RC batteries are essential to the functioning of a rc car. They power your control and handling, and the longer they last, the better! In recent years, there have many technological improvements to batteries and battery packs, which translate into more power and resistance for your rc car. Your car will improve its run times and speed! Choosing your RC car battery or battery pack is a very important decision and no matter what type of RC car you have, they all require batteries for the electronic speed controller, receiver, glow plug starter or starter system.
How RC Batteries are Put Together
The regular pack of RC batteries consists of a combination of batteries up to 6 individual cells, which you can purchase preassembled, or you can assemble them yourself. The battery packs have 7.2 Volts and uses six 1.2 volt sub-c batteries which are soldered in a series configuration There are several batteries available on the market, such as NiCd (Nickel-Cadmium), NiMH (Nickel- Metal Hydride), Li-Ion (Lithium-Ion) or Li-Poly They key is to know their unique characteristics and capabilities!.
The NiMH are some of the most used battery types in RC battery packs. However, Li-Po and Li-Ion batteries are gaining popularity. The NiMH is a new technology, along with Li-Ion ones. The NiMH batteries don’t have this memory effect, and they are designed to have more capacity, usually of 3000mAH. However, they do require a more sensitive peak detection method and can be easily damaged if you overcharge them. On the bright side, they are environmentally friendly and easy to dispose of.
NiCad and Li-Ion Batteries
On the other side, The NiCad RC batteries represent the old battery technology, which can be still good for beginners in the RC car field. As they have become a bit obsolete, they are very cheap, but a major disadvantage is the fact that they retain their last charge. So, if you charged them only up to 70%, the next time you charge them, they will only charge until 70%. Their peak charge is fairly easy to detect and can be easily rejuvenated if you use the correct charging system.
Li-Ion batteries represent another new type of technology in battery packs, and if you take into consideration the fact that they retain twice the capacity of a NiCd battery, it’s easy to see why they are so popular. These batteries contain a tiny controller chip which adjusts how quickly they charge and helps prevent overcharging.
The Li-Poli batteries are extremely lightweight, and near twice as powerful as the Li-Ion batteries. This means more endurance, performance, and time spent on the race tracks. They require a special charger and can be extremely dangerous if they are overcharged. Their shape can be changed if you want to fit them in different positions. You should be very careful when you charge them.
So, what do you have to do to ensure that you get the best performance possible out of your batteries? First of all, you should discharge the battery completely before recharging. You should also use a peak detection charger and charge at a consistent rate, at about 3.5 Amps. Don’t charge a warm or hot battery; you should wait until it cools down. Also, you should use the entire cycle of the battery at least once a week, meaning that you should charge and discharge it completely, except for the Li-Po batteries.
There are also several things you should never do to your batteries, such as overcharging, overheating it or shorting it. You short a battery when you accidentally touch the positive side with the negative side. A very important thing to remember is that you should dispose properly of the batteries.