Battery help required

[Admin]

Orrighty! I hereby declare the quest to find “a better Bit Char-G on-board battery” OPEN

We, the Bit Char-G fans of Australia, want a higher capacity battery than the standard one supplied by Tomy. And we will find one!

Initial investigations have revealed that the standard battery is (in very basic specs):

Battery codeN50AAA

Package size1/3AAA

ChemistryNickel Cadmium (NiCad)

Voltage1.2v

Capacity (nominal) 50mAh<--- Important! Capacity (typical) 55mAh The challenge, should you choose to accept it…. is to find a replacement battery (preferably NiMH) that will give us more GRUNT (capacity) and still fit within the tiny confines of a Bit Char-G chassis. If someone can find a supplier, let us know and we’ll negotiate a group purchase if they are prepared to cut us a deal on price. The hunt begins.

[Admin]

ok.. I have nfi what any of that meant :).

does bigger battery mean we’ll be able to race for longer, or quicker.. or both?

Shard

[Admin]

Shard, the higher capacity the longer its going to go for. If we use NiMH we will need a seperate recharger though ?.

Ok quickly searching, found two places that meet our specs (for a NiMH. One is America (no O/S im afraid, anyone know an American ?:))

http://www.mrnicd-ehyostco.com/newpage3.htm

AP-150 AAAH (1/3AAA) 1.2v, Capacity – 150mAh – $2.50US

Brand is AP, Rechargeable NiMH Cells. Pretty sure the measurements are the same (0.1 off).

Next is from this site (Australia)

http://www.master-instruments.com.au/batteries/index.htm

GP10AAAH, its only 100mAh though. No price, you have to be a dealer, or ask them for the nearest seller.

[Admin]

Looks like the N50AAA (produced by Sanyo) is the only one of that size (1/3AAA) to be readily available : /

[Admin]

> http://www.mrnicd-ehyostco.com/newpage3.htm
> AP-150 AAAH (1/3AAA) 1.2v, Capacity – 150mAh – $2.50US
> Brand is AP, Rechargeable NiMH Cells. Pretty sure the
> measurements are the same (0.1 off).

THAT’S the sort of stuff we’re looking for. Hey – Aaron – you got some contacts over there that we might be able to bribe into shipping us some over. Oh…. there’s another thing…. will prolly have to ship via surface mail due to “dangerous goods” restrictions.

Well-spotted, Shaetano!

Cheers

[Admin]

If you guys can find an international shipper, I’d be most interested.

I’ve checked all the major UK (my current abode) suppliers and they only have NiCd cells in the 1/3 AAA size.

I dont Actually get my Char-G untill next week but I’m planning mods and circuits already

See ya

Freeman

[Admin]

Hey Freeman

Interest noted. As soon as we get something lined up I’ll drop you a line.

How big is the Bit Char-G scene in the UK, just out of curiosity?

Cheers

[Admin]

Freeman !!. Heres one in the Uk. Looks good too DJ!.

http://www.overlander.co.uk/detail.asp?SubCategoryID=NickelMetalHydride&ID=53

[Admin]

W00T! Nice find, Shaetano. Will fire an email off to them tonight.

Thanks

[Admin]

Hey thanx shaetano,

about to order 5 of them

As for the uk scene ? well there isn’t not that i know of really. I got the link to one of the autions from a friend of mine saying he was considering buying one. So i went ahead and ordered one, i got my other half to pay with her paypal account, and when she done that she thought they looked really cool so bought one for herself 🙂 – My mate has also ordered one and possibly one for his other half. So thats 4 in the country at least 🙂

I have also got plans for circuit building. At work i have some rather large plywood boards lying around doing nothing. I’m thinking about cutting them in half putting hinges and handleson them so i can have mobile tracks 🙂

Got a few designs in mind. when i get more practice at the building im thinking of banked corners and bridges 🙂

the two cars that are comming my way are a Mazda RX-7 Red + 3.0 motor + tyres, and a Nissan Skyline Blue + motor + tyres.

Ill get pix up when i have them of the custom paint work im planning 🙂

See ya

Freeman

[Admin]

I found another lead just for you Aussies

http://www.flytestrom.com.au/nicdnimh.htm– Unfortunately, they don’t list a NiMH 1/3AAA, but it says many others available….couldn’t hurt to ask.

Shaetano – have you tried that NiMH cell yet. I might just have to order a couple.

