Reception is pretty crappy.

I brought my first rc car the other day. Got it second hand. TT01E, Futaba FP-R122JE Receiver, TEU-101BK ESP, BZ superstock motor, older style controller (uses crystals).

It came with a few batteries.

Now the problem is when I use the NiMH battery it goes pretty slow but that's fine. Maybe the battery is stuffed?

When I put in the NiCD battery, it goes really fast but the range for the car drops considerably. The range is huge with the NiMH in but the NiCD (I've tried the 2 NiCD's it came with) it's down to 5-10 meters.

I'm not sure why the different batteries would change the range?

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance for any help.

It's certainly odd that the change of batteries causes interference, perhaps its related to the higher voltage the battery is putting out causing more electrical interference - if your NiMH is slow compared to the NiCd and you are sure it is fully charged (warm to the touch) then it is probably dead, they don't age well.

There are only two things I can see on your car that might be a problem...

1. It's not clear whether the motor has capacitors fitted - I can't see any external ones but there might be some surface mount ones in the endbell. The surface mounts ones aren't much good anyway so it is always worth soldering on external ones anyway.
2. I'm not too keen on the way that the power wires are wrapped around the antenna, I would keep them as far away as possible.

Thanks for the advice. I'll move the power away from the arial (cheapest option).

I grab a new battery too. Do you think I can use a lipo or best to stick with a nimh with my setup?

Thanks again. I'll let you know how I get on.

most stickpack batterys,lipo/nimh should fit. lipos will give you good runtimes

Will it matter what mAH lipo I use. What's the cheapest way to get my setup using a lipo.

Checked the engine for capacitors (actually I don't really know what one is) but the specs for the RZ (not BZ as I said earlier) engine say's it's built in.

the Mah of the lipo won't matter, but you'll want one of the lipo that are in the shape of a stick pack, like this:

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXYDA3&P=ML

there are ones from different battery makers, this is just an example - and they are approximately the same price



that chassis is really designed for stick packs, any of the more square lipo packs will require you to dremel the battery compartment some so that they sit nice and flat on the chassis

Great. I think it might be time for a Lipo and Charger!

Someone mentioned a low voltage alarm. Is it necessary? Should I bother?

If your esc does not have low voltage cut off, you defiantly need a low voltage warning buzzer, lipo do not like to be overcharged or undercharged, doing so will shorten the life of the pack exponentially and in extreme cases cause a battery explosion.

Any idea is mine does have a cutoff (TEU-101BK)? It makes a noise when my NiCd gets low. Is it the same for a lipo or do I need a special one?

Thanks for all the answers here. RCTech is such a good resource. I appreciate it all.

Tonight it's stopped raining and I'm going out to try a fix the problem of the reception.

DWS

The TEU-101 ESC does not have built in LVC. You'll definitely want to get an external LVA if you want to run LiPos. LiPos do not like to be overdischarged, and the consequences can potentially be disastrous for your battery and your car.

They are readily available on ebay for very cheap. I suggest one like this one because it has a very loud alarm, it is programmable (you can set your cutoff to whatever voltage you like) and the LED readout displays individual cell voltages. It makes a handy tool for the toolbox. You can check voltages in the field as well as before and after charge cycles.

no it does not. you will still need to run a low-voltage cutoff or an alarm...not a good idea to discharge a lipo past 6.6 volts...its actually a really bad idea...trust me i did it...that was a 200 dollar plane that came crashing to the ground on fire, never to see the air again... run one or dont use a lipo please..dont want a similar situation to happen to you when your driving that car!!

You may also want to consider upgrading your Tx/Rx to a 2.4 GHz setup. Less issues with EMI with 2.4.

Decent cheap sets are $20-$50