Wow...didn't realize my runtime was that good. I have a very specific ritual that I go through for my batteries.

First, to be specific, they are labeled Epic Motorsports, 3000 NiMH. I got 8 of them at tower hobbies. I immediately marked them as "Set A", "Set B", "Set C", "Set D". This way, they are always used together in the same pairs as after repeated use, they will begin to drain differently and will eventually damage one of them.

When I got the new packs, I charged them on my trusty 'ol Duratrax Intellipeak at 2.5 amps with a fan cooling both battery and charger. This takes about 3 hours to complete. Then I used a DC meter and light bulb to drain them to 5.4 volts, or 0.9 volts per cell, and charged them again. This way I get maximum capacity and therefore runtime.

I always store my packs fully charged in the refrigerator. They maintain their charge much better this way. Before use, I warm them to ambient temperature, plop them in my E-Maxx and start messing about. After 30-35 minutes, they suddenly die and the truck barely moves...not much curve at all, these things just go full blast and then die.

After a run, the packs are just warm to handle. I let them cool and repeat the same charge process.

I don't know if my good run times are entirely due to my battery conditioning or if I'm just that lucky. All 8 packs perform equally.

And the best part...they were on sale for only $18.95 each at Tower! Can't beat that.