[Admin]

I just ordered 5 NiMH batteries. Should be here tomorrow. I’ll tell you what I think of them. I’m coming to Australia the last week in June. If these batteries work out I could order some and mail them once I get there if someone wants to organize that so I can just mail all of them to one person.

-Peter

[Admin]

I’m thinking the remote charger will take forever to charge these things up. I’m going to measure the current the remote puts out to charge (probably around 20mA) and maybe make a charger capable of more charging power (100mA or something) We’ll just have to wait and see how these things do.

-Peter

[Admin]

looks like e have plenty of battery suppliers so i would say that he mision is complete. But will they work?

[Admin]

NiMH battery kick butt. I used my plug in charger to charge this batter up and charged it for 2.5 minutes and the current was still over 300mA. The car was more peppy then I ever had seen it before and stayed that way for 3 minutes. Then it slowed down to regular speed and lasted for another 6 minutes driving with throttle on constantly using 2.2 motor. This battery kicks butt! I?m sure you?ll have to charge it on you remote at least 4 times to get similar results but may not since the remote charger doesn?t peak the batter like my desktop AC charger.

-Peter

[Admin]

this is my 2 cents worth

http://www.powerstream.com/NiB.htm

[Admin]

:smiley3:Sorry, but I don’t think I’m going to buy 600 (enough for a minimum order) 1/3AAA NiCD batteries. My fleet isn’t going to get that big. :smiley8:

[Admin]

what about finding a battery that gives a similar 5 minute run time, but is smaller/lighter? anything over 5 minutes for competition is hard because we have many racers and only 4 channels. if you charge a batt that lasts 15 minutes. the heats will be waay long. also, will our current chargers be able to charge the nimh batts correctly? b

[Admin]

There are other places on line to get batteries in small quantities. I got 5 and it cost $20.00 shipping included.

It’s not the long run time I like about them it’s how peppy they are for the first couple minutes that I like.

-Peter

[Admin]

I’m in America and might be able to help you guys out!

[Admin]

Yo,

Im on the US east coast if that helps any. Ill pop into radio shack tomorrow and check for 1/3AAA sized Nimh batteries. Radio shack never has much in-store, but they always have this huge catalog the size of your major metorpolitan city yellow pages where you can order in (this is important) single unit quantities! So no minimum order troubles there. Let you guys know tomorrow.

Peter, this question is for you, since youre the only one that has tested one. Naturally, inserting the battery for every run is inconvenient. But is it necessary to do that in order to use these larger capacity batteries? Have you or can you test it, using your bitcharg controller/charger and tell us how it fares? Or how many times / how longwe would have to charge it for?

Thanks. Really interested in this idea.

deejay40

[Admin]

Here are the part numbers4 most commonly found 1/3AAA single battery cells being sold today… BTW, couldnt find any Lithium Ion cells in 1/3AAA. Hope this helps in your searches.

Part# / Brand / Mah / type

N-50AAA sanyo 50mah NiCd
H-1/3AAA Vinic 100mah NiMH
GP-12AAAM GP 120mah NiMH
RRC1/3AAA120 RRC 120mah NiMH

deejay40

[Admin]

does anyone know what size the Epoch Indoor Racer batteries are? i saw a replacement battery set and it looked like 3 n50aaa cellsin shrink wrap. they were nickel metal. could be a winner since the cars are 1/43. b

[Admin]

The remote charger works on the NiMH batteries. If you charge them 2 times you’ll see an improvement over your NiCads but if you charge them 4 times you’ll see a big improvement. However, the remote dosn’t peak the battery like my AC charger does.

You wouldn’t have to take the battery out every run. A switch on the car is a good idea but not necessary!

I almost forgot to tell all of you

THE NiMH BATTERY IS A LITTLE BIT SHORTER. You have to bend the battery tabs in or wedge a piece of something behind the negative terminal. I prefer bending. You should stick a small screwdriver behind the terminal where it’s already bent a little bit, then use another screwdriver to make that bend sharper.

-Peter

[Admin]

Hey Prabbit, what website did you order your 5 NiMH batteries from?

[Admin]

Does the underside of the clear chassis of the ODM mouse/ Smart Car Bitcharg read NiMH on the bottom? I couldnt read it clearly in the photo gallery, but it looks like it reads NiMH and not NiCd like the regular bitChargs. Is that correct?

deejay40

[Author]

Posts