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jeekelemental

Leaving The Modern Era: Back to NiMHs!

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Yesterday I've ordered a pair of comfortable and stress free 5000mah NiMH!
I've seriuosly and proudly tried to enter the modern era but when 2 of the 6 Lipos I've bough during this years started to bulge I've decided to throw them away: my fault, for sure. :wacko:
I do not drive often my little cars and after my moving in Venice I haven't neither a proper workbench to take care of my stuff so I've decided to switch back to NiMHs.
Of course I will not start to wear animal fur and to carry a wooden club :D but for a while I will comfortably remain in the NiMH limbo B)

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Good for you, still have some great working NiCd I regularly use. 😁

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I sold my li-po batteries when I stopped racing and have only used ni-mh batteries since. The extra weight helps the crawlers and the Mad Bull will only accept certain li-po cells anyway.

Never really felt the need to go back.

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1 hour ago, Scouser said:

The extra weight helps the crawlers....

I'll echo that...the weight helps and I find the softer power delivery keeps things a little more controlled. 

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From someone who never left the "olden times" , I say welcome back!  I'd still have NiCds if I could get ahold of them. Who knows? Maybe someday we'll see the return of motor lathes and even MSCs.

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9 minutes ago, Saito2 said:

From someone who never left the "olden times" , I say welcome back!  I'd still have NiCds if I could get ahold of them. Who knows? Maybe someday we'll see the return of motor lathes and even MSCs.

Well... MSC is one of the thing I quit for first and I don't feel so nostalgic about it :D:D:D

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Nothing really wrong with the old nimh or nicad for that matter assuming they are decent quality. For awhile there, there was tons of really crap nimh packs available. I still remember the old Sanyo/Tamiya rc1700scr Nicads, I never found a nimh that was quite as punchy as that particular nicad. 

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I am with you. Still using original Tamiya NiCads for my Tam Tech Gear buggy's and NiMH for my 1/10 cars. 

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Just use whatever gives you the least stress!

I haven't had any lipo issues so far but no doubt that the risks are higher IF you have a failure or make a mistake etc.

NiMh/NiCad still do the job perfectly well.

There's some who will claim that NiMh are no good for brushless but I've never agreed with this personally. Neither battery type is inherently more suited to a particular motor. Lipo has more punch but that's true regardless of motor type. That doesn't automatically mean NiMh is any less suited to brushless than it is brushed.

If anything, all else being equal, a brushless will be more efficient and draw less current which could actually give a NiMh an easier life than a comparable brushed motor.

I seldom use them now but I think they are still perfectly valid power sources, especially for 1/10 scale stuff. 

 

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I just remembered one potential pitiful of lipo too that has nothing to do with their volatility.

Now and then, you'll come across a vintage RC that is running right on the raggedy edge in terms of motor temps when using a NiMH/NiCad. Presumably because it was geared to work just within acceptable limits with the available batteries at the time ie: NiCad and capacities around 12-1600mah. This can either be by design or user upgrades but the end result is the same.

If you use a lipo in vehicles like this, the motor suddenly has access to a much greater supply of current which wasn't originally factored in. The motor suddenly has enough rope to hang itself and can overheat.

While it's true that lipos don't "push" more current into a motor, if you have a setup that is capable of drawing more current than NiCads could supply at the time and suddenly give it the ability to draw all it wants, things can get very toasty. This is compounded by the fact that lipos will have a higher voltage for the duration of the run and typically come in much higher capacities too. 4000mah+ is typical.

I've killed a couple of motors this way. 

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I keep thinking I should make the jump to lipo.  By the time I get around to it we'll probably have solid state batteries available.

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Still happily running NiMh's. I dont doubt the advantages of Lipos but I'm lazy and I know I'd forget to put them into storage charge  and that would be expensive. I have to say though I have one boat, a metre long MTB that currently runs twin 500 johnsons that only really runs properly for about 5 mins at best. Really needs two decent brushless motors and 3s lipos. Maybe one day

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Electronic speed controllers & LiPo batteries are a wonderful combination, whether for brushed or brushless motors. I think the only vehicle in my entire fleet not running LiPo is a 1/32 HPI Q32. NiMH batteries are, like MSCs, a thing of the past. A little 2S LiPo will do the work of a big, heavy NiMH battery, run more efficiently and give consistent power delivery. 

Of course, there is a cost factor, and there is absolutely no need to upgrade if you are happy with what you have, but to actually replace LiPo with NiMH is surprising.

