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Yalson

Tekin 410K/NiMh cells.

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I have a Tekin 410K ESC which has not been used since about 1994 mounted in one of my old cars. It worked perfectly when it was last used so I am considering reusing it with a different chassis. I am a little concerned about batteries, though, as the last time it was used we were still using NiCads. I would not use it with LiPos, but would it be safe to use with NiMh packs? I have no idea about the relative outputs for NiCads and NiMhs, (besides the obvious capacity benefits for NiMhs) so I don't know if it is a straight swap between the two.

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It should be fine, NiMH and NiCD are basically interchangeable. I believe that NiCD has slightly better discharge rates, like 15C vs 10 - 12C for NiMH.  NiMH has a slightly flatter discharge curve though so doesn't drop off as fast. 

I think the main reason NiCD has disappeared is environmental - they have been banned in many places because they are worse for the environment. I don't know if thats the mining of resources to make them, the process to make them or the energy to make them, or the disposal, but NiMH are nicer on the environment.

I get my information from a friend who knows his stuff (electrical engineer) but talked about this a couple of years ago with him so may have it all wrong!

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You are right about the environmental impact.  NiCds contain cadmium, obviously.  That's very poisonous and hazardous, not what you ideally want in consumer products, and is the reason NiMH really took over.  On the discharge rate side, the measure would be to look at the internal resistance of the cells.  While the C-rating might slightly favour NiCd (I'm not sure about that though) the fact that NiMHs almost universally have higher total capacity means the real-world current you can extract will be higher for the NiMHs.

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Coolio. I was just asking to make sure there wasn't some reason you couldn't use new batteries with older ESCs. Seems like we're all good.

Thanks very much!

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