Receiver packs and runtimes...

[jay61581]

What kind of receiver packs does everyone use in their buggies?

What kind of runtime do you get?

I have a JR 590 and a Hitec digital (don't recall the number) servo in my S3 and I use a Venom 1200 mah pack. Today was the second time I've had to drop out of a main because my battery died. Seems like it only lasts about 15-18 minutes on a full charge. I know digital servos drain a pack faster, but really, it should last for a 30 minute main, right?

What's the biggest mah receiver pack these days? Biggest I could find was a 1400, but I'm worried if that would even be enough....

How about Li-Po's?

 

[Diver6127]

I run a 700mah pack in my serpent710 with digital servos. It will last over 30 mins run time in a full charge. How old is your rx pack and how are you charging it? (settings on your peak charger).

 

[CorradoPsi]

i run a 800mah lipo in my buggy with 2 digital hitecs and get about 40-50 minutes runtime. i charge after my second qualifier, and repeak for mains. due to it being lithium based it has NO memory like nicd or nimh packs.

your lack or runtime i would suspect is more due to improper endpoint settings rather than battery care. make sure your servos arent still straining past the point your buggy can physically steer, pull the carb, and only dial in as much brake as it takes to lock up the tires on the surface your running on. any more than this and your just wasting power, and putting unnessessary stress on your servos.

 

[jay61581]

The pack isn't that old, maybe 6 months. It hasn't really been used that much.

My charger sucks, its one of those cheaper Dynamite units...that in itself could be a problem...gonna get a new charger as soon as I have the $$$.

As far as the endpoints...good idea, I didn't think of that. I'm pretty sure they are good, but next time I get the car out I'll have a look at that.

 

[Plaidfish]

If you didn't set them before then that's probably your issue right there.......team helotes makes a 2400 or 2800 pack.....I use a 1200mah XS power pack and I get almost an hour of use before I think I need to recharge or replace it.....I can usually run at least 1/2 gallon before I need to charge.....

 

[FastEddy]

You may also have a bad cell or two.

 

[olds97_lss]

I make my own out of 2100Mah AA's. It fits nicely in the receiver box on my HB lightning. A little snug, but it fits.

I run 2 hitec 645MG's. I don't know how long they last, but I have bashed for about 2 hours and they didn't go dead or were anywhere close. The servo's were just as quick and as powerful as when I started.

Speaking of POS chargers... I made my own out of a radio pack 4.8-6v wall quick charger. I peak off the batteries each time before I run it. About once every 6 months, I drain the bats with a light bulb. I've been using the same cells for almost 3 years in my receiver, savage (t-maxx 3 years ago) and currently in my buggy. The charger has a couple little switches on it to change between Hi capasity/low capasity and NiCD and NiMH.

I don't trust the charger to figure out when the cells are charged. I just check the voltage of the pack off the charger, then plug it in until the pack reads 7 volts.

For the cells in my transmitter, I charge until it reads 11-11.3 volts.

I've gone as long as 4 hours straight with the transmitter and 2-3 hours straight (switching off from truck to buggy) with the receiver packs without having one dump on me.

 

[niggle]

I make my own out of 2100Mah AA's. It fits nicely in the receiver box on my HB lightning. A little snug, but it fits.

I run 2 hitec 645MG's. I don't know how long they last, but I have bashed for about 2 hours and they didn't go dead or were anywhere close. The servo's were just as quick and as powerful as when I started.

Ditto to that.

I bought GP 1800mAH AAs in bulk (10) a couple of years ago and made 2 hump packs. They run for 2 hours+ with my Hitec 625/645 MG servos.

I reckon they are about 25g - 30g heavier than a standard 1200mAH RX pack, but they counterbalance the weight of the engine better.

 

[Pinblaster]

Make your own with packs with AA's. You can get Eveready 2500Mah NiMh batteries at Walmart and make your packs out of them. They should last a long time. Several guys at our track have their own packs made up like that with 2k Mah AA cells.

I usually get 3 qualifiers with my NiMh packs then recharge before the Mains, run the Mains and practice with the same charge on our practice night. I'm using Hitech digi's 945 and 5925 in my XXX-NT w/ 1200mah packs and Hitech 5645 & 925 in my 1/8th buggy. I've noticed with my truck in tha past if I try to run the qual's and main's on the same charge, it will start glitching about 2 laps into the main.