Hi everybody, my lovely dog has found that a Heng Long battery makes a good chew toy and I was wondering if instead of buying just a replacement that I could "upgrade". The only problem being I don't know that much about RC batteries and wouldn't know what would be compatible. Any suggestions on this will be a great help. Thanks.

Is your dog OK?

Nickel Cadmium is lethal if eaten.

ANY 7.2volt stick pack for R/C will work just fine.

Hope your dog is ok[]
I currently use an Orion NiMH 3000 mAh 7.2 volt battery. I use an Intellapeak Charger. I have found that the smoke genarator works better and I can run the tank for about 1.5 to 2 hours befor the battery goes dead. I intend to upgrade to a 4200 mAh battery at some point. Hope this helps.

Oh I forgot I had to extend the leads of the battery so it would connect. It's an issue in the Pershing, I'm not sure what the German tanks are like.

The dogs fine (shes a Boxer - eat anything!) Thanks for the advice on the battery, now I know what to ask for.[sm=thumbup.gif]

Radio Shack sells descent 7.2 v batteries for $25 ((3300mAh)-lasts forever in a Heng Long.
My yellow HL batts are total trash(will not even hold a charge for more than a few hours......always dead,they are going into trash)[:@]

Gotta love those Boxers

Plus the battery was on charge at the time!!!

lolol nice dog, erm hi in lincoln me nr hull

Cool, when I get my Tiger finished I might have to invade (don't know the toll on the Humber Bridge for a 1/16 Tiger though!)

that dog looks like a good tanker.

It looked like he just bit through the shrinkwrap.

The batt should be fine if all he did was knaw on the wrap.

I just purchased my first RC (an HL M41) and would like to know if there are any "do's and don'ts" when it comes to recharging the batteries.

Thanks

Charge fully and store mostly discharged if you will let it sit for a long time.

Do not let it get really hot on the charger while charging as this could cause the cells to vent.

The tanks are very gentle on cells compared to regular R/Cs that draw huge amps.

I would suggest eventually investing in some higher quality battery packs (up to 3000maH is optimal) and the acquisition of a peak battery charger.

This is because the charger that comes with the HL tanks is a very simple device that applies constant current to the battery pack. There is no charge termination method used by the charger. During the recharging process, once batteries reach their 100% charge, the cell starts to heat and the internal pressure builds up, causing the battery to eventually rupture or vent electrolyte.

I think, however, that you should initially charge your 7.2V pack with the included charger for about 12-14 hours if I'm not mistaken.

-Harq

EDIT: Agreed on the smoke generator's performance increasing with a better (or fully charged) battery. Mine has been churning out the smoke at a increased rate. I had seldom turned it on when I had a fresh battery but had waited until it was depleted 50% or more to try out the smoker.

Don't bother with those batteries and do buy a peak charger! hehehe

I never used the stock batteries. Get 3600mah stick packs or higher, I use Venom 3600s and get over 3 hours of run time.

For charging I use the Duratrax Piranha, it has digital lcd and is programmable.

Surprisingly by using a combination of high amp discharge and the reverse pulse charge function on my charger I have managed to almost get the labeled MAH out of the stock battery. Currently 1435 mah capacity, short of the stated 1700mah.

Would I trust it in my racing cars? Nope, but it's now a good pack to use in the tanks. Out of the box they are such junk.

You don't need the high mah packs if you don't have the cash. Any 1500, 1700 or other type cheap pack from Tower, Duratrax, Venom, etc will perform better than the stock battery, and it will last for years in tank usage due to the low amp draw.

Great info hpiguy.

But as far as using the OEM charger goes, how long do you charge the stock battery pack?
Until the newbies can get better equipment, the minimalist but workable battery pack and charger are sufficient to get them up and running in a reasonable amount of time.

-H

Thanks for all the great info, I really appreiciate it.

I checked around on eBay for the batteries and came up with this:

[link=http://cgi.ebay.com/Venom-7-2v-3600-mAH-Tamiya-RC-Car-Batteries-Fast-Ship_W0QQitemZ280011281579QQihZ018QQcategoryZ34063 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem]click here[/link]

I ripped my stock charger apart for parts on other projects the day I got it. What is the rated output in MAH of the wall charger? It should say like "Output 400mah" or something.

Simply take the 1700mah stated capacity and divide it by the output of the charger. That will give you how many hours to charge it for. Then add in an hour for peaking the voltage if wanted, but not really needed. Just make sure to keep feeling the pack every so often to make sure it isn't very hot.

Not too bad, but if the price goes any hgher I'd pass cause the shipping is so high.

Those are NiMH, not NiCd so you'll need a compatible charger for that. Might as well search there for one too.

Otherwise, might be better off using a source such as Tower Hobbies.

-Harquebus

That's the guy I buy my batteries from. What I like about those Venom Batteries compared to others is that his have really limber wires, which helps in the tight confines of the Tiger battery wells.

You can use a NICD charger for any NIMH, just that you have to watch the battery closely for temp changes. If NIMH get hot they really lose capacity. Otherwise the charge method is the same. Better peak chargers say "NIMH capable" only because they have a much more sensitive peak circuitry built in.

I like the cells at www.all-battery.com. Great prices too.

Questions, questions...

Anyone care to elaborate on these types of battery chargers, AC/DC Peak and AC/DC Fast Chargers w/ Timer?

What charger is best for prolonged battery life since there are differences between fast and trickle charging?

How long is a typical charge time for a 1700maH (or 15-19maH) using a Duratrax Piranha like swathdiver mentions?
Fast charger sounds ideal but then again I'm not in competition...


Thanks for all the help and to Walker Patton for reviving this thread.

-Harq