Hey all, when I purchaced my 1st tank I got 2 1700mah stanard NiCd HL packs with it , in addition I got a generic 3000mah NiMhpack for £10 extra. I was wondering what you guys run for gneral use and battling. Ive seen pics of various tanks which seem to have two pack running in tandem. Is this a worth while setup. Are there any particular brands that are recomended or is it more down to power rating. Finally is the stock HL charger I got with the tank suitable for charging the 3000mah pack?

Regards
Tom

Hey Tom,<div></div><div>I would chuck the supplied charger and invest in a smart charger. The supplied 1700 mAh batt packs will run anywhere from 10-20 min (depending on usage) It's really up to you what you need. If you plan on running your tank for up to an hour or more, then yeah...your gonna need to invest on larger power capacity batteries in the 4500-6500 mAh range...or more if you want. But it sounds like you have yourself enough batteries for what you need unless your going to do some hardcore all day battling. Use the 1700 mAh batts for casual runs and use the 3000 mAh batts for battles........unless you do alot of running! lol

These are what I got...and frankly...it's overkill. Cause there's no one near me to battle so I tire out from driving in the dirt by myself! lol They last more than an hour for sure. If your running high capacity batts, it'srecommendto have a pc fan installed over the fets to keep them cool.http://cgi.ebay.com/2x-7-2V-6800mAh-Battery-Charger-Car-Tamiya-Plug_W0QQitemZ170356678042QQcmdZViewItemQQptZRadio _Control_Parts_Accessories?hash=item27aa0c9d9a#ht_ 904wt_939<br type="_moz" /></div>

Hi Tom,

Tony is right on the money. Most guys run two batteries either to add running time or because there are two connectors that need to be fed power. Some lack or prefer not to use a Y connector to unify or eliminate the two batteries. There are advantages and disadvantages to using one battery for the DMD/ESC and one for the MF/sound boards. The 7.2 volt hobby battery has endless variants. I'm running 4500 & 6800s NiMh now but when I started a 2200 NiCad was the big thing and didn't last long at all in a battle and developed a "memory". Think of the battery as a sponge. How much will it hold and how long will it take to re-charge. High amp batts. have higher quality/capacity cells that are matched to each other. Many of the stock H L 1700s etc.... were useless upon delivery. Heat is the enemy of all things electric and batteries will need to be cooled before and after charging or discharging. I frequently station a fan next to my charging area at Danville for this purpose. The stock HL charger will charge a 7.2 batt. but the higher the "sponge" capacity the longer it will take. DO NOT overheat the batt. or forget you're are charging it. You will fry the battery. I have two Onyx chargers (a single and a dual battery). With the dual you will be able to charge them faster than you can use them. Spend a little more and get a good unit with a cooling fan and full charge alarm. The link Tony sent is for two good batteries but the charger is cheap and not practical.
Here is a link to the Onyx but shop around for deals...http://www.amazon.com/Onyx-Dual-NiCd.../dp/B001DTULS8

Losing a battle because of a dead battery is just like a tank running out of fuel on the field. It is very aggravating. I once ran a great head to head battle with my Jagdtiger vs. Mike's KT after he had a respawn/tank recovery. The size and extra weight of my JT ran down duing the hour long battle. We were in our death throws when my battery (I only ran one 4500 batt. back then) ran out and he won. We both regreted the anti-climatic ending and were disappointed. It was just like the real thing. Thats why many JTs were surrendered intact after the war. They were hard to kill and/or ran out of fuel. I recently ran one new 6800 in my Tamiya Panther for over four hours of on/off battles (continious running time would be about 2 1/2 hours) at our recent NEAD battleday this past Sunday. If weight and space is not an issue you can run two batts. But one good high capacity will serve you better and reduce "down time". I have many batteries and share them with my girls at the battles. We use a very simple system to keep track of what is charges and ready and what is used. A small rubber band rolled towards the connector when fully charged and rolled away is used and awaiting a charge.

