more Qs... Batteries & Run Times

[ibyte]

Hey guys great info on this forum! here is my million dollar question? why are lipos so expensive? nimh are not that cheap either? another question? i assume everyone brings a couple of packs to your favorite boat site right? some of us drive miles and miles to get there? with 2 or three sets of lipos or nimh batteries we get maybe 30 minutes of play time right? how do you recharge your packs if you wanted to stay longer? portable jump start batteries dont last long? sometimes we have to walk aways to get to the site so using your car battery is out of the question and can drain your car? well those are my questions and like everybody i want more play time to!!!

[motoxbob11]

I have run rc cars for 20 years and a few years playing with boats now and I have always thought that "any day now" batteries will become cheaper and not such a pain to buy. Hasn't happened yet! But I have to say that compared to a Sanyo SCR 1200 pack these new lipos are worth the money. (All the old guys will understand)
If you want to run for a long time for a low cost get a gas boat.

[ibyte]

I have run rc cars for 20 years and a few years playing with boats now and I have always thought that "any day now" batteries will become cheaper and not such a pain to buy. Hasn't happened yet! But I have to say that compared to a Sanyo SCR 1200 pack these new lipos are worth the money. (All the old guys will understand)
If you want to run for a long time for a low cost get a gas boat.

Im a old guy to motoxbob i remember the sanyo batts and if i remember jvc made nicads to back then. they where the only batteries worth buying in the mid 80s i remember we have come along way for sure but they have to do something about prices. nay on the gasser boats they make nessie mad but i did have my stint with gas boats for awhile!! i still love the smell of nitro in the morning sometimes!!!

[motoxbob11]

JVC battery packs for rc cars?!?! I am passing the old guy torch to you! I have never heard of that one. I'm gonna research that to see what I missed.

[ibyte]

JVC battery packs for rc cars?!?! I am passing the old guy torch to you! I have never heard of that one. I'm gonna research that to see what I missed.

ha ha you dont remember the jvc packs? holy crap they got hot during charges!! ya old rc10gt they may have been branded by jvc from another company they where all yellow with the jvc logo shrink wrap. and i gladly accept the torch passing my friend are you sure

[Rex R]

some people bring 'deep cycle' batteries along with them(and presumably some form of cart) I've used the car batt(get about 3 charges before starting the car). but mostly use 120v mains.

[ibyte]

some people bring 'deep cycle' batteries along with them(and presumably some form of cart) I've used the car batt(get about 3 charges before starting the car). but mostly use 120v mains.

Thanks Rex. that would be my problem with a deep cycle batt. where i boat is to far to lug a big batt like that. ill try a lightning rod or somethingi do the car charge thing to but i already ruined one car battery by over discharging it so im weary of using the car batt to. ill figure something out? maybe a small portable generator but even thats cumbersome? thanks again

[Dave182]

ok i see a caumdrum here ....the most run time i ever got with my sv....was a total of 14 min with 3600 @14.4 v. with the 5000 mah packs yes you do get blazing speed from the sv. I look at it as this....either slower with less cooling...or ....super speed and less runtime. sv's are meant for entry level racing..and can be run up to 14 min with good performance (not the best ) but they can do both quite well

[785boats]

I vaguely remember those old packs.
I also remember charging them up off the car battery with no charger just a couple of 10' lengths of wire as the current/voltage limiter & you disconnected them when you thought they were getting a bit too hot. Size/resistance of the wire was of course a key factor.It only took 5 or 10 minutes I think. The really clever guys used a voltmeter or ammeter in the circuit ( can't remember which ) & knew at what value to disconnect the packs. They were like Technogods to us novices. And yes I do recall more than one pack releasing all it's electrons at once accompanied by smoke & flames. Not mine luckily.
But in these modern times I have no problems charging up off my car battery at the field, Lipos & metals with a Swallow 2 & Novatec charger.
A 360 Ah car battery can charge up a few 5000mah or 4200mah packs before it won't start the car. I've charged up 4 - 6 packs during the day at the club sometimes.
Just thought I'd share.
Paul.

[Dave182]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkEWG...p?topic=2309.0 ok guys this is with 2, 3600 mah packs just for refference