Should I Throw my Brushed Motors / NiMh Batteries in the Garbage?

Do brushed motors offer value for RC enthusiasts? How about NiMh battery packs?
We look at stock power systems from the Latrax Prerunner and the Traxxas Summit. Both great RC's with very different purposes.

[@Cormano980]

Nimh is still ok for casual playing, crawlers , tanks ,slow boats...plus you don't have to worry about your house burning to the ground all the time

[@juanmedinar20]

Exactly.. LiPo cannot beat NiMh on safety... I like a care free hobby. I wish that larger RC cars came with larger lithium ion packs like a lot of the 1/14-1/18 rc cars do

[@Cormano980]

@@juanmedinar20 there are smaller lead acid batteries, usually used in office appliances, very safe and decent output, many people use them in very heavy rc tanks

[@druscanam]

Spot on, I still run brushed motors in some of my RC's yet run lipos in all of them. Whenever I get a NiMh battery with a RTR vechile I cycle it and list it for sale with the rtr charger straight away and never have a problem finding a buyer. Although I think the reason alot of people still prefer NiMh batteries is they're scared of the fire risk associated lipos and or they have been in the Hobby a long time and have been using NiMh batteries in all their vechiles for 20+ years and don't want to change.

[@RCexplained]

That's right, Andrew. There is still a place for those components as much as I dislike saying it. Thanks for the comment!

[@alexnava8729]

Bingo. I’m terrified of coming back home and finding it burned to the ground. So I stick to nimh just to play it safe.

[@druscanam]

@@alexnava8729 Most fires start from people using a power supply to power their charger that's not up to the task, it gets too hot and catches on fire. The biggest problem is eBay and Amazon sellers selling these items together as a bundle, same with ESC's and motors. Most b6 hobby charges are rated to 80W meaning despite having the option for up to 5 or 6A charging rates you the maximum rate you can charge a 6S or two 3S batteries at the same time in series is 3.2A and highest rate you can charge a 4S or two 2S in series is 4.7amps. however the charger can usually accomidate, sometimes overclocking a little but reducing the charge current rate automatically especially as the voltage increases with the charge. Most external power supplies don't have smart technology like that and will just try their best to deliver what's asked for them. A common power supply sold with these items is a 12V 5A supply. This will work with a B6 charger but has a maximum output of 60W (12V X 5A) what this means is it will safely charge a 2S battery @5A yet a 3S battery at 5A it will probably do it but get dangerous hot and my work 99 times in a row yet is in danger of catching on fire. A 4S or a 6S @ 5A will almost certainly either blow a circuit in the power supply if you are lucky and catch on fire if you are not so lucky. Therefore a 15V 6A (90A) power supply is a much better option for a 80W B6 charger or even for a older 60W version too. This can technically happen when charging NiMH batteries too but alot less likely due to less current/power being alot less. Lipo batteries are usually pretty safe so long as you don't overcharged or overdraw them both in either voltage or their maximum charge/discharge rates. Also hard case batteries have much better resistance to rupture and can take a lot impact before it's dangerous. Also there are alot of signs that are telling for when a lipo is damaged and should not be use such as being puffed up or not being able to be balence anymore. Also I wouldn't recommend charging any batteries when not home, even NiMH can get hot whilst charging too both battery and charger.

[@faiqcreates]

How long does your brushed motors last on average?

[@tysemilicia3931]

My parents don’t let me use lipo so a week ago I bought a hobbywing max8 g2 and am running it on 14s nimh. Just got it today and on the first one I hit about 60 mph at 75% throttle on all lowest settings

[@MikeJones-iq7gj]

I still use NiMH in my 2 crawlers and boat. Reason behind it, i live in a rented house and i dont use my RCs enough, probably once to three times a month, a guy at a crawler event said i should stay with NiMH because of how infrequently i use them. I also get an hour out of my 3300mah batteries and 1 and a half hours out of my 4600mah batteries

[@hendrahendra]

IMHO, I think these manufacturers use NIMH is just based on safety, not everyone who buys these kits/RTRS are going to know how to take care of LiPo as you may know overcharging/over discharging can cause fires and explosions. But all in all yeah LiPo all the way if you know how to look after it.

[@ruftime]

Thank you! I still love NiMH/brushed😎. We have a growing fleet of 22+ Tamiya TT01 based Euro race trucks for students. $145( minus paint and radio) Fun to build, drives awesome, and the esc is brushless- capable....though entirely unnecessary😎

[@RCexplained]

That sounds great! There's lots to learn for student using an RC vehicle.

