Traxxas POWERCELL NiMH BATTERIES - Are They any GOOD?? How does NiMH COMPARE to LIPO packs??

In this video I talk about NiMH batteries. More specifically the Traxxas Powercell NiMH Batteries with ID connectors. I discuss the Pros and Cons as well as my experience with running them.

[@alexandres8846]

To balance nimh battery packs, a circuit with two 1n4007 diodes in series plus a resistance of 1 to 10 ohms is used.The voltage drop in each diode is 0.7 volt x 2 is 1.4 volts.The resistance limits the intensity of the balancing current. Being soldered to all Ni cells this increases the life and performance of the battery pack.

[@Daniyoyo]

I was all into the RC hobby and stopped a few years ago .( maybe 4 years ). I went back into garage and figured I’ll have some fun and my lipo batteries was completely done but my starter batter pack traxxas nimh was charged up and I didn’t have to pay anymore to start the hobby again . Now granted I will get another lipo but I won’t forget what got me going

[@RCKnockout]

Yessir….Nimh is all you need to get started

[@gourobkundu2173]

This is a great great video for beginners. I recommended this to my friend. Thank you.

[@RCKnockout]

No problem! 😉

[@mattfoster1684]

You never mentioned the huge benefit of NiMH over LiPo. You alluded to the dangers of LiPo, but never explicitly stated that you would never burn your house down charging, discharging, completely shorting out a NiMH pack, but you certainly can do that if you're not careful with LiPOs. On a side note, take those puffy LiPOs you mentioned and throw them in a bucket of salt water for a few days to make sure they have 0 capacitance/charge if you haven't done that aleady. Once they're puffed they're more dangerous than ever, but not if they hold no energy. Once a Lipo swells like that, it's done... drain it completely (salt water bath) and then recycle it.

[@RCKnockout]

The very first thing I said in the video is that NIMH batteries are much less likely to start on fire and they are much safer than lipos. I suppose I could have gone into further detail. But for beginners that is probably an adequate explanation without going into detail

[@SupremeGang420]

Thanks for the informative video I’ve been using the NiMH battery I got with my Stampede 4x4 and I’ve noticed it’s been losing power a lot more quickly than normal I thought I had a bad battery but I guess it’s just the way it’s made

[@RCKnockout]

Glad you found it helpful! Unfortunately that is the nature of a NIMH battery

[@SupremeGang420]

@@RCKnockout I went and bought a brand new one since the one Im using is very worn down idk if it’ll make a difference or not

[@RCKnockout]

@@SupremeGang420 it might make a bit of difference but the battery will still slowly drain since it’s a NIMH

[@yllw.tertilla1091]

How do i store these with the ez peak charger i got a lipo and ik i got to set it on store mode in the charger but the nihm battery doesnt have any options should i store them fully charged or empty

[@RCKnockout]

Not sure what protocol is…..I run my NiMH packs to empty….charge them back up right before I use them again

[@bejicincarreras]

Hello, what do you think about using these nimh batteries in a slash with a brushles engine? I don't need 60 mph, 35 mph is enough for me. But I also want the battery to last a long time (20 minutes is fine). Do you think it's possible? Thank you.

[@RCKnockout]

You could definitely use them but the issue is that you’ll slowly loose power as the battery drains……that’s why I highly recommend using a Lipo……if you want the same amount of power throughout the entire run time

[@arturos.l.2248]

Yeah they work fine. I just use the included car socket when I'm playing rc on a trip. At home I have the ez peak with 2s lipo

[@arturos.l.2248]

The included Charger is a car charger it takes 40 minutes to charge a 3000 mah 7 cell cell

[@arthurcastaneda9969]

Hey love your channel!! How do you put the nimh battery in storage mode on the traxxas ez-peak live dual charger......I couldn't figure it out!.... Thank you Arthur

[@RCKnockout]

They don’t need to be storage charged…from my understanding they’re supposed to be stored completely drained…so pretty much just run them until they’re dead

[@arthurcastaneda9969]

Thank you so much for the information!!!

[@RCKnockout]

@@arthurcastaneda9969 you’re welcome

[@nicolaswaringer9951]

Do you need to worry about storage charging and balance charging with a nimh battery? Or is it okay to just charge it to full and store it?

[@RCKnockout]

No you don’t need to storage charge NIMH…..it’s actually best to run them completely empty and store them that way…..they’ll start losing charge if you leave them fully charged and sitting anyhow….and it’s bad for the cell life

[@chrisarmstrong411]

Was thinking about the same thing, glad you asked !!

[@Aag06]

I have a 5,000 nimh series 5 when I charge it says full charger but it’s not full charged

[@RCKnockout]

How do you check to see if it’s charged?

