andresampras

Hi all. New to these forums, after some advice.

My son was given a hand-me-down RC car recently, but the battery compartment on the vehicle is empty. It's a big Merc CLK (not C63), I'd guess between 1:10 and 1:5 scale. Brand is Lenoxx if that helps. Tried attaching pics but I'm getting some error about URLs.

Google says the connector in the car is a Tamiya type.
The rating label on the car is pretty bare - all it says is "power rating: 32W"

What's an economical way to get this thing up and running (considering at this point I'm not 100% sure the car still works)? What spec battery pack do i need? Actually do I need a battery pack and charger, or is there some way to use the rechargeable AA or 18650 cells that I already have?

Cheers

the rc guy

you are not able to post pic or a link yet .due to being a new member..You can use the 18650 batteries just add a tamiya plug so you have 18650 batteries but no way to charge them? or more than like.you can use a 6 cell nimh pack with tamiya plug..
there are many lower dollar chargers on the market..

GerryH

iTrader: (26)

Lennox seems to be more toy grade RC, which makes things more difficult. You need to find the voltage rating. 32w doesn't really tell you anything useful.

Then determine what will fit into the battery compartment. It most likely used a NiCd/NiMH battery and I wouldn't be surprised if it used AA sized cells. You can try and figure out how many AA batteries fit into the battery tray, which would hopefully tell you the voltage. If the tray is deeper than a AA battery, then it probably was using subC sized batteries. And unfortunately, there isn't a standard battery of that size to experiment with. SubCs are bigger in diameter than 18650s, but are shorter. So balancing voltage differences and size differences might be a problem.

Good luck

andresampras

Thanks folks. Yes if i had to guess I'd say it's more of a large toy than a serious RC car.

Unfortunately I can't find any details for this model '797-088' online so I'm not sure how else to find the voltage. I'm going to try contacting the manufacturer.

andresampras

This is a post.

andresampras

Cheers for the link, but that charger on Amazon is close to $80 aussie dollars, which is more than I'd like to throw at a potentially dead experiment.

I think NiMH is the way to go, but I'm waiting for a response re. the battery spec from Lenoxx before I buy anything.

Thanks

the rc guy

after looking at many models by that brand it might have had a 9.6v nicad or nimh... there are other chargers you can use find 1 in your budget ..you can build a battery to test unit b4 making other purchases.. you can take aa batteries and solder them in series to get just have to buy correct tamiya plug with wires then attach to battery pack you built

andresampras

There's this on Amazon AU for $20 AUD:

GecotyŽ 9.6V Ni-MH Battery Pack, 2400mAh Rechargeable AA Batteries Pack with Tamiya Plug and USB Charge Cable for RC Truck, RC Tank, RC Boat

mrreet2001

iTrader: (9)

This?: 1:6 Mercedes CLK Rechargeable Remote Car

I am seeing that it is 12v.

the rc guy

measuring battery compartment would give a slight hint in cell type n count. measure compartment... That the number Mrreet

andresampras

Hmm I can't be sure it's not out of the same factory, but it looks a bit different. EDIT: they have a 'white with yellow' colour option. No photo, but maybe that's the one. Nice detective work!

I still can't post photos or URLs (can't even quote your post due to URL) but here's someone's photo of the beast (address with (dot)com):

techsupportforum(dot)com/attachments/saads-largest-rc-car-jpg.45555/

andresampras

OK will measure and report back

mrreet2001

iTrader: (9)

andresampras

So in the end I bought this 9.6V battery pack. The car works, but in spurts - a few seconds at a time, sometimes no response at all. Interestingly, the steering seems to work consistently, it's just fwd & reverse drive that's intermittent.
Is this likely due to too-low voltage, or is it more likely there's something wrong with the handheld controller (which looks a bit beat up)?

Took a while to post this response because I didn't realise how surprisingly quick something this thing is for its size...on first test, the wheel hit a table and the plastic snapped...had to araldite it back on

andresampras

@mrreet2001, yes that's the photo of the exact car and controller.