new to electric need info

[bigdaddee]

Ok so I have 3 duratrax evader ext's well one is a BX or what ever the buggy version is. They have a stock everything. I am looking to spend like $50 on each to hop them up just a bit speed wise. what should I get.

also I have tons of batteries for these but get a max of like 10-15 minutes on each and I run 3000nimh venoms 3300 nimh venoms and a few 3800nimh 8.4v I got off allbattery on ebay but not luck when I quick charge them. I always end up sitting waiting on batteries to charge.

Am I doing something wrong buy using a 15 minute traxxas mega 1 quick charger. On a quick charge they last like 5-8 minutes only.

HELP!!!!!!!!!!

 

[RusTLeRx350]

I use a Venom 8.4V 7 Cell 5000 maH battery and I can get about 30 minutes runtime in my stampede VXL So I'd say try one of those out. I got mine on eBay for pretty cheap.

 

[Boogie]

Quick chargers will kill your batteries. Spend a little money and invest in a good charger like a Triton EQ or Hyperion 606i. You can get away with spending a little less, but remember "you get what you pay for". As far as hop ups go, check into your local hobby shop and see what kind of brushed motors they got or can get for you that won't be to low of a turn for the stock esc's on your rides. Everyone is going brushless nowadays, but it's still expensive and in vehicles as light as yours, brushed is still plenty fast....and cheap.

 

[bigdaddee]

good advise. thanks guys. brushless is too much $$ for me now. Are lipo batteries better and ok to run with a brushed motor. oh and if you don't use a 15 minute quick charger how do you keep batteries in the truck. buy 10 batteries at $45 each and slow charge them the night before? thats 450 bucks for a full day of fun. i got 20 minutes out of my 8.4v 3800nimh tenergy today off a trickle charger .

 

[Boogie]

Pick up something like this...
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXTCK1&P=0

All you do is set your amperage or charge rate and hit start, its peak detect will shut it off when the battery is fully charged. On most NiCd cells, I charge around 4 or 5 amps...NiMh around 2 or 3 amps unless it's a bigger pack then maybe 4...and lipos it depends on the Mah rating of the pack, I've been charging at 1C or 1xMahRating, so if the pack is a 1300mah, then my charger sets to 1.3amps. Some of the newer lipo tech out there now will let you charge higher, but if I'm at home and in no hurry, I just let it charge at 1C just to keep from stressing the battery. You can get away with charging higher amp rates than what I suggested above for NiMh batteries or NiCds, but I keep it lower for the same reason as lipos, it just makes them last longer and stresses them a lot less.

Anyhow, that charger will charge NiCd, NiMh, and Lipos. It doesn't have the capacity of some of the higher end chargers, but it'll do fine for what you need it to do, plus it's lipo capable, you just need a balancer if you decide to run lipos. Brushed motors will run just fine on lipos, the biggest thing you need to pay attention to is your esc. You either need to make sure your esc has a lipo cutoff or buy a cutoff to run between your battery and esc, it protects the lipo and cuts the power before it discharges too much. Lipos get very pissy once you discharge them below around 2.8-3.0 volts per cell.

I suggested that charger AT LEAST because it has the ability or capability to charge lipos as NiCd's and NiMh's are quickly losing popularity. There are slightly cheaper chargers available at places like Hobby City, but they are DC only, meaning you'll have to buy a separate power supply, which is extra money.