Batteries

[plewsford]

I'm getting a Kyosho inferno mp9 tki4 next week. Can the car's receiver and transmitter use rechargeable batteries. I've got some eneloop pros 2500mah 1.2v. The manual says that the transmitter uses dry cells. Have I wasted my money buying the batteries?

 

[olds97_lss]

You shouldn't. The receiver/servo's typically use 6V. It will work, but you may get limited range, brown outs, slow servo operation and premature fail safe activation if the receiver has one built in that kicks in when the voltage gets too low.

Four 1.2V cells fully charged will be near 6V, but not for every long and the voltage will drop pretty quick down below 5V, especially when under load.

I do use rechargeable nimh's in my transmitter though. The drain is minimal depending on the transmitter, so you can easily get a few hours out of 1.2V cells in that. I use energizer recharge. They are like the enloops as they hold a charge for a long time (low self discharge [LSD]).

In my nitro trucks, I use 2/3A NiMH packs, all around 1600mah. A couple use hump packs and a couple use flat packs.

Flat: https://www.amazon.com/Venom-1600mAh-5-Cell-Receiver-Battery/dp/B000RRQPJG
Hump: https://www.amazon.com/Venom-1600mAh-5-Cell-Receiver-Battery/dp/B000RRQPKA

Then you need a charger specific for those. I also have a switch on all my nitro's that has a charge lead on it so I don't have to remove the pack to charge it.

One like this comes with a charger, but it's to charge over night as it's very low output:
https://www.amazon.com/Powerhobby-1600mAh-Receiver-Battery-Charger/dp/B07GH882PW

Wall chargers like that usually put out 150-300mah. If it was a 200mah output and the receiver pack was dead and rated for 1600mah, it would take 8 hours to fully charge it.

Switch with charge lead:
https://www.amazon.com/Apex-RC-Products-Pack-Spektrum/dp/B01F7R4452

Or a fancy one with a charge receptacle:
https://www.amazon.com/Apex-RC-Products-Switch-Charge/dp/B07192B34X

Or an even fancier one with a receptacle and a light:
https://www.amazon.com/Apex-RC-Products-Pack-Switch/dp/B01BQURNBQ

 

[Bruces]

RC receiver can of course use a rechargeable battery. For example, I use the rechargeable NiMH 6v 2000mah. This is the voltage commonly used by receivers.

 

[plewsford]

You shouldn't. The receiver/servo's typically use 6V. It will work, but you may get limited range, brown outs, slow servo operation and premature fail safe activation if the receiver has one built in that kicks in when the voltage gets too low.

Four 1.2V cells fully charged will be near 6V, but not for every long and the voltage will drop pretty quick down below 5V, especially when under load.

I do use rechargeable nimh's in my transmitter though. The drain is minimal depending on the transmitter, so you can easily get a few hours out of 1.2V cells in that. I use energizer recharge. They are like the enloops as they hold a charge for a long time (low self discharge [LSD]).

In my nitro trucks, I use 2/3A NiMH packs, all around 1600mah. A couple use hump packs and a couple use flat packs.

Flat: https://www.amazon.com/Venom-1600mAh-5-Cell-Receiver-Battery/dp/B000RRQPJG
Hump: https://www.amazon.com/Venom-1600mAh-5-Cell-Receiver-Battery/dp/B000RRQPKA

Then you need a charger specific for those. I also have a switch on all my nitro's that has a charge lead on it so I don't have to remove the pack to charge it.

One like this comes with a charger, but it's to charge over night as it's very low output:
https://www.amazon.com/Powerhobby-1600mAh-Receiver-Battery-Charger/dp/B07GH882PW

Wall chargers like that usually put out 150-300mah. If it was a 200mah output and the receiver pack was dead and rated for 1600mah, it would take 8 hours to fully charge it.

Switch with charge lead:
https://www.amazon.com/Apex-RC-Products-Pack-Spektrum/dp/B01F7R4452

Or a fancy one with a charge receptacle:
https://www.amazon.com/Apex-RC-Products-Switch-Charge/dp/B07192B34X

Or an even fancier one with a receptacle and a light:
https://www.amazon.com/Apex-RC-Products-Pack-Switch/dp/B01BQURNBQ

Thanks for the reply. That's really helpful, thanks.

I've since sent the rechargeable batteries back and purchased a hump pack and charger. I'll just use normal dry cells for the transmitter seeing that it's a low load device.

The car is arriving on Tuesday. Can't wait.
Be sure to keep an eye on the forums as I no doubt will be on here with more daft questions.

Chris