P.ferguson

My Feedback: (1)

Brushless on Nimh.....Can you do it? I know its slower than with lipo, but is it faster than Nimh in brushed motors? I know it varies with motors and battery combos, so lets say sidewinder 5700Kv brushless with a 6 cell Nimh.

fourwheels0

My Feedback: (7)

yes you can do it. it will be faster than a brushed setup (depending on what brushed setup you ran before)and should get longer runtimes with the brushless being more effiecent.

TIGER76

Yep Bl on nimh will be faster than Brushed on nimh but you may wanna up the voltage on your packs to enjoy BL power more.
also motor maintaince will be near zero upto brushed as low turn brushed motor wear out a lot quicker than higher tum motors,we all know lipos discharge higher than nimh blah blah blah
But im running 8cell packs on BL and getting 50+ on an MT

if you do choose to go nimh my advise is get GOOD quality cells on BL setups

Access

Back in the days I was doing 15-20 minute runs off GP3300 NIMHs using an LRP sensored 8.5 brushless setup. So yes it is possible, but it can be very difficult to deliver the performance the modern user demands today. With reason there is little benefit in buying more expensive packs, just get the cheapest packs you can ie. GP3300's used to be $25. If you are going to be paying $50. or $80. for the more expensive high-end NIMHs, you might as well get a decent LiPo for that cost as the best NIMH out there is still beaten by a mediocre LiPo.

rebuilder

Thats like running a Dodge Viper on 87 octane....................................This lipo will light that system up for $19

http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s..._20C_Lipo_Pack

Suprachrgd82

It will run great. It will be slower than a LiPo at the same voltage, primarily due to weight.

The best runtimes and performance I have found so far in NiCd or NiMH is to always use a matched pack. In some instances a lower mah matched pack will outlast a higher mah non-matched.

I use matched NiMH 6-cells with a Novak 5800 with sintered rotor in this TC5. It has a great balance of R/L weight, and 25min runtime. The power weight ratio is just about right for it's handling.

rebuilder

That is one GOOD lookin' car.................................

john01374

Yes it'll work fine but but the one thing you want to watch is the battery temps. Brushless motors can pull a lot of amps and it's more than some Nimh packs can handle. I've melted the shrink wrap off more than one pack by running brushless...

MCSRacing

My Feedback: (2)

yea ya can run NiMh cells on a brushless setup .. i run EnerG 4600's in my b44 on a novak GTB/ss and a 4.5t and it runs out just fine. if you run the cheap cells, ie:venom,cheapbatterypacks,ect. you are gonna melt em down and have a fire. if and when you go lipo, don't buy junk 20 dollar packs, spend some money on them and get thunderpower,smc,maxamps ect. they are worth the extra cash you invest in them

fourwheels0

My Feedback: (7)

i'm running these (flightmax 5000 zippy) in my c/c 4600 system and they are great.
for $65 shipped for 2 of them you can't beat it. i even read where 1 maxamp dealer buys these now instead of maxamps.

rebuilder

Good thing i didnt suggest "junk" 20 dollar packs.................i suggested very good ones. Tons of members run them and they are as good or better than lipos 5 times the cost. Spend 80 or 100 on maxamps if you like wasting money on hugely overpriced inferior products.

piddlefoot

hahaha brushless can draw more AMPS, no l wouldnt run Nimh for outright power, just low speed bush bashing set up in parrallel.
But for the sake of battery life, get LIPO, brushless really hammer ni-cad and Nimh batteries. But it can be done !

Access

The other danger of running NIMH is killing your ESC. With the modern brushless ESCs, when you brake hard the current is reversed and it goes back into the battery. If that battery is too weak, the voltage shoots up and it can overvoltage the BEC, blow out the front-end capacitors, or cause failure any other number of ways.

The temperature thing is very true, I smoked my share of NIMH batteries also. If you are only getting 5 minute runs, that is 12C and too much for NIMH batteries. If you can't get at least a ten minute run (6C) you are probably not doing wonders for your batteries.

rebuilder

Access is right, if the batts cant provide the esc/motor what its asking for voltage and amperage-wise then it strains the ESC. If i remember correctly the capacitors wont stay charged up and it will cause them to fail eventually, thats how a guy at castle explained it to me, something to that effect.

MCSRacing

My Feedback: (2)

lol we run thunder power lipo's and they are simply the best lipo out there by far ... and they are worth every penny

Access

A much better explanation is what I said above, what I was being told before someone told me this made little actual sense. Reverse current when braking makes perfect sense, and it is something I've actually seen on a scope. That's the way it was explained to me recently in both forums and person. Even the very first brushless ESCs did this. It's not that the capacitors won't stay charged up, it's that they overcharge (overvoltage) and this causes failures.

rebuilder

Yeah........i was trying to recall a phone conversation with a Castle tech.............something along the lines that eventually the voltage from the batts goes straight thru the esc when the capacitors are not keeping "full"??. Im not that knowledgable in electric currents and such, i just know it made sense what he was telling me. Either way, i certainly dont intend to run any of my stuff with batteries that supply less than what the motor is capable of pulling. The higher kv 540's pull in the 60-80 amp range under full load.