Back to or sticking with NiMH

[Saw]

Hi,

I'm new to touring cars and was just wondering if anyone is/has stuck with NiMH or tried lipo and gone back to NiMH ?

[Warren]

Hi Simon,
I used to race with Ni-mh's until about 3 weeks ago. I was running EP4200 that were easily over 18 months old. I must admit, i found it difficult to set the car up properly with a lipo. Fitting it to the car was also difficult. And i was 1 step away from selling the Lipo and going back to Ni-hm's but after a couple of days tinkering with my car i finally found it works great. It is a lot easier to get down to weight with Li-Po. i spent hundreds lightening my car last year for a Li-Po to do it for 50 quid. However, i still think Ni-hms are better suited to the cars and i believe they are faster than we give them credit for. Li-Po is close to the speed of a cell pack but by no means faster. A good pack of Ni-hm's will beat a Li-Po in a perfect race but will degrade a hell of a lot.

[Skiddins]

I agree that fitting NiMH's is a lot easier, car manufacturers seem to design them mainly for Sub-C's instead of Lipo's.

However I dissagree that NiMH's are faster. That used to be the case with the early liPo's but the current crop of decent Lipo's are at least a fast as NiMH's and don't drop off.

I have some 1 year old Core 5000's and an Orion 3800, they are equally as fast and several people I know who held out changing to Lipo have said they will never go back.
I admit I don't have any experience of the cheaper or lower capacity Lipo's (there weren't any when I started using them)

Skiddins

[Saw]

Hi,

Thanks for the replies, reason I ask is that I fly heli's alot (and want to start 1/10 electric touring) and used to just fly electric only using lipo's anything from 3s upto 10s packs but myself and I know alot of others went back to IC as the lipo's were to expensive especially a 10s pack ! and for a 5 min flight wasn't worth the money.

It's different for cars though if you were using NiMH already as you still have to charge them etc.

Another thing the claimed amount of cycles manufactors stated was no were near what alot of people were getting and puffed packs after a few flights.

How are the lipo's holding out for you people ? are you getting the claimed amount of cycles ? do they still hold there puch after X amount of cycles ?
Do you get more cycles out of your lipos's compared to your NiMH ?

Thanks.

[tc3team]

Although there are always exceptions, usually providing the lipo is a good brand and not discharged below its suggested voltage, they are very reliable.

As with anything, you get what you pay for :)

[Woodchop]

I started the year with cells, swapped to Lipo, and have now swapped back to cells. Although more expensive and time consuming to maintain and run, I personally find cells better for me. I always have better results with cells and the car handles better.

[Skiddins]

How are the lipo's holding out for you people ? are you getting the claimed amount of cycles ? do they still hold there puch after X amount of cycles ?
Do you get more cycles out of your lipos's compared to your NiMH ?

Thanks.

I have thrashed my Lipo's including a meeting of running in Mod and Pro Stock with the same battery pack for 4 rounds of qualifying and two finals.

There is no comparison, my Lipo's are as fast as cells and can take far more punishment.

Only problem is if I try Mod again I will need cells.

Skiddins

[PDW]

Bearing in mind that I run 4-cell, not 5 or 6, and that the cars (12th) are very light (850g) this is my experience with NiMh...

I have cells that have done well over 100 cycles over two years, and they still give as good as I need. BL motors help that a lot, but the cells are now being retired after two years Club and National racing.

I also have IB cells that after one season are junk.

I now use EnerG and Orion SHO cells, and they are back to where we were three years ago - reliable, sturdy, easy to use. I don't question the ease of use of LiPo, but if you haven't used these latest NiMh cells (especially the Orion ones) then you will find that they aren't anything like IB, and they are very usable.

I've not used LiPo, but I hope some latest intelligence on the NiMh scene will give people confidence that these cells are good these days. It's been an IB problem, not an NiMh problem. Avoid IB, use the latest cell types, and you'll not have any more work to do than you did before you went to LiPo. HTH :)

[Chris ODonoghue]

Pete, out of interest, how well do the EnerG cells hold a full charge ? I have been charging them on race day, or the day before and re peaking them which seems fine, but will they be ok if I charge them at some point earlier in the week than that ?