[@tonyromano6220]

Canyon Racer nice

[@Icehso140]

A brushed motor working as a strictly DC motor sees almost full torque at startup going slow, so it makes sense to put them in crawlers. That's why we use DC motors for elevators. Good video. Thanks.

[@marshmower]

I love brushed because it's pedal to the metal and less spin-out. I really just don't want to have to buy all the new battery crap. When I got 5 nimh packs.

[@arturos.l.2248]

@@marshmower you can run a brushless on those, in series. It will be faster then a single lipo 😁

[@xnoreq]

NiMh can be fine if you don't draw a lot of current and have enough cells. Let me elaborate: pilot uses 4 NiMh cells as a receiver battery in an airplane with big servos. After a dive he cannot control the plane anymore, it crashes. What happened? 4*1.2V per cell = 4.8V which sounds fine, but now consider that the servos can draw several amps. (Even small servos can draw an amp stall current!) This results in a large voltage drop. Drawing a couple of amps from a NiMh cell can easily result in a drop below 1V/cell. So momentarily the supply voltage to the receiver was only 3.x V, apparently too low. What's the solution? Add another cell to get 6V unloaded, 4.x V heavily loaded. Or use a powerful (!) BEC. Another option is HV servos that can run directly from 2S (8.4V) lipo.

[@allmightygreatone1048]

Yes keep. I run 20 year old emax 550 titan brushed 12 turn in my axail wraith. Fast and quiet lots of power. Keep the batteries , they run slow scale in crawlers.

[@jp-us9rq]

I have brushed motor 550 that go 45 mph and brushless that go near 60 and I don't use the brushless that much hard to control and when u hit something it breaks.now my traxxas rustler has a brushed motor it goes 30 and thats fine for me so I choose the brushed to

[@arturos.l.2248]

Short answer: NO Long answer: Absolutely not. Coming from someone who has 2 rcs, my 8 year old little brother has a 1/16 revo with brushed motor and nmhi pack, the car is STILL too fast for him. It's totally fine to use NMHI packs in sequence, for Brushless esc systems, 2 Nmhi packs will be faster than the lipo batteries, they will just have shorter battery life

[@danielfuentes9884]

Nice work!! Keep it up

[@RCexplained]

Thanks!

[@jytechnology310]

nice video! we produce this kind of NI-MH BATTERY PACKS！

[@rustykilt]

From what i have seen, the use of LIPO batteries is more complicated over the use of NIMH. Their care and use is complicated and seem to have no real advantage over NIMH. I am just a hobbyist and not dedicated RC FREAK, running TAMIYA 1/16 RC TANKS, and RC CROSS MC8 1/12 CRAWLER. I am not very technically minded but can see the use of LIPO in high performance RC, but in my case can see no real advantage for the extra care and sensitivity of LIPO. I would like your opinion as i currently have both batteries, the LIPO came with the RC CROSS KIT, so not sure whether to use it or just use NIMH. Appreciate your video. ps, i am an old fart. The Model I am building is the CROSS RC MC8 MAMMOTH 1/12 which comes with a brushed motor.

[@Michal_S0L]

An extra battery is an extra battery. more running time less power but still more time to rip around

[@richardbrown6762]

Let's put the batteries aside most people just want their mini cars to go super fast so they get brush less motors and go fast and most of the time the smaller cars and trucks don't handle very well I'm waiting for the upgrade parts to make my mini handle better then I'll get a brush less motor for more speed that my opinion 😮😁👍

[@RobertNES816]

Brushed motors are fine. But Nimh is a money pit if you can't run your cars atleast once a week. Brushed motors with lipo are a good combo. Good consistent power and excellent throttle response.

[@arturos.l.2248]

I'm the opposite, I use NMHI in sequence on my 1/16 brushless revo. It's an absolute rocket, does 49 mph if you can control it.

[@arturos.l.2248]

I forgot to mention, the batteries only last 11 minutes

[@RobertNES816]

@@arturos.l.2248 I do the same with my 1/16th slash on 3s. I've clocked mine at 67mph running 45/45 gearing with a 3660 3600kv motor. It's insane how much power it has! It's incredibly unstable though, I wish I had the mini revo lol.

[@arturos.l.2248]

@@RobertNES816 Yeah. The 1/16 slash is ridiculous imo. Even the brushed motor is unstable

[@colin1992]

Interesting. Thanks ryan

[@RCexplained]

You bet!

