ospower

iTrader: (2)

does anyone knows which life battery fits in the dx3s when the mod is done????

Jerm13

iTrader: (36)

Ditch cutting up your radio and pick up some NiZn batteries and a charger from E-Bay. $20-25 shipped to you. Just about the price you pay for that LiFe and you don't have to hack up the radio. Puts out just over 7 volts fully charged and will last for about 2 months before you need to recharge em.

ospower

iTrader: (2)

uffff thanks!!!!

wrongchannel

iTrader: (24)

+1

NiZn is the best solution. No modifications.

mtpocketsracing

iTrader: (2)

starting to see chargers being able to charge NiZn batteries now. the icharger 308, 406 4010 does. most sites don't list as being able to but the owners manual does.

BigBadDogg

Hi.. sorry to say I have used NiZn batterys for 5 years and find them to be a bad choice as they have short lifes .. IMHO they are junk.. have not found any that would take more than 50 cycles. b4 showing signs of Less mah in and unable to hold voltage just sitting on my work bench..
The spk dx3c mod is easy no need to cut the radio.. its a battery tray that can be easily removed.. Here is a vid of after he has t the ones b4 to show ..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7r-Hfnz4xE4

mtpocketsracing

iTrader: (2)

I've always found it interesting that no name brand companies like panasonic, raovac, duracell etc don't make them. only some cheap no name brand stuff from china. this is probably why.

here's a professional review that says the same thing as you did,
http://www.metaefficient.com/recharg...batteries.html

Jerm13

iTrader: (36)

Good reading right there. I agree with what was said, but there is 2 sides to the coin.

While they may only be good for 30-50 cycles, that cycle may last from 1 week to 3 months. 3 months as in the case for me.

I bought a set and charger in November, did the initial charge and during the first full race day, did a little experiment to see how long they would last, and compaired it with regular Energizer AA batteries. I turned them both on when we set up our pits at 8am and noted the voltage on the displays ( both radios were Spektrum DX3R's). At 5pm when we were packing up, I noted the voltage again. The normal Energizers went from 6.1 volts down to 5.3. The NiZn batts went from 7.2 to 6.9.

So for the 9 hours they were on, the NiZn lost 1/3 of the volts the energizers did. That night, I recharged the NiZn's and re installed them in my radio and saw a voltage of 7.2.

Again, this was in mid November when they were last charged. Yesterday, at the race track, I was still at 6.7 volts. That has been 3 months on the same charge, 20 different race days and I have only charged them the mentioned 2 times.

So if the cycle life is say 30 cycles, and each cycle lasts 3 months, that's 90 months of use or 7 1/2 years.

I think I will stay with them. $20 for 4 batteries and a charger for that long... Yeah. I will stay with the NiZn.

mtpocketsracing

iTrader: (2)

hey yeah, if they are lasting that long in the radio they're worth it for ya.

I seen the review for the eneloop batteries from panasonic and they can be recharged 2 thousand times.. holy crap! I didn't know sanyo was bought by panasonic.

Yosh70

iTrader: (17)

Sorry but 3 months in a Tx with 20 racedays and you only lost .5 of a volt?

You must have the "magical" Ni-ZN batteries......even a lipo or life would lose more than that.

blis

Get a cheap 50 pack of AAs from supermarket and replace them when needed and a little before that. Its more likely you will be using your charger on the model at the time you need it for the TX. It's just another thing to charge and its not worth the effort.

Jerm13

iTrader: (36)

I haven't left it ON for 3 months straight. Just turned it on when Im running my car and turned it off when Im done. So in reality, its on for about 35 minutes each race day, times 20 days with comes to about 12ish hours. Even the Energizer Lithium's last for 3-4 months when used like this.

Nothing magical about it...

They don't have the self discharge rate Lithium chemistry does.

Yosh70

iTrader: (17)

Ohhhh....gotcha. Good thing you clarified that.

Only 35 min each race day? So no practice, no bench testing? Are you running just 1 car cause you show 4 in your sig? Sounds really low but giving you the benefit of the doubt, you put 12+ hours on your Tx and say you only lose .5 of a volt.

Well, its the internet...anything is possible I guess.

Jerm13

iTrader: (36)

Yeah, just one class during the cold months. Times are 6 minute quals X 3, plus 8 minute main. Which comes out to 24 minutes of "run time." The other 11 minutes is practice, warm up and shut down time which is about average I guess. The other electric in my sig is my daughters and she has her own TX. That's how I did the initial comparing of the 2 batteries.

I guess I will see a big jump in "ON" time when the nitro season starts as its at least an hour for each 1/8 scale.

Im not trying to say they are something they are not. Just providing the info I have found for others to make their own decisions. I wish Horizon would come out with a LiFe pack that would fit the DX3 and DX4 series. I would buy that if it was a direct fit that didn't require a mod. Until then this has been the best option for me.

BigBadDogg

Heres what Id do.. go to ebay buy a computer laptop battery that is BAD.. make sure 1st it has li-ion cell in the 2.6ah range..
Remove battery tray outa spektrum radio.. build yourself 2 cells packs after you disassemble the computer battery and test cells..more than likely its the changing board in the battery container that is bad..as I said Build a few 2 cell packs use what ever your standard battery connecter is. I use DEANS XT.. solder the packs n charge them.. use them in ur radio.. I get about 2 months b4 my voltage falls below.7.5 I then replace with pack I have precharged n ready .. repeat.. all can be done for under $10..

NiZn-- Great to start then FAIL badly after a few charges. Just dont trust them

eneloop.. too expensive not enough mah for my personal choice

Lipo.. dont feel comfortable leaving a lipo in my $400 radio for months

Li-Ion..cheap..have other uses in my RC bag than just my radio.power my elect solder iron. power my E dremel..and many other things...Last along time no FEAR of hurting cells leaving fully charged for MONTHS..like i said for $10 i get 4 sets..so $2.50 a pack.