 to flirt with his mum, without the plutonium they needed to harness the power of lightning to create the energy required for the Flux Capacitor.Later, very near the end, Christopher Lloyd comes back from the future with a 'Mr fusion' attachment on the car which runs of waste, like banana peel in order to create the energy for the flux capacitor. I now feel like a geek of gargantuan proportions and am off to crawl behind my sofa and rethink my life priorities. Paul. Its very sad when normally intelligent people fail to distinguish between reality and fantasy The "flux capacitor" and "mr fusion" are just make believe. Props to support the storyline in a film. The natural successor the LiPo and LiFe batteries will be Dilithium crystals for your cars warp core; of course this will be obsolete as soon as we've refined enough antideuterium for the matter/ antimatter reactor Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
loaded 4 Posted January 31, 2009 Very funny :-) Thanks for calling me intelligent, though :-) I was really expecting that hoverboard to work too :-( Paul. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
redzone 212 Posted January 31, 2009 i'm working on fuel cells utilising unobtainium, in the back shed. after breakfast i'm gonna split an atom too. where's my cold chisel gone???? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
loaded 4 Posted January 31, 2009 If you are looking for a chain reaction, just look out of the window if you live anywhere in New South Wales right now. At least there is no need to waste charcoal briquettes. Millionaire Hugh Hefner has invested money in a new battery system (presumably for portable electric devices and golf carts to drive around his mansion). It is a prototype for the moment and they are working on marketing names. Go-NADs is the name popping up as the constant favourite with the board though. Paul. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
terry.sc 16 Posted January 31, 2009 getting back on topic... So NiMH and LiPo will be around for some years to come then I take it? What is Li -Ion? I've never heard of it. My friend said the local hobby dealer made mention of it as the next possible big thing.Li-Ion is the same technology used in LiPo batteries, the difference is that Li-Ion needs a metal case to hold everything together as it's got a liquid solvent between the plates. Li-Po uses a polymer between the plates that they are stuck to, so they need no hard case to keep everything together and they can be made in flat shapes. The Li-Ion cells in phones and laptops are all Lipo cells, including all those Sony ones that burst into flames in Dell laptops With brushless motors high quality Lipo's work better than NiMH. Seeing as brushless is the future, i guess NiMH will be phased out eventually.A myth. Good quality modern nimhs match good quality lipos for power delivery and some even better lipos for voltage which means speed. Much like the same with brushless motors, someone uses cheap nimh cells that aren't looked after properly then swaps them for high quality lipos and notices a big speed increase. You also need lipos capable of putting out enough current to drive the motor, cheaper lipos can't match average nimhs. But one advantage lipos have for bashers is that they take a lot of weight off the chassis to give you better performance. Racers, with a minimum weight limit, don't have this advantage so their choice of lipo is down to lack of maintenance rather than speed. As the batteries we use are derived from power tools, that market dictates what batteries we will be able to buy in the future so we are likely to have nimh for some time. Li-ion cells are starting to appear in them but apart from a weight saving there is nothing going for them over nimh, especially for pro level tools where daily use has proven that lipo packs don't have anywhere near as many cycles before losing power compared with nimh, many tales after six months daily use of power tools a lipo version can be down to 25% of the capacity while nimh still managing 80% capacity after much more use. A bit off putting that you only get a few hundred cycles from those lipos when some of us have 15 year old nicads and 10 year old nimhs that are still working. The only exception is the DeWalt 36v Li-Fe cells that are proving to be a good alternative with high power output, but no idea of life span yet. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mymonsterbeetleisbroken 16 Posted February 1, 2009 A myth. Good quality modern nimhs match good quality lipos for power delivery and some even better lipos for voltage which means speed. Interesting terry, I guess Castle Creations are telling porky pies in the blurb for their Mamba Monster system? Unless it's big motor is an exception to the rules. They say NiMH won't be able to deliver enough current to the motor, but good quality lipo packs can: "... 10. Id like to make sure Im getting everything I can out of my Monster Max system. What are the best batteries to use? With our combo, most people will find that NiMH cells are useless as they cant handle the continuous or burst currents the Monster Max will draw for very long. If you use a lower kv motor, and gear lightly though, you can use NiMH cells. The best NiMH cells on the market for 1/10th scale vehicles are currently IB3800s, IB4200s, GP3700s, GP4300s, Elite 4000s, and Elite 4500s. The best lipo packs on the market right now that weve tested thoroughly are the Tanic 5000, NeuEnergy 5000, FlightPower Evo 25 5000, FlightPower Evo 30 4500, and MaxAmps 6000 and 8000 packs. This is not to say these are the only packs that will work, these are the only packs weve tested that we KNOW work. Feel free to give us a call if youd like to know if your particular pack is going to handle the discharge currents these systems are capable of...." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Origineelreclamebord 45 Posted February 1, 2009 For the upcoming time it will be NiMh, LiPo and I can see NiCd vanish. And HereBeMonsters, Li-Ion batteries may sound like a good option, but I don't understand why they don't use LiPo for them. My Nokia 6310i has a Lipo battery and after more than 5 years of constant use it still does a week with one charge (although lately it seem to sack). I know colour screens etc. demand more power, but after a year those Li-ion batteries seem dead already! The LiFe batteries sound promising from what terry.sc said - but for now it will be NiMh and LiPo... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Saito 5 Posted February 1, 2009 Ah, now things get sticky for my friend. He charged up some of his old NiCds and believe it or not they still work after all this time. After initially starting this thread, it looked like a simple upgrade to an inexpensive NiMH charger would do until the LiFe/LiPo battle is settled but...its brushless motors that got him looking back into RC as he wasn't to keen on motor upkeep the first time around back in the day. If what Terry said is correct than maybe NiMH will do for now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WillyChang 1814 Posted February 1, 2009 gee... i was hoping for a fuelcell that's fully functional at room temperature, running off slide-in ampoules of butane/methane/ethane (like C02 cartridges) that can be quick-changed as many times as you need and the whole package would be in the shape of a stickpack... with a tamiya plug 7.2V output WHO NEEDS CHARGERS??! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HereBeMonsters 9 Posted February 1, 2009 For this time of year I need batteries that will discharge in 0-5c degree temperatures. Just been out for a bash, and I had to warm the NiCads in my pockets before I put them in the car, or they wouldn't work. NiMH wouldn't work at all (although it is brand new, may need a few cycles first), but strangely the LiPo worked brilliantly. Got over an hour run time in my VLB with it - half on full throttle on a wide open field, half "crawling" over some logs, through ditches etc. 30 for a LiPo, or 3 x 10 NiCads? I know which I'm going to stick with! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