[@hawsantiago3697]

I'm going back to the hobby after 10 years. I have a Novak Super Rooster and it is the only thing holding me back switching to lipo. Afaik, they cannot handle lipos. It was beyond their time 😅

[@RCexplained]

When you do switch to LiPo, you will love it!

[@spicemasterii6775]

Thanks for the awesome video. Was wondering about this myself. Can brushed motors be used in airplane/heli?

[@RCexplained]

Brushed motors can be used in airplanes and heli's. However, they only excel at the micro size, once you get in to larger models brushless power works a lot better.

[@marshmower]

I once beat an international RC car racer......... By side swiping him on accident. I had a crappy 1700 radio shack battery and a motor I had replaced the armature on. I found out later that I was not allowed to tamper with stock motors. Well I played along and was a good sport but I still have my trophy. I believe that a kid racing against adults should have some kind of buff or something to boost the speed. How much I don't know. I crashed more than anything. By the end of that season I had given a scare to some and they started annoying me so I quit. Way too serious a sport. I'd take the same car and crash it in a brbwire fence. Same motor. Different tires. I don't even know if racing still exists at least dirt oval events. Never tried carpet banked... The old track is needing weeding and packing. It's public I think. Next to it is the cement pebble 1983 banked oval.

[@geraldscott4302]

About a year ago I bought my 10 year old grandson a Traxxas XL-5 Bandit with a brushed motor and NiMh battery. We have both beat the crap out of it, and it still runs fine. I have bought a couple of new batteries. I wouldn't use a LiPo battery for anything period. They are nightmares. Almost anything will destroy them, the explode, they catch on fire, it is bad technology that needs to be replaced with something else. A coworkers $20,000 motorcycle burned to the ground because he had installed a LiPo battery in it. Houses and cars have burned down because a cell phone with LiPo batteries caught on fire. At least one airliner crashed killing several people because of LiPo batteries. Stay FAR away from these things. I don't even know why it is legal to make and sell them.

[@RCexplained]

Sounds like someone I knew who said gasoline should be banned. Gas too easily can explode, catch on fire and even burn down a shed, garage, home or car. Oddly enough, it is legal to have such a potent energy source available to those with no training required.

[@juanmedinar20]

@@RCexplained EV's do not use LIPo's were occupants safety is of the most importance.

[@magnusjohansson295]

Man I actually agree with you there. Been into RC for ten years maybe. Debated with myself this year wether I should get a new car running on LiPos or not. Watched many videos about LiPo safety. I know enough to handle them safely, but in the end I chose a car with brushed/NiMh combo. I just can't risk my family and my house for "a bit of fun". Had a LiPo in the past and thought it was so safe inside my LiPo bag. Until I saw videos showing batteries catching fire inside those bags. Flames bursting out. Metal containers like the Bat Safe are way better, but, since you have to store batteries at room temperature, I have to store them within the main living area of my house and I just can't feel completely safe with LiPos.

[@radiocontrolcardevelopment7329]

@@RCexplained i'm not sure. Let's wait till gasoline cars really catch on, to know if this will be the case :D :-)))

[@srsairbags]

I think EVs use Li-Ion and so do laptops and phones. Its the RC industry that uses LiPo and that to raw cells without controllers.

[@astroblemeRC]

I’m going to be running a brushless motor when I get back into rc, will nimh packs run a brushless motor?

[@jzonneveld9849]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I have learned a lot the last couple of days. Thanks!! One question though about swapping NiMH to LiPo battery. What is the minimum C-rate (continues current) I should be looking for when buying a LiPo 2s? My old RC car was sold 17 years ago and the battery only stated 7.2v/1400mAh. Will a 45C or perhaps even a 25C be good enough as NiMH has a low continues current rate (please correct me if I am wrong)....keeping in mind what you mentioned in an few other videos about lifespan etc. Greetings from The Netherlands, Jim.

[@RCexplained]

25c will be fine. Watch for heat in your motor and esc.

[@derbimieskaikenties]

Is it ok to use 5000mah Nimh battery in a brushed motor?

[@RCexplained]

Yes. Just check for heat when running it

[@derbimieskaikenties]

@@RCexplained alright. Thanks

[@derbimieskaikenties]

@@RCexplained so 5000mah will heat more than 3000mah?

[@derbimieskaikenties]

@@RCexplained and can 5000mah battery overheat in 25minutes?

[@vinnyn9838]

What's the best brushed motor u think for a latrax prerunner thanks luv the channel

[@RCexplained]

To be honest, I'm not really sure. I swapped the brushed system out for a brushless. The performance is incredible!