Team Associated B44 – What Battery & Why?
 

From my previous posts, I’m the newbie who does not want to spend a bomb on parts, probably won’t be racing in the immediate future but I'd like your opinions on what gear to buy based upon a new starter, reliability, control and speed.
What battery should I buy for my Team Associate B44?
- Batteries = I decided I'll stick with NiMh as I have bought a NiMh charger for the B4.1 but I am very confused as to what buy - For the B4.1 I bought a 5000mah .. I understood that it would last about an hour between charges - Ideal to run the buggy at roughly 4 x 15min intervals .. I really don't understand how long I should be charging that for and at what rate either !!.
However as the B44 is a 4x4 would this need more power? What size would you suggest and why?
Also with the B4.1 I bought an adapter lead to suit a different connector on the battery - What would that be called and I guess it based upon the battery pack I buy?
Thanks in advance.

The B44 requires what is called a saddle pack configuration. Since all racers have moved to LiPO batteries, and the only NiMH packs about now are for recreational users, you might have a hard time finding a NiMH saddle pack.

As for what you should by? The bigger capacity the better. The higher quality the better.

As for charging, what kind of charger do you have?

Strex, when I returned to racing early last year, I thought I would stick with the old nimh packs, as I was using old electronics that didn't have lipo cut-off. BIG mistake. Everyone told me at the time, switch to lipos and you'll never look back.

Though lipos are much more temperamental, they perform better and I think they last longer? They're definitely the way to go. Cut your ties with nimhs today!

Hi strex,
As Jimmy O said above you are better to bight the bullet now and upgrade your charger to a lipo capable one (it will charge all batts.) and go with lipo saddle packs, better performance and run times and you won't be wasting money on old technoligy.
As for cost you can keep an eye on for sale thread on here for 2nd hand or do as a lot of budget racers do and have a look at Hobbyking. I am using their Turnigy nano-tech batts in my cars and have never had any problems, also using HK chargers with no issues.
This isn't an add for HK I just have very limited toy budget, :lol:

Yep totally agree with the above. Nimh will cost more than a saddle pack from hobby king or alike. I've had more problems with nimh than Lipo as long as you don't completely discharge them. I've got old track power saddle packs that are at least five years old and still work perfectly. Buy a lipo charger, ESC with lipo cut off and some 4850- 6000 Mah saddles and you won't look back. Run time will be a lot longer than nimh.

Thread revival...

Is there a size limit to the packs that will fit the B44?

As long as its a 2 cell saddle pack, youshould be fine, although there are a few different ones that are a little bit too high (I did find this with Venom 6000mah Packs) i had to raise the battery posts upabout 5-8mm for the little thumb screws to fit on the screws.

I fit rather large Zippy 5700mah ones in there...just. Better off buying ROAR sized ones though, as if you ever want to use them in a different car they'll almost definitely fit.