cummins driver

My Feedback: (31)

How would a stock flux run on something like 4200 Nimh packs? Im just curious if you could have some good performance without the cost of lipo batteries. Also, what kind of run time would the NiMh's give? Believe me i wont be buying a flux for years, but i was just curious how it would perform without $300 in batteries. Brushless would appeal much more to me if it werent for the battery/charger cost.

Eric

cummins driver

My Feedback: (31)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2VbnpnGSLU

Looks like its lost its manhood without the expensive batteries[&:]

ThunderbirdJunkie

My Feedback: (3)

it takes off ok, but GOOD LORD that thing has no top end!

ThunderbirdJunkie's F4.1 had more top end than that, with better bottom end, running 16/49

Flux Driver

I'm running my Flux now with a pair of NiMh battery packs. 7 cell, 8.4v, 5000Mah. Performance is good on varied dirt terrain. Enough power to lose control if I wanted to. Run time is about 12 minutes however. But the battery packs are new and have had two charge and runs. Will do a third soon. I don't recall how many runs it takes to break in battery packs but I hope to get more run time after a few more runs.

cummins driver

My Feedback: (31)

I guess its just hard to beat lipo when it comes down to power and run time.

I had an electric stampede that i would of liked to have made brushless, just didnt want to spend the money to get into it, so i traded it for my nitro rustler.

I like the savage flux, just more money than ill be spending on anything in this hobby for a good while[8D]

Flux Driver

Maybe Obama will give hobbyists a bail out?

bzinfinity

RCU Quote of the Year, 2009.

I bet our bailout will come in right after they return all the money back to Social Security.

transam388

I had been running 8.4 V 4600 MAH NiMH batteries and the FLUX did fine. Run times for me where about 15 minutes and power was OK.

Now onto the LIPO statement. After having put the LIPO in that truck it is night and day! [8D] I mean that truck is a total beast and like Black Mamba said you really have to drive the truck and use throttle control. While going about 45 MPH I went ahead and did a full throttle and it still had enough power to lift the front end up and flip.

LIPO does make the FLUX incredibly fun to drive but it really does take some getting used to and learning to drive with that much power.

Radom

After getting the 7.4 6500 lipo pair, I wish I hadn't bothered with the nimh pairs before. But, I liked my Flux fine without having any experience with the lipo's.

squeaky penguin

Can I use that as my sig?

Cummins Driver,

There's places to pick up cheaper lipos (hobbycity.com). You can get them for about the same price as good Ni-Mh packs.

cummins driver

My Feedback: (31)

Ah, it doesent much matter, as i cant even afford the truck haha I traded for both of my current trucks, and im happy with them. I do like electric though. I had an electric stampede and i really liked that little truck. If i was going to go brushless i think id buy another and run it. Less batteries to charge since you only need 1 at a time and they are tough and cheap to fix if you break them.

I do a little fabricating things and love working on things. I though about converting my rustler to electric if i decided to try another electric. Get a decent brushless system and build myself a motor mount. Transmission should be plenty tough for it as long as i loosened the slipper a little, and its not a very heavy truck, but it is tough, so it would be a good candidate.

I just wondered how a good brushless system ran on NiMh compared to lipo. Never know what i may end up doing down the road. I wouldnt mind to have 1 of each(electric and nitro), so I may end up doing a conversion[8D]

Flux Driver

I did another run with my Flux with my 7cell 8.4V nimh packs. I forgot to count the minutes but the run time was decent. I may have made a mistake with the battery boxes on the truck. After the run one of the wires on each pack was chewed down to the metal wiring. The wiring was okay but the rubber was cut through. I thought it was the window in the battery pack boxes that the wires go through. But I think it's because I put a zip tie on one side of the box but didn't bother in the side with the window. So I think through the bashing the box actually opened and closed right on the wire. The tab did come off completely and closed back up outside the slot. So be sure to put a zip tie on both ends. So that's 4 zip ties to apply and cut off per battery pack changing. Fortunately zip ties are cheap and disposable. I'll do some photos or a youtube video on that maybe.

spiftacu1ar

Accordign to Joe Ford at Castle support, runnign NIMH cells greaty enhances the chance of ESC failure, and will VOID your warranty.

Frankly, I wouldn't take he risk. Maybe it will work for a while, (and from the videos, still be impressive), but when it does die, you will have to pay for the ESC to be fixed.

cummins driver

My Feedback: (31)

Good info, thanks!

