Which Cells ?
 

I've sort of lost touch with what's going on with batteries. Last time I looked GP3700's were the way to go, then we had the VTEC's. now there's too many to mention !!
Can anyone tell me what's currently considered the best of the bunch ? Ta.

all a bit complex isnt it andy
I was about to get hold of some 3700's (gp) and now they have a 4300 or something ?

Do we really need 4300's? Even you wealthy boys that have 4wd buggys :(

I bought some Peak 3700's from Elite over Christmas, used 'em for the first time at Teesside last week and when I came to discharge them this Saturday, 6 days later, they still had over 2000 left in them :shock:

Good numbers as well - they make my 19 turn motor feel like a 12 turn :D

Chris

PS good price as well :wink:

nah dont NEED 4300's but the more you have the longer it will take to loose it! :D

Truth is that the GP4300's are actually 4100mAh cells, they put a 4300 lable on them because they can't release 4100's after VTEC and IB put out their 4200's can they? :roll:

Here is how I see it, bear in mind I am bias towards LRP.

VTEC3700's were a little 'down' comapred to the GP3700's, mainly under high amp draw.

VTEC3800's are better than the GP3700's for voltage, even under high amp draw.

VTEC4200's are even better than their 3800 for voltage, even under high amp draw.

GP4300, from reading Orions marketing it seems that these are the cells you want to choose if you need runtime (12th scale) out of their lineup, the GP3700 still remains their top cell for high voltage, especially under high amp draw.

Cheers for the info Chris.

Looks like the VTEC 3800's would be best then unless the 4200's are legal and available and affordable !

The next obvious question is which are BRCA legal ??

dont think we will know for a couple of months yet ?
cant believe GP are doing the misleading AMD style trick with their numbers.. thats crap if thats the case.

VTEC4200's will be legal by april 1st 2006, just as the VTEC3800's will be.

The full approved 2006 electric board homologation listings were posted on the BRCA website a week or so ago.

ill shut up then! :oops:

Decided to go for some unmatched GP3700's from one of Jimmy's sponsors :wink: to see me through to the great outdoors. I figure that if i'm not dumping on 3300's then I should be fine and hopefully benefit from the extra voltage ? We'll see.....

And who would that be? Vicky? :wink:

Chris

TEAM ALMIGHTY

tho i have yet to sort myself out for cells, keep spending all mi cash on new cars every 2 weeks ! oops! :)

I'll be probably going for the exact same cells andy

currently using 3700's my self and there top banana! ive been running them in my xx-4 the past month and not dumped or lost performance once!

I use them and they are fine and dandy

I am using Team Almighty GP3700's and coming off with 1000mAh plus with a 10x2 in the Slim4, so i cannot really see the need for higher capacity cells in 4wd.

And i charge um at 7amps :thumrigh:

:shock:
they must get a bit warrrrm!

Weather's cold at the mo which is handy lol, if i charge lower i cannot get a full charge in between rounds, now i know why people have two charges.

true true. at least nationals will be ok though ? must be like 1.5 hours between rounds or something ?

Are you doing nationals this year jonathan ?
4wd is the only class i dumped in last year, at telford using old 33's...

how many rounds do you have like!? :D

my club has on average 5 and i start charging my packs before practise on a 3 step charge, at 3 amp then 4 amp then 5 amp then im ready to go.

if you think your getting an edge by doing them between rounds belive me youl loose that edge in the practise lap you do :P the performance wont drop within the amount of time you have till your next race at meetings. i dont go over 5.5 amp just to keep my cells in good condition in the long run, ive tried charging at silly amp before and i just cant justify it, if you want to go faster put in a faster motor :lol:

Paul i don't charge them like that to get extra performance the car is plenty fast, i like to discharge my cells after each race then charge the next pack up, and at 7 amps i have the time. I may charge them all up at home the night before and see how that goes, i can remember years ago i buzzed 1700SCR's at 10 amps just before you raced, that was fun.

At stotfold we had 5 rounds plus finals plus 1 hour practise.

an hour practise :o lucky gets..

just use 4200's and use them for 2 runs without re-charging in between.

I recon thats possible using a brushless motor, depending on the level of grip

Hopefully i will be doing the mid west 4wd regionals and a select few 4wd nationals if they are not full yet, maybe Batley, Oswestry & Telford.

Jon, did that with 1700SCRC's and SCRC-SP cells, they were crazy fast, especialy in stock, for about a minute, then it would be back to yawnsville, lol.

I do my GP33's and 37's and 5.5 or 6 amps

I don't understand why we're still using NiMh batteries when LiPo is a much better technology. I know a few guys running the Team Orion 4800 LiPo packs in their ZX5's and the run time is amazing, as is the voltage and amp draw. Plus they're much lighter and smaller in size. These packs don't fade. Consistent voltage all the way. These guys are running all three qualifiers and the main on one pack ...LOL

LiPo is the future and I'm sure will be legal by 2007.

Tony P.

i doubt it some how tony, todays cars are all designed around nimh cells, they need the weight they provide for the cars characteristics. lipos may last longer, but why bother when we can only run 5 minute races, mostly due to time scales.

most people prefer heavy cars, as it makes them ride the bumps better, i also like a heavy car - my B4 weighs in at a humble 1616 grams, basically thrashing the 4wd limit. im still not sure why my B4 is so heavy, theres not much extra weight in there :? i blame my 3700's :D

I have a few concerns over the LiPo technology, one being safety, we all know where we are with a NiMH and if you get it wrong, the fizzle and leak onto your pit table.... incorrect usage of a LiPo is far more entertaining.

I think Orion have taken a step in the right direction, with an 'encased' design, and it wouldn't be to hard to then put scollops on the bottom of the mould to allow them to sit in slots.

With LiPo, you will certainly restrict chassis design, the new Yokomo buggy would be out, so would the ZX-5, XX-4 and any other car that uses a split pack layout.

I have still not read anywhere, a comparative test between a 4wd with LiPo ballasted up to the weight of an identical NiMH setup, and see how it performs, as everyone keeps saying, LiPols are WAAAY lighter, but not much point with a minimum weight limit on cars???

To be honest, if you want to look into the near future, look at Brushless, this is a no hassle 'fit and forget' system, no maintenance, apart from lubing bearings and thats it, no need to buy a new charger or special equipment.

lipo have also been known to set alight and the safest way to put them out is to bury them in sand hence orion putting them in the plastic casing.

lipo require specialised chargers, have issues if discharged fully but they do have the advantage of being able to charge weeks in advance without any drop in performance.

The biggest issue at the moment is they wont fit in all cars ie x5, xx4we, bj4 worlds so give it a few years for the technology to advance and it will be the norm a bit like ho long it has taken for brushless to advance to where it has.