Battery for the job!

[Billy BobParticipant @billybob24045]

Hiya again guys, ive another question!

This time its about  recommended power supply!

 There are many types of rechargable battries, Ni-mh, Ni-cad, and so on!

Some are low drain/ high drain and are all dependant on the mAh size of the cell…

My question is what kinda battries would you guys surggest for Rc boats. Do I use a different type of battery say for the rx and servo pack in my boat, to the ones in my control box?

The last thing i want is an out of control boat due to a bad jugment of  power serve choices.

Thanks in advance…….

Billybob…(newby)

[Charles OatesParticipant @charlesoates31738]

Hi Billybob, Keep things simple, use the largest capacity you find for a reasonable price. Most new rechargeables are N-mh, you will probably find some around 2600 mah to 2900 mah. These are fine in your receiver or transmiter for all but very special applications.

  Be sure to fully charge your batteries before you sail useing the correct charger. Around half of all "faults" can be put down to low batteries.

  We can get technical about power drain curves, etc if you want, but why bother, most modern chargers and batteries are simple to use, just follow the instructions.

 I hope this helps.

 Chas

[JC Uknz 1Participant @jcuknz1]

If you do not want an out of control boat … how serious this is depends on the speed and size of your craft and how many others are in the bath with you … you need to get the receiver which senses the lowness of voltage.  I have never bothered so I don’t know what it is called but our local jetboat operators are very keen on them. Petrol operated 30cc quarter scale jetboats which could do some damage/injury if they jump ashore.

I run my motors with nice big 7.2Ah 12volt sealed wet batteries … heavy as all heck so you need a good sized boat to not sink when you install them.  But for the radio I use AA batteries either new from the shop they seem to last for ages, or else ones I have recycled from old cellphones .. usully one or two are NBG but the others in the casing are suitable for coupling up and recharging.

None of this is very scientific but it works well for me and I ‘run all day and some’ with the motor batteries and the radio batteries seem to last for days.

From my photographic activities I like the newer Ni-mh and Li-ion batteries becuase they have better capacity that ordinary one off batteries and can be recharged before they are run out .. unlike the old Ni-Cads which had to be run down to low before re-charging becuase they were likely to have a ‘memory’ .. if recharged from say half full they would remember that point and shut down at half used from then on.

The mAh is an indication of capacity as is Ah with larger batteries I have.

Depending of circumstances I have a few smaller 12v 1.2Ah batteries which I have connected up to my Futabi transmitters, othertimes I use rechargeable AAs.  Sitting on the platform I riveted to the transmitter they encourage it to sit nicely on the table or ground.

These 12v batteries I have been given … ex-communication batteries, discarded for that purpose but AOk for models … I’m not sure what I would spend money on.

[Billy BobParticipant @billybob24045]

Thanks guys, Loads of food for thought there.

My new hydro arrived today!  I say new it is second hand and needs a bit of tlc and tweaking here and there but hey, thats what its all about right!!!!!

Thanks for heads up on battery behaviour, didnt know the old ni-cads had charge memory!

Think i will go the N-mh road largest Mah possible!

Nice !

 Billy!

[Billy BobParticipant @billybob24045]

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