I'm sorry if I didn't really search through the forum but here's my question anyway. I have an older HPI Baja Bug. First let me state the problem. I charge my batteries to full charge. I can put the cheapo radio shack battery in and it runs great for as long as the old battery will alow. 15-20 minutes. I have another Nicd battery that is a venom. I get about 1 1/2 minutes from a full charge with that one. It is a new battery so the memory affect hasn't kicked in as I discharbe it completely before a recharge. I have two NiMH batteries that seem to run it ok but not for long and these are brand new also. The problem is that everything is getting extremely hot and I have even melted the shrink wrap on the batteries. Bare with me as I try to get all the details to the best of my knowledge. I put a new motor in it since I burned up the original. It is a Venom Fireball 15d. I have read where these motors are not that good but there are a few that say they are fine. I'm going to assume, for the sake of this question, that mine is an ok one. What I need to know is if I may have a bad ESC or is there something else perhaps? The ESC I have now is a Tekin Rebel. I have been to the hobby shop many times but to no avail as of yet. I even changed the gear ratio on the transmission. For the most part I have done all I can with what little knowledge I have about this hobby and now since the hobby shop doesn't seem to have an answer I though I might as well look to the all powerful internet and maybe get some ideas. Please be simple with your replies simply because I'm a newbie! Thanks in advance for any help you can give. I can answer anything to the best of my ability if I have left any details out.

Describe teh batts better - how many cells, how old and how you're charging them (amps, peak setting, etc). Need more to go on to be of much help.

they are 6 cell 7.2 volt batteries. The radio shack one is probably old but the other NiCD is brand new and the two NiMH are also brand new. Radio Shack had a deal on some quick 15 minute chargers so I picked a couple of those up. I don't hhave the paper work on them anymore but I seem to remember them charging at 3.5-4 amps. That's about all I can tell you about the batteries and charging. I didn't really think the charger would be an issue but of course I may be wrong.

Usually when batts get hot when being run, they're not able to supply the current the motor is calling for. In an effort to meet the current demand, the cells get very hot trying to dump all the amps them can generate. You didn't smention the capacity of your pacs - what's the mah?

If these are low mah pacs, short run time is prob what to expect. If the new pacs are the same mah as the old radio shack batt, then they are either not getting charged, or they've gotten too hot a time or two and are damaged. NiMh don't like timed chargers unless the charger is specific for the batts. NiCds tolerate that kind of charging better. The other prob - say your charger is 4amps for 15min, thats only 1000mah thats going into the batt (some of this is wasted as heat, so not all makes it in) and if the batts are 4000mah batts, you're only charging them to a fraction of their capacity. I'd be suspicious the new pacs are not getting fully charged.

You may need a better charger, one than can prpoerly peak charge both the NiCds and the NiMh packs.

Thank you Duster_360. I will definately look into another charger and maybe a higher voltage battery. The radio shack bat is 2000 MaH, the new NiCD is 1800, and the two new NiMH's are 3800. I am still wondering if my ESC is maybe not putting out enough to the motor as well? Is it possible to charge the NiMH's on the quick charger a couple times to get them fully charged? After letting them cool down after each charge of course.

Yes, the NiMhs are prob big enough to need 2 passes thru your charger - just watch temps- especially on the 2nd pass. They should not get so hot that you can't hold them. When they peak on a peak charger, they are 1250135F, so they do get hot, but you can still hold them. ABove that, you're damaing the cells.

Your esc should just be doing what the motor is telling it - unless you have installed a motor that is below the turn limit for that esc - then you will have probs and may burn the esc up. That esc is supposed to be good down to 10T, so I don't think esc is a prob.

Try the NiMhs after 2 passes thru charger (watch temps!!) and see what that runs like.

Well I ran two passes through the charger on NiMH's and still no change. I even played around with gearing but still the same affect on two different gearings. Stock gearing is 31/48pitch on the pinion and I have another that is 25/48. Hobby shop told me to try bigger than 31. I'm seriously considering a new charger for starters since I don't think the el cheapo's are cutting it and I think it's obvious.

The NiMhs ar enot getting hot when you charge them??


Better charger -

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXTCJ8&P=ML

Well they are getting just a tad bit warm but not so much as like when I charge the NiCD's. The car is definately running better with those than the NiMH's so my next purchase will be a new charger. I still have the heat problem with the NiCD's but the car runs better and longer with, of all things, the stinking radio shack batt! BTW thanks for the link to the charger Duster! It will be at least the weekend befor eI can purchase anything but I'll post when I do the tests.

One last post before I head off to bed. Get this....I put the old radio shack motor in it and the damn thing ran great with no issues. Other than that crap motor getting smokin' hot because I ran it steady for 30 minutes. Anyway I have come to the conclusion that the Venom Fireball 15d was a crap one so I did the only thing I could do and that was exchange it for another motor. I got the same motor only a 13d. They wouldn't give me any cash back and I'm through dealing with that shop. The original motor that I fried was a 13t so I'm hoping this one will work. I will put it in tomorrow and find out. I'm definately having charger realated problems as well but I can get at least the old radio shack batt to charge half way decent for testing purposes. I don't think I'm going to charge up the new batts until I get a decent charger. Thanks for your input and ideas so far. I will let you know what comes of the new motor tomorrow! Cheers!

Well the new motor worked great with the NiCD's but I think I got some bad NiMH's or I burned them up somehow. Could be the charger issue as well. Either way I need some good batts and a new charger.

Quick charging 6 cells is a bad idea. I would invest into a good charger that takes at least 30-45 min to charge. A steady slow charge guarantees a full end balanced charge.
Go to Carolinasrc.com

yea i think charging your NiMh batts on that quick charger is a bad idea. You should get an Onyx model. I used to have the Onyx 220 and for being my first peak charger, it was fairly easy to understand. You could set a different memory on the charger for each of your different kinds of batterys and then they would all peak perfectly if you have them programmed right.

Why would make you think they would give you any money back? Electronics are an as is purchase. Hobby shops have no idea how a motor was used or abused. If you can get some cash from the manufacturer that's one thing but it's not your LHS responsibility to replace every motor that "wears out" for whatever the reason. I've seen TOO MANY people cry foul on this...you get a flame!