[@ironj100]

I’m running a 3000nimh pack with my TRX k5 sunset blazer and it doesn’t seem to last long at all. But then I try and run it in my slash . It still is slow in the slash. So I think the battery is worn down. I HAD A 4200 nimh and that crapped out. It looked like the plastic started to melt on it.

[@RCKnockout]

Yeah the NIMH batteries definitely don’t last as long as a Lipo battery, unfortunately….the initial punch of power from a fully charged pack fades quickly too

[@dustinplee5067]

I called Traxxas and they told me that they don’t recommend using a 7.2v is that what that battery you have is and don’t you have to push the power button on the Traxxas brushless or brushed esc and the push it again and hold the button until it turns red light and then it’s in nickel metal hydride mode and it’s good to drive it in nimh mode

[@RCKnockout]

After it’s turned on press and hold the on/off button for 10 seconds until the esc makes a dinging noise and the light changes over to red. It’s the exact same procedure for switching it from NiMH mode to Lipo cutoff mode

[@originalrcfun7368]

Love these informative videoes. Nimh packs are probably old technology, but if you get the right produser, they are good. I have never had anny more issues with Traxxas nimh than other nimh packs or lipos. Used them for years. Just for the informative record: Lipo packs will allways be matched bc they are monitored when charged, and matched from the factory. Why they are matched is bacause we do not want one or more cells to be discharged too low, or over charged in the pack and get ruined and cause a fire. Regarding the nimh packs, they are not matched that good from the factory. Back in the days when racing with nimh, produsers made matched cells, and you could build your own pack in side by side configuration. After each run, you place the pack in a individual discgarger, that discharge each cell to a set voltage, like 0.8v pr cell. Another important thing to note, nimh cells gets degraded each time they get under like 0.8v. So to extend the life time on a nimh pack, you should run with the low voltage detection on, or stop driving when it starts to die out.

[@RCKnockout]

I didn’t know that. I always thought you could run NiMH packs til they were flat

[@originalrcfun7368]

@@RCKnockout The old NIcad packs needed to discharge completely to prevent crystalisations in the cells and delete the memory effect they have. In the 90's the trickle chargers startet to come out. That charging method was ment to prevent the crystalisation by pushing in voltage in pulses. When the nimh came on the market, the chargers had the same method still. They claimed the batteries got more punch by charging this way. I often compared it to a interval workout. Racers back in the day often had a big 18v pack to push in as much voltage as possible just before the start, to have a litle advantage at the starting line.

[@RCKnockout]

@@originalrcfun7368 you have a lot more knowledge about this kind of stuff than I do lol 😂

[@originalrcfun7368]

@@RCKnockout We all learn new stuff every day 😊

[@RCKnockout]

@@originalrcfun7368 very true! Always new things to learn 😉

[@roadrunner5257]

I have run my trx4 with 7.2v nimh battery now i have tried 8.4v nimh and the esc is blinking red and it won't start.what is the broblem?

[@RCKnockout]

Did you accidentally turn on the low voltage cutoff?

[@roadrunner5257]

How can i turn it off because i dont know.thanks for fast answert!

[@RCKnockout]

@@roadrunner5257 is it blinking green at all or just red?

[@ccs2311]

This advice applies to anyone who bought a TRX-4 CRAWLER and can’t run more than 50% power (or anyone running a 3s XL5HV Electronic Speed Controller, but probably applies to any Traxxas ESC with a 3s rating] …if you receive your truck in lipo mode (hobby stores or TRAXXAS probably do it to keep lipo batteries from becoming discharge damaged) and want to run an 8.4v nimh battery pack, you need a 11.1 or 7.4 volt battery hooked up before the ESC will let you get OUT of lipo mode, otherwise the ESC will think it has a discharged 11.1 v lipo installed and won’t respond to attempted programming efforts.

[@RCKnockout]

Yeah I think I noticed that..you actually need to hook up a Lipo to turn low voltage off..it won’t with a NIMH, i think it just blinks or alternates between green and red blinks

[@ccs2311]

@@RCKnockout yeah it just blinked red for me, nothing in the manual and not too many resources online about this

[@RCKnockout]

@@ccs2311 yeah I kinda figured it out on my own as well….

[@ryangobert9754]

I have one of those charger and they are a really good charger

[@RCKnockout]

Yeah the charger does work pretty well!

[@JM-nh8yp]

Whats the average max voltage that an 8.4 volt reaches when fully charged?

[@RCKnockout]

I think the maximum voltage per NiMH cell is 1.5v. So I guess it would be 1.5v x 7 cells

[@JM-nh8yp]

@@RCKnockout That sounds right. I called my hobby shop and he said 10.5 v is normal for 7 cells

[@RCKnockout]

@@JM-nh8yp they would know best! 👍😊

[@basketball7677]

@@RCKnockout is it really 1.5? I thought 1.2?

[@RCKnockout]

@@basketball7677 I believe it’s 1.5v per cell for a Nimh

[@zupaz8104]

are they any slower then lipo?

