Looking for a certain battery

[Malakite]

Hi Guys,

I am after getting another battery for my sons radio controlled boat he has just got. Here is a pic of the battery - any ideas where I might get one from, I can't seem to find them anywhere?!

Many thanks

[Percymon]

There's a couple of 9.6V NiCd ones on ebay , item 400220859144 as an example

Vapextech do good batteries... www.vapextech.co.uk TX Pack 9.6v 2400mAh Nimh Flat 4x2

[Malakite]

There's a couple of 9.6V NiCd ones on ebay , item 400220859144 as an example

Vapextech do good batteries... www.vapextech.co.uk TX Pack 9.6v 2400mAh Nimh Flat 4x2

That's brilliant thanks so much! What would be the best battery from those two any ideas??

[Percymon]

NiCd is pretty old tech these days, although the one on ebay is 700mAh so will give a longer run time compared to your current 600mAH (and will take proportionally longer to charge). I'd suggest you stick with NiMH for its better technology, and compatibility with your current set up

The Vapextech pack, at 2400mAh will run for 4 times as long as your current pack, possibly with stronger performance too as their battery packs seem to be pretty capable at current delivery.

Just check whatever charger you have available is suitable for higher capacity NiMH . If you are using a wall plug charger you may be waiting an awful long time to charge a 2400mAh pack, OK if you plan ahead but lots of those chargers are very slow charge and may take 2 days to fully charge that pack.

[TA-Mark]

Higher capacity means a longer runtime. Most Ni-Cd AA x8 packs are lucky to be over 1500mAh (usually around 850mAh). The Ni-MH packs are usually 2400mAh or 2500mAh. So the Ni-MH would run for over 1/3rd the time longer (or more).

You do need a Ni-MH specific charger to charge them, or a programmable charger with the right settings. The charger that will have come with your old Ni-Cd pack will damage the Ni-MH pack.

[DooBeDooBeDo]

The battery pack second from bottom on this page: http://www.vapextech.co.uk/acatalog/copy_o..._Batteries.html looks much better value than the one on ebay it is 4x the capacity of your current pack (600mah) at 2400mah and over 3x the capacity of the one on ebay (700mah) for the same price.

[Percymon]

The charger that will have come with your old Ni-Cd pack will damage the Ni-MH pack.

I made that error too, until i rechecked the photo to find the current battery is NiMH

[Percymon]

The battery pack second from bottom on this page: http://www.vapextech.co.uk/acatalog/copy_o..._Batteries.html looks much better value than the one on ebay it is 4x the capacity of your current pack (600mah) at 2400mah and over 3x the capacity of the one on ebay (700mah) for the same price.

Two votes for that pack then - Vapextech are normally pretty quick on delivery too.

[Malakite]

Brilliant guys very helpful indeed. I shall go for the Ni-MH one then - longer running time with a boat that may not come back if the battery runs out sounds like a perfect idea to me

I have a special charger at home - Graupner or however you spell it, so I know that will have all the correct settings on it. I'll just have to read up on what charge current I should stick through it!!

[DooBeDooBeDo]

You do need a Ni-MH specific charger to charge them, or a programmable charger with the right settings. The charger that will have come with your old Ni-Cd pack will damage the Ni-MH pack.

The old pack is NiMH so your existing charger should work - don't get NiCD as you'll need a different charger...

[DooBeDooBeDo]

My typing must be slow - beaten to it every time - by several people...

[Percymon]

Brilliant guys very helpful indeed. I shall go for the Ni-MH one then - longer running time with a boat that may not come back if the battery runs out sounds like a perfect idea to me

I have a special charger at home - Graupner or however you spell it, so I know that will have all the correct settings on it. I'll just have to read up on what charge current I should stick through it!!

1C charging (2.4A for a 2400mAh battery) will give you full charge in an hour and is pretty safe. 1.2A = 2 hours etc etc. Check the battery label for any limitations though before first charge.

[TA-Mark]

The old pack is NiMH so your existing charger should work - don't get NiCD as you'll need a different charger...

Spotted once I enlarged the picture. Usually the low mAh packs are Ni-Cd, so I assumed.

[Malakite]

Excellent. I could use the simple plug-in charger that came with it but I imagine that would take ages to charge plus with it you never actually know when it's fully charged!!

[TA-Mark]

you never actually know when it's fully charged!!

The main reason I always use my programmable chargers to charge any type of cell/pack. If it doesn't have delta peak built into the charger I tend to toss it.

[WillyChang]

btw those 8xAA Nikko/Tyco/etc toy battery packs are also used as TX packs by Futaba etc

you can buy packs made out of Sanyo NiMH 2500s, won't be cheap but they're the best

if you're just trickle-charging you can do 250-400mA overnight, doesn't need anything NiMH specific