JerB

hey guys

I was looking into getting some better batteries for my HL tanks but im not 100% sure if the batteries and charger I want are compatiable with one and another, heres the batteries and charger I want

Battery
[link]http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXAFD2&P=7[/link]

Charger
[link]http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXEHB6&P=[/link]

Like I was saying I think they would work because the packs are 6 cell and it syas that it charges 6 cell packs, also would this cahrger be able to charge the stock battery packs that come from MATO with the tanks

Thanks for any help you guys can lend, I would have asked this at the battery forum but wanted to check with the tank guys first [8D]

Richard L.

My Feedback: (24)

Yes, that charger will charge the DuraTrax battery pack and the stock packs. As given in the specs, it will charge any 6-7 cell NiCd and NiMH battery pack. However, often you get what you pay for. The charger you listed can only be connected to a 12V battery, and you can't use it at home without a power supply. For a little more money, get something like this, which is an excellent charger: [link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXUF45&P=0]DuraTrax IntelliPeak AC/DC Charger[/link]

JerB

wow, I didnt know that thanks Rich so the charger I listed cant be plugged into a household outlet? I will look into the one you listed

cheers again for the help

roadcarver

Just be careful though on the size of the battery pack. I have batteries for my RC cars and they don't fit the heng long tank battery compartment, it is slightly longer. Mind you, my batteries are NiMh.

The old NiCads that I have still fit.

shenlonco

My Feedback: (2)

Hi get a super brain 959 and go to radio shack you can get 3300 GP cell 7.2 battery packs for $24.99 best packs for the $$ period!
[link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXAVN1&P=ML]super brain charger[/link]

JerB

thanks for all the help guys, I really appreciate the help

Jeremy[8D]

JerB

plus I just realised that the battery I listed was NI-CAd and the tanks are NI-MH , silly me

Jeremy

I will continue to search around and read

Richard L.

My Feedback: (24)

You can still use a Ni-Cad battery pack. There is nothing wrong with that.

Yes, do be careful when buying another battery pack for your tank and double check its length. You want the battery pack to be less than 5-1/4" (133mm). Otherwise, the battery pack won't fit HL battery box.

JerB

oh I didnt know that either Richard, thanks again for the info

Jeremy

Richard L.

My Feedback: (24)

Here is a picture of the battery packs I've collected, arranged from shortest to longest. The stock Ni-Cad pack is 5-1/8" long. The next one up is a McNair 3200 mAh NiMH pack at 5-1/4" long, and it fits snuggly into the HL battery box. The 3300 mAh pack next to it had to be forced in to fit. The other three do not fit.

shenlonco

My Feedback: (2)

the radio shack GP cells are 3300 and they are standard size packs.

Harquebus

Do the GP 3300 packs fit alright in the HL battery compartment? I presume the HL battery compartment is the same size throughout the lineup. But Richard L. raises a serious issue about subtle differences in various 7.2V packs, all purported to be of "standard" size.

Either we have to be wary of slight size differences in battery packs or perhaps we can increase the length of the battery compartment (to 1" longer or so) with sheet styrene and a little Dremel work.

Maybe it might serve well to start a battery thread where the different brand's sizes are noted as well as how well they fit into the HL tanks........

-Harq

Harquebus

Shenlonco:

Thanks for the heads-up on the Super Brain charger! That looks like a great value and look at all the features/functions it has. Gonna have to look into that one.

Nice.


-Harq

Richard L.

My Feedback: (24)

I just picked up the Radio Shack 3300 pack, and it turned out to be longer than the stock pack, around 1/8" longer. It's even longer than the 3200 mAh Ni-MH pack that I have. Fit was tight into my HL Tiger I.

Richard L.

My Feedback: (24)

The only thing I do not like about that charger is the lack of "Zero Delta V" peak detection technology for charging a NiMH battery pack. For a NiMH pack, you want to stop charging as soon as it is full, not after it's full (negative delta V) because the pack can get hot and be overcharged afterward.

shenlonco

My Feedback: (2)

I have this super brain959 and also a duratrax ice and a duratrax piranha and a super brain 977 and the 959 never over heats a battery and you can set the peak voltage to what you want so it will never over charge only if you set the MV setting really high...and that would be from your fault.

Also MRC has it's own patented micropeak tecnology it's supposed to be better than zero delta peak.

heres my radio shack battery are you sure you got the one with the GP cells?
mine is just a hair longer than the stock tank 2000 batery it's almost the same exact size?

Wozwasnt

I bought a battery that was too big for my HL but I just removed the plastic caps off the end and tape it up and now it fits fine.

Richard L.

My Feedback: (24)

I don't know what cells are in mine. They only had one type with the red shrink wrap in stock, so I grabbed it. I didn't see the one that you have.

swathdiver

I use Venom batteries. They are not uniform in length. I put the shorter ones in the Tiger tanks and label them.