Batteries, performance and wire guages..

[Drifty]

Heya's..

So I received my revo the other day and ordered a couple more batteries.

Protek 7.2volt 6 cell "speed" packs... (1600mah)

Compared to the standard ones, they are crap. Two in series is still slower than one traxxas battery.

I can't figure out why though. The wires on the protek are alot thinner than the traxxas, and that's the only thing I can put it down to. Other than maybe the battery being faulty.

Anyone have any ideas ?

Cheers

[zrau17]

oh i know. buy lipos.

[Drifty]

I don't want to run lipos...

The cars have too much power in series as it is, lipo's are only good for braggin to your mates with.

[zrau17]

thats not true at all? i only run 2s lipos and sometimes 3s to mess around. 2 nimh packs in series is easily enough to brag with. it goes like 50 with the things in there for gods sake what else do you want. i was the same way and when i got my lipos it was like a new outlook on life lol. if already have a charger that can do it, just get them. its worth it.

[Drifty]

I understand where you're coming from... It's all in the finger right!! lol

But, from my point of view, I have already bought the batt's from amain, but I'm in australia so its not easy to return or complain etc.. I've emailed them but waiting on response yet.

I would be happy with the batteries if they performed as good as the stock ones. Lipo's.. maybe one day, but for now I just want them to work as normal.

Edit: I have a charger that can do everything, but I had an onroad car with lipo's.. can't be stuffed buying more batt's already.

[zrau17]

i got you. i just go for overall performance and a 2s lipo is alll me haha

[Dadx2mj]

I don't want to run lipos...

The cars have too much power in series as it is, lipo's are only good for braggin to your mates with.

Dude if you dont want lipos that is fine it is your choice but to say lipos are only good for bragging about is totally wrong.

[Monsterman]

Protek 7.2volt 6 cell "speed" packs... (1600mah)

Hey Drifty

Where did ya pick up those Protek packs from? Got a link?


Thanks

[Hughes500Bob]

16 GA wire is fine. Your packs may just need to be cycled a few times. If you can ... do discharge and charge cycles with your charger. Otherwise go back to who you bought them from and complain!!

[Drifty]

Hey Drifty

Where did ya pick up those Protek packs from? Got a link?


Thanks

I got them from amain, but they aren't on the site anymore..funny....

Product details from my account page.

2 x PTK-NM-6C1600-TRX ProTek R/C 6-Cell 7.2V NiMH "Speed" Battery Pack w/Traxxas Connector (1600mAh)

By the looks of it, they were 6v receiver packs and they've chucked on a traxxas connector and an extra cell.. then re-wrapped them...

[RevoWood]

I don't want to run lipos...

The cars have too much power in series as it is, lipo's are only good for braggin to your mates with.

I think [2] 2s lipos in parallel are the best all around batteries. Not wayy too fast (like the stockers in series), but fast enough. I'm running [2] Hyperion 2s 25c 2100 mah lipos. Last night I got about 34 min of run time, and that with zipping up and down a parking lot almost the whole time. And while the top speed isn't 50+, the 40+ speeds are still enough to put it upside down a lot by accident

[Drifty]

Thanks for the replies on the lipos guys... I'll probably look at getting some in the future, for at least longer run times with 2s in parallel.

Back to the topic... I'm cycling the batteries now.. Discharging at 1amp, charging at 3amps... 1600mah batt's, and as per instructions, can charge at 2c..

Will see how they go.

[boofhead]

as far as braging rights, we all know my nosram .28 powered revo is faster than your lrp .28. hehe

[Triton7]

I don't want to run lipos...

The cars have too much power in series as it is, lipo's are only good for braggin to your mates with.

Lipo's are used because of the runtime, you will triple your runtime from a Ni-Mh to a lipo.

[RFick73]

Hey Drifty,

From what a local contact in the battery world tells me.
Your best to stick to using the mAh as a basis for the highest Amp to charge at.
ie: If a Battery is 1200mAh use 1.2A or 2000mAh use 2.0

Typically you should also charge the batteries for the first 5 runs at half the above amp then you can use the settings I mentioned above, every 10 charges you should charge @ half the amperage or lower if you don't mind waiting longer.

This helps lengthen battery life & when charging at lower, helps semi-balance the pack. When one cell fills up it just passes the current along and changes to heat allowing the next cells to charge fully. (Or something like that)

Hope that helps...

[afkbotextreme]

Charging at 3 amps could be bad for those suckers.. and could be bad quick. You should charge at 1amp if you don't have 1.5 choice on your charger.. 3 is way too high.

Also, you've got the right connector for series, yes? And Also is your ESC and Motor functioning right (no grinding noises?) or anything else that could be putting a lot of drag/pressure on your drive line.?

[Drifty]

The instructions say that charging up to 2c is fine on these batteries. I'm only doing it at 3amps, so under manufacturers quoted numbers.

Yes, i have series connector.

ESC and Motor are both fine. I can chuck a protek in, and run it.. then swap it out for a traxxas battery, run it and huge difference.

The protek batt's also heated up, while the traxxas were warm, but nowhere near the proteks heat.

Charge current: I have an AC/DC Swallow charger, it does everything.. I can select down to 300mah charge current and up to 5amps. I have set it to cycle the batteries at 1amp discharge and 1.6amp charge. They have done at least 10 cycles. Still no change in performance.

I'm still waiting on a response from amainhobbies but it looks like I'll be asking for a refund/credit.

[Drifty]

I just want to make a point clear...

I'm not an idiot.. I know 1c = 1x mah rating...

While you guys are giving good advice, I have tried it all already. As for the never go over the 1c for charging, I normally don't...

Instructions from packet: (quoted word for word)

Always charge NiMH batteries at or below 2C (or one times the rated capacity of the battery). If the battery is a 3000mAh battery, only charge the battery at current rate up to 6A! If you charge the batteries over 2C, you risk damaging the battery and shortening the life span.

For race batteries, charging at a lower rate will get you longer runtimes, but att he expense of 'punch' off the line. We recommend charging race pack batteries at least 1.5 to 2C charge rates for best performance.

Those are word for word from the manual... Now, I know that fast charging doesn't give the best battery life span, but given that this is from their instructions, It certainly can't hurt or void my warranty.

With all that said, a mate is picking up a speed gun today to get some real evidence to prove that these are faulty.

I will post back here with details upon testing.

Testing will be done by...

Multimeter reading voltage at full charge. 1C charge rate used on both.
Speed reading for Single battery, and also series connector.
Temp reading between Traxxas and Protek. Including motor temp.

[Drifty]

Scan of the instructions..

[Drifty]

So I got a hold of amainhobbies.. They offered me to return them or take a $20 store credit and keep them.

So I've opted to keep them and try soldering on thicker wires.

I changed wires, it has improved them a little, but still nothing like the traxxas batteries. Obviously they are cheap and nasty cells in the pack.

Either way, I'll change the other wire over, and use them as is. At least I get long runtimes with them.

Will be picking up some more batteries really soon by the looks of things.

Thanks all for your input.