[@RCKnockout]

No….but they lose charge faster than lipos

[@zupaz8104]

@@RCKnockout oh

[@basketball7677]

@@RCKnockout can you use lipo on only a brushless motor?

[@RCKnockout]

@@basketball7677 no most brushed setups can run Lipo…..but it’s usually limited to 2s Lipo…..you also have to make sure you’ve got your Low Voltage Detection turned on when running a Lipo

[@forzahorizon4795]

Mine well blink red as soon as I got it

[@RCKnockout]

Your esc?

[@forzahorizon4795]

@@RCKnockout it was a bad fuse in the charger so I taken to charger apart to look at it so I got a new fuse and now it charges

[@RCKnockout]

@@forzahorizon4795 glad you got it figured out

[@f1fd969]

so i dont take plastic rap off?

[@RCKnockout]

No that’s not suppose to come off. That’s helping hold the cells together

[@f1fd969]

@@RCKnockout oh okay thank you

[@RCKnockout]

@@f1fd969 you’re welcome

[@arturos.l.2248]

I had to take it off to dry out a wet battery But I taped it shut after I'm done

[@christiansrcs7789]

Yes they are safe but a money trap you could get better 2s lipo for the money

[@RCKnockout]

Yep that’s true

[@basketball7677]

Why are they a money trap? I was thinking of switching to lipo

[@christiansrcs7789]

@@basketball7677 beacuse they are so expensive just get zee lipo

[@christiansrcs7789]

@@basketball7677 bruh my comment is one year old

[@mikejohnson-vl6nv]

The nimh pack will be FASTER in your car vs a 2s pack. This has been proven in many videos. If you take a 6 cell nimh pack will be about 2-4 mph faster. Now if you use a 7 cell vs 2s pack. The 7 cell will be alot more powerfull due to the voltage gain. Plus mihm packs have a higher c rate of discharge, witch makes your car faster in a race. The voltage drop ur taking about are in nicad packs not nimh packs. The nimh packs have a different curve of drop.

[@arturos.l.2248]

The reason your top speed is higher is because the NMHI 7 cell is rated 8.4v or 9.8v on a full charge. 2s lipo is only 7.4v which is why I recommend using 3S packs if you're actually trying to get speed.

[@arturos.l.2248]

The main problem with nmhi packs in racing is the low battery life. The power does not last long enough without having to change battery

[@mikejohnson-vl6nv]

@@arturos.l.2248 the 6 cell mnh pack is a little faster then a typical 2s comparing apples to apples. Now a 7 cell vs 2s is alot faster due to its voltage advantages. The 7cell is usually a 8.4 rate vs the 2s is 7.4 volts. However in a 6cell is 7.2 volts it has a higher c rating. For example a traxxas pack 2s is rated by the company at 25c with is garbage compared to a 6cell is rated at a 200c or higher. Typically the 6cell will not rate a c rating because the cars and trucks that are modified usually run on 25-60c. There are plus and minus form running a 6cell, however speed is a plus. Weight a negative, run time that depends on how u look at it, for example the 25c rate on the traxxas 2s will last longer due to the slow c rating.

[@arturos.l.2248]

@@mikejohnson-vl6nv I did not have the same experience. With a 2S lipo I lost a small amount of top speed, but I gained acceleration with my brushed rustler

[@mikejohnson-vl6nv]

@@arturos.l.2248 the problem with how long a battery lasts is due to many issues regardless on if it's a nicad, nmh, lithium and so on. Nicad will have the highest c rating, nmh will have the 2nd c rating. Think of having a 55 gallon drum full of water. U put a hole in it, size of a fist. That would be your lithium polymer battery. Now make a 2ft hole in the drum, that would be your NMH cell. That's why there is poor run time. The extra power is wasted on the motor, esc, heat and so on. Will the motor run faster, yes.. however the motor will only run a little faster. That's basically what happens. Some people will point out that the lithium is 99% efficient and the NMH is around 65% efficient, however that has to do with changing. That's why the are hot when there fully charged. Both have to give the mAh power on a discharge cycle listed on the battery and the voltage listed.

[@ironj100]

All my traxxas nimh packs died. Really annoying.

[@RCKnockout]

They don’t hold a charge at all?

[@ironj100]

@@RCKnockout so there no good Nimh traxxas batterys . I do have a new one to fun my Trx4 Sunset Blazer.

[@RCKnockout]

@@ironj100 that’s a bummer

[@ironj100]

So is it worth a 5000 or 4200. . I’m thinking of getting the F Rally BLS2 car. Or A BIG FOOT bls2

[@ironj100]

The sunset Blazer is awesome I used a 4200 nimh for my blazer . But wasn’t running well cause b the batteries where going bad at the time. But I got get a battery for it. Pro the 4200 agian