I hope this helps. The highest quality batteries are a waste if the charger is not up to the task. Get a good fully automatic smart charger first and then one or two high capacity batteries that will keep you battle ready. I use the H L low capacity batteries for testing and workbench tasks or give them away to new tankers to foster good will.

Good luck, Bob thecommandernj

Dont go cheap with the packs or chargers. you can get pretty high mAh count packs for very good prices now. stay with th Nihm packs Nickle Metal Hydride. This will be one of the best investments over the long run. and you get much better performance and run times. the packs that come with any of these tanks are junk, and can be very unstable. Prone to ballooning from over heating on fast chargers. the stock chargers have a very slow rate. you want a peak charger to get the best performance.

Hey ive been looking around and found a couple of chargers that might suit could I get your opinions on them:

Cheaper
http://howesmodels.co.uk/RadioContro...hp?ProdID=1564
More pricey
http://howesmodels.co.uk/RadioContro...hp?ProdID=5026

As Im looking to spend money on other mechanical aspects of the tank would be aiming for the cheapest that would do the job to a decent standard
Thanks for all your help

Regards
Tom

Those chargers look like they'll do the job, but search for some reviews on them. Here's the one's that I use/own.<div>http://www.amazon.com/Tenergy-Smart-.../dp/B001AVUAVCyou can find this through many other dealers other than the link posted. Just look up Tenergy Universal Smart Charger. Charges my batts (depending on mAh) 1-2 hours.</div><div></div><div>I also have this one which is a do all balancing charger (GT-A6.)http://www.shiptou.com/product2.php?productid=885I've had this for roughly 2-3 years, but it's deep in storage so I strictly use the one above for now since I no longer own any of my large scale heli's. It's pretty accurate charge with read outs with customizable settings. Unless you have multiple battery needs such as gel packs, nimh, lipo's, etc.... Then it may be over kill for ya.... see the first link provided. Ultimately, its up to you and what ever you seek...I'm sure there's plenty of reviews available for you on the chargers you find.</div><div></div>

Ijust bought the cheepie 40$ tower hobbiespeak charger and a tower hobbies 3000 mah nimh. in total i spent like 60$ total and they work great.

Iget a ton of run time and the battery and charger cheap and easy to use.

UPDATE

I received this one on Sat., Aug 7

So far it has been EXCELLENT!

Does a good job of charging within the 1 to 2 hour time period, as mentioned.

This is a very welcome addition to my accessories.
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Glad it worked out bud! It works pretty good and fairly idiot proof, which is why I use it, lol. 1-2 hours is limited to anything other than the 6800mAh....you gotta atleast get you one of those! It only twenty or so bucks!

I ordered the 6800 batteries and the tenergy charger BT suggested- hope the stock HL unit lasts until they get here.

i HAVE 4 5000 AND THEY WORK VERY WELL. lONG ENNOUGH FOR A WHOLE DAYS WORTH OF BATTLES so really no need for anything bigger. i also use them in pairs in my Tamiya set up tanks. Them they really last.

If you have the patence to solder them together i have had good luck with these from ebay at less than two dollars a cell shipped. They are c size so you will need to cut one end of the battery box but they run for more than two hours no problem.

if you are just doing nimh or nicd get the reedy quasar or something equal. Amazing charger. Completely programmable. Tells you how many amps is chages and discharges etc.. I'd go with the cheap nimh 6800 or 50000 packs on ebay. Everyone seems to be getting a lot of run time. I'm rocking 2 reedy wolfpacks, which are double the price.</p>

Try the MRC SuperBrain 977. Charges 2 batteries at a time or will discharge 1 and charge 1 at the same time.

I've done well with the Tenergy batteries from all-battery.com.

The 977 is the charger I use. It is a great charger and MRC has been around for ever. Plus the are right in Edison NJ. About 1/2 an hour from where I live so if I ever have a problem i hop in the truck and take a little trip