For those of you at home with a soldering iron...

At Walmart they have a closeout on their 9.6v 1600 mah NiMH
batteries for about $4.00. They're designed for the 'West Coast Choppers' RC cars, but if you could solder a tamiya connector on the terminals, it could be a cheam high capacity battery for a Thompson or other gun needing a small form battery.

Something to look into anyway. I bought one to experiment with. They're cheap enough at $4 to justify the experiment.

Russ



"Time has little to do with infinity and jelly doughnuts."

I wonder how the discharge rate compares to the airsoft-marketed batteries. Most NiMH's for AEGs are around 25 to 30 amp. I'm very interested in your results. You also might want to consider Dean's Ultra connectors. Much lower resistance than Tamiya's, and take up a lot less space. I haven't converted all mine yet, but I like the idea of all my batteries (large and mini) being interchangable to make carrying spares less of a headache.
Exo2

My Props Website

I know, everyone raves about the deans connectors, but I still haven't gone that route myself. It also makes borrowing a battery impossible as most everyone I play with still uses tamiya connectors. Complete interchangability though is a good idea. Nobody in my area sells deans though.

Wally-world also has their 7.2v Tyco packs on clearance for the same price of $4.00. The 7.2v packs will work with a box stock gun, but not with any upgrades at all. And your ROF will suffer as well. If nothing else get out your wire cutters and score yourself a large tamiya connector for that WCC battery pack.

Russ



"Time has little to do with infinity and jelly doughnuts."

My plan when I switch over to Deans is to make some Deans to Tamiya adapters so I can still borrow a battery or charger if need be. I have an Intellipeak charger that just has clamps to install leads, so I'll just make a new one. However my old Dynamite Mega 2 still gets use discharging so I have to make a large tamiya to Deans adapter for that one as well.

I would like to get the MP5 and AK switched over to 9.6v NiMH's, but the price is pretty prohibitive. I already have 3 large 8.4's, 2 mini's and an AUG custom. I took the hit and switched the AUG up, and I'm very happy with the difference in rate of fire.
Exo2

My Props Website

Where's a good place to get dem Dean's connx ?

The story with the Lithium Ion batteries to AS application was that they didn't hold their charge. The amperage would fall off much quicker than NiCad's. That was in the beginning (bout 4 years ago). Nowadays, players are finding Lithium Ion packs acceptable, and perhaps superior.
[img]http://www.scifimilitary.com/MAA/SFMsig.jpg[/img]

A few places that carry them:

www.robotcombat.com/marketplace_connectors.html

www.modelflight.com.au/deans_connectors.htm

www.hobbypeople.net/mfr/deans01.asp
Exo2

My Props Website

Ok. Tnx for the links. I meant to say NiMH batteries charge would drop off faster than NiCad, not Lithium Ion.
[img]http://www.scifimilitary.com/MAA/SFMsig.jpg[/img]

From what I've heard NiMH's do still lose their charge faster than NiCD's, but only over a period of days. A NiMH will mostly discharge itself over a week, but a NiCD will take more time, maybe 10-15 days.
Exo2

My Props Website

The Nimh I use will pretty much self discharge over anywhere from 2-3 weeks depending on storage temperature. My Nicds though, well Ive come back 3 months later and they've still performed well.
[img]http://www.spartandesign.co.uk/pictures/jedibanner.jpg[/img]

I can't say from experience how long NiCDs hold their charge, since I discharge them after I'm done using them.

I only charge my NiMH right before a game, but it still has roughly 40-50% of its charge after two weeks of sitting. Judging this by the time it takes to fully charge it, and subtracting that from the estimated charging time (mAh/charging milliamps)x1.5=hours
Exo2

My Props Website

I've been using the Dean's connector for the last few years in my M655 (M16 carbine with full stock variant). It was setup that way because that's what all my teammates use, but one night I was playing CQB with another group, my battery died, and not a single one of them had a battery with the same connector.

In Hong Kong, they often refer to the Dean's connector as a "T" connector because of the shape of the pins.

-Alex
"The M41-A. When you absolutely, positively have to kill every mofo in the room. Accept no substitutes."

A guy I play with ran into the same problem at the last game. He brought out both his SAW's, but forgot to charge his batteries. He uses Deans in all his guns, but unfortunately only one other guy there used them, and he brought no spares.
Exo2

My Props Website

Been there, done that.

My problem wasn't that I didn't charge them... but charged them at the wrong setting. It was a 2000 mah battery and it was set up for a 600 mah mini-battery. Wasn't enough juice to turn the thing over even once.

Russ



"Time has little to do with infinity and jelly doughnuts."

I know how that goes, Russ. After guesstimating how many cycles to run on my Dynamite Mega 2, and getting it wrong too many times I broke down and got one of these:

[img]http://www2.gpmd.com/image/d/dtxp4100.jpg[/img]
Worth its weight in gold so far!
Exo2

My Props Website

What gauge wire do you have to use in AEGs (from the receiver to the battery)? My friends in Hong Kong said 16 gauge wire, but I have't seen any such gauge wire in any of the RC hobby sites. I've seen 12 gauge and 22 gauge wire.

Worst case scenario, they can buy me a 50 meter spool of 16 gauge wire in black or red... but if I can find it locally or on line... that might make the shipping costs a lot cheaper.

-Alex
"The M41-A. When you absolutely, positively have to kill every mofo in the room. Accept no substitutes."

I usually get my wire from auto parts stores, they have a decent selection and it's fairly inexpensive. I prefer getting my electronic parts from Fry's, but they are a further drive.
Exo2

My Props Website

Ni-Cd vs. Ni-MH batteries. What's the difference? Pros and Cons?

-Alex
"The M41-A. When you absolutely, positively have to kill every mofo in the room. Accept no substitutes."

NiCD's tend to have a higher discharge rate, but require regular discharging to preserve capacity. If you don't discharge them before recharging they can develop a memory effect.

NiMH's do not require discharging before recharging, but tend to have a lower discharge rate. Similar sized NiMH cells usually have a higher mAH rating than NiCD cells.

NiMH's will also self-discharge faster than a NiCD will. Meaning two weeks after a charge with no use, a NiMH will have less juice than a NiCD. Not really an issue with airsoft, I for one charge up my batteries the night before the game.

NiMH's are usually more expensive as well. I run a 9.6v 1800mAH AUG custom in my AUG, and 8.4v 1300mAH large batteries in the AK and MP5.
Exo2

My Props Website

The solution for that one would be to make an adapter for just such an emergency that will mate up with your Dean's and their standard connectors.
[img]http://www.scifimilitary.com/MAA/SFMsig.jpg[/img]