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I sold all my LiPos for less stress. I'll happily let my little boy use NiHM but LiPos are stressful. I could teach him about Lipo safety and one day I will just not yet. He needs the fun of running rc's.

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14 minutes ago, TwistedxSlayer said:

I sold all my LiPos for less stress. I'll happily let my little boy use NiHM but LiPos are stressful. I could teach him about Lipo safety and one day I will just not yet. He needs the fun of running rc's.

Totally agree. A couple of 3300mah Nimh packs were more than enough for us on the beach with the Twin Detonator. And I didn’t have to explain to Mrs BC why I was storing batteries in a fire bag or hauling an ammo box on holiday!

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On 11/30/2019 at 12:31 AM, lsear2905 said:

Electronic speed controllers & LiPo batteries are a wonderful combination, whether for brushed or brushless motors. I think the only vehicle in my entire fleet not running LiPo is a 1/32 HPI Q32. NiMH batteries are, like MSCs, a thing of the past. A little 2S LiPo will do the work of a big, heavy NiMH battery, run more efficiently and give consistent power delivery. 

Of course, there is a cost factor, and there is absolutely no need to upgrade if you are happy with what you have, but to actually replace LiPo with NiMH is surprising.

I do not agree. ESC is, from decades, the natural upgrade for our rc cars while Lipos are a single not definitive step in the perfect power source search.

IMHO their temporary success are due to the massive chinese industrial capacity that has flooded the market with lipos in every shape but we are handling something not safe, not stable and that needs attentions that the average user can not ever give.

IMHO Lipos manufacurers are too quicker in flooding the market whit their batteries to do the necessary quality inspections. They delegate the market to do a kind of natural selection that, in this case, is unsafe and customers pay for it.

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On a tangibly related note, what NiMH cells would be considered race spec these days and what kind of money are you looking at for a 6 cell pack? 

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I too have gone back. With 5000mah packs nicad are gtg for daily back yard fun. I have a couple lipo left,.one 6 cell for my 801x brushless and 3 cell for my top force. Only the one in the 801 will get a fresh lipo when needed. 

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I haven't gone back, I just never stopped using them. I guess my current stock of batteries is 50/50 LiPo and NIMH.

NIMH are still fine to use.

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I would finish running a 1/10 scale brushless car on a NiMH and the battery would be ridiculously hot - I don't see how that's particularly safe.

The thing that bugs me with NiMH is the constant reduction in power from the start of the run to the end - I much prefer the way a LiPo maintains voltage throughout the entire run, making driving more consistent.

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On 11/28/2019 at 10:22 PM, Blista said:

I keep thinking I should make the jump to lipo.  By the time I get around to it we'll probably have solid state batteries available.

Mostly going to LiHv cells now, 4.35v per cell, you can charge them to 4.2v the same as, the old lipos, so get the same kick, but more stable 👍

 

On 11/28/2019 at 1:46 PM, Saito2 said:

Maybe someday we'll see the return of motor lathes and even MSCs.

Not a chance, most quit MSC's in the 80's!! ( race cars did anyway ) 

 

On 11/29/2019 at 11:31 PM, lsear2905 said:

Electronic speed controllers & LiPo batteries are a wonderful combination,

Agreed, a modern esc, with all the adjustment to control pretty much all parameters and the safety cut off ( be it thermal or low volt), make a great team.

 

On 11/28/2019 at 9:12 AM, jeekelemental said:

I've seriuosly and proudly tried to enter the modern era but when 2 of the 6 Lipos I've bough during this years started to bulge I've decided to throw them away: my fault, for sure.

2 out of 6 started to puff within a year! ,I'd agree, that's not right. Maybe a bad charger? left them too long fully charged?

After nearly 10yrs, I had to fully discharge and bin a Lipo for the first time the other week, totally my fault, plugged it in the wrong way and the internal safety cut a cell out 😟

Sorry you've had a short lived experience.

I believe running an 8.4v nimh would be similar to a 2s Lipo? (Volts wise anyway, punch will still be down), worth a shot if you find 7.2v a bit lack luster.

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20 minutes ago, lsear2905 said:

I would finish running a 1/10 scale brushless car on a NiMH and the battery would be ridiculously hot

I wouldn't say thats inherently brushless or Nimh, a battery being asked to do alot of work, will get hot, running a low turn brushed with a low mah / C rated lipo would be the same.

 

20 minutes ago, lsear2905 said:

The thing that bugs me with NiMH is the constant reduction in power from the start of the run to the end - I much prefer the way a LiPo maintains voltage throughout the entire run, making driving more consistent.

Graph says it all - 

 

2019-11-13_06-22-57

 

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