Flux Driver

Let's say I run the truck with NiMh packs and it still works okay after. That means it's as fine as it was before, right? Or does this ripple thing have a cumulative effect on the ESC? Or is it just a matter of overheating?

spiftacu1ar

I;m not the one to ask. You can contact support yourself if need be. I simply copy/pasted exactly what he sent me in the email. From my understanding of electronics, caps deteriorate over time. My guess would be that it is a cumulative effect, although I could not say for sure. Best bet would be to ask castle support yourself. Also, if your ESC is damaged, and they don't repalce it under warranty, I'd go at them for the false advertising. I bought the ESC under the impression that I could run NIMH's as well. I contacted spport for somthing completely different, but told what I was running in the email. I was lucky I hadn't plugged anything in yet (ESC was still in the mail). He claims they are chaning the website and packaging, but the website still says NIMh compatible, and even has suggestions for which are best. NOWHERE does it say anything about a warranty void for using NIMH. If I got caught in that trap I would be pissed. What Castle is doing right now is absolutely unexceptable, imo.

That said, the ESC is $160, and a lawyer is a lot more, so I would much rather just avoid NIMH's and be safe about it.

Flux Driver

True and I was gonna get some Lipo packs anyways. And I'm looking at page 7 in the manual and it says it doesn't recommend stick packs. And apparently stick packs are what I have, rather than the cells side by side. I'm not sure exactly what the difference is between the two. But I'll try calling HPI and ask if they have tested the thing with multiple runs with NiMh packs.

Flux Driver

Okay I took some things into consideration and I'm gonna get a pair of Lipo packs. I won't be using the NiMh packs anymore. However, I don't have experience in Lipo battery packs so I'll need people's help here. I know this is a NiMh topic and I'm trying to not get off topic with this. Besides some people would encourage people using NiMh to go with Lipo and now I would recommend that too based on what I've read. So it does kind of stay with this topic.

Okay, my situation is that I'm familiar with the numbers for NiMh battery packs like 8.4v and 7 cell and the Mah numbers. But I don't know the lingo with Lipo packs. Let's say I'm looking at the power of an 8cell NiMh pack. That would be 9.6V. Now let's say I'm looking at the first level Lipo battery pack. The first level battery pack, level as in power, would be a step ABOVE the 9.6v 8cell NiMh, correct? If so, I'd like to go for this.

So what numbers should I be looking for? It looks like Lipo packs come in 2 or 3 cell. Then there's some S number, like 2S or 3S. And the Flux manual says get a 25C rating or better.

So I'm looking at the next step above an 8cell NiMh, definitely in the form of a pair of Lipo packs. And there's the brand name. If you were in my situation, what pack would you get? Just give me any examples of what you use and know is good and won't balloon up or explode and shoot burning acid on my face. I'll go along with what anyone with Lipo knowledge goes with until I get more experience in this.

I already have a charger that will charge Lipo packs.

Any answers would be helpful for anyone else in this situation too. It seems to be the way to go. I should have went with Lipo in the first place. I got my direct deposit check from my temp work assignment so that was like a little bailout there. Infact I got $135 so that should be enough for a pair of Lipo packs. I'm ready to drive my Flux even harder now!(after I tighten my shock caps, which i forgot to do, gotta clean up the bit of oil leak residue that's caked with dirt)

joeyhatch11

2S and 3S refers to the number of "cells" in the pack. A 2S pack will give you 7.4v, where a 3S will give you 11.1 The more "cells" the higher the voltage is. As for "C" ratings. LIke 20C, 25C or even 30C they are refering to a "discharge rate" The higher the "C", the more current is can throw out.

joeyhatch11

I buy ALL my Lipos on Hobbycity.com Their prices are amazing and you'll never find a better deal anywhere else. Here is a link to some 5000mah, 7.4v and 11.1v lipos.

3S 11.1v- http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...0mAh_3S1P_25C_

2S 7.4v- http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...idproduct=8578

Flux Driver

Will a 7.4V Lipo pack be more powerful than a 9.6V 8cell NIMH pack?

Thanks for explaining the discharge rate. I'll be sure to get one with 25C or better, as recommended in the manual. The exact words on page 7 are:

joeyhatch11

Right now there are no 5000mah Lipos in stock. Because of their price they sell like crazy. The thing to do is sign-up to the website and add them to your "wish list". You can also be sent email notification once they are back in stock. Thats what I do and buy them once they come in.

joeyhatch11

I'd say that the 7.4v lipo will be have more power only because it's not going to take long for the 9.6v nihm to drain down to 7.4v or lower. The best thing about a lipo is that you get whatever voltage it is, from start to finish.

scarletboa

My Feedback: (1)

you will have much more power because lipos have less voltage dip and they give more than twice the amps. i've seen people do standing backflips on 2s lipos. can you do that with your ni-mhs?

Flux Driver

Can't say I could with my NIMH. Not sure if I'd want to if I could. I'm not sure the safest way to use my NIMH packs. Smooth and continuous or on and off. The packs heat up after each run but not all that much. Definitely not like a Stampede heats up a Titan motor or a single battery pack. I wonder if it would be wise to get a few more runs out of these packs I paid for. I don't have any other use for them. I don't suppose there are flashlights that run on these things?