Just saw an Article covering the shortages

[Bombastinator]

2 hours ago, Zodiark1593 said:

The Zebralight is ridiculously powerful for something that’s so small. From the other side, the area covered is not unlike a vehicle’s high beams. It’s kind of difficult to appreciate the quantity of light unless you observe from the other side some distance away. 

I don’t own a zebra though, so why would I want to have a lighted one?  I hear they’re really mean just to start. I’ve read they’re considered even more dangerous than tigers in circuses.

[Sarra]

2 hours ago, Bombastinator said:

Would take some serious cold to do that.  Might have been the water or the temperature difference between the inside of the pack and the outside.  Either way, still snow. 

It was about 19f out, I brought it in the house and tried charging it straight away. It worked for about 5 minutes after I charged it, then died. So yeah, I killed it pretty bad. My meter shows it's open circuit, so I probably damaged an actual cell or the bus bar that connects the two main packs.

[Bombastinator]

On 12/3/2020 at 8:59 PM, Zodiark1593 said:

I don’t really game much myself, and my remaining working NIMH cells are already in use, so I just stuck a spare pair of the Energizer Lithium batteries in my 360 controller. It seem to complain less about the batteries being low, as well. 
 

My sister’s new flashlight draws a whopping 4 amps from a single AA cell at full power, so I imagine my remaining set isn’t long for this world either. 

Non rechargeable Alkali batteries have a higher max voltage so they can work a lot better for some systems.  Difference is something like .3 volts but it’s a difference that can matter.

[Bombastinator]

4 hours ago, Sarra said:

It was about 19f out, I brought it in the house and tried charging it straight away. It worked for about 5 minutes after I charged it, then died. So yeah, I killed it pretty bad. My meter shows it's open circuit, so I probably damaged an actual cell or the bus bar that connects the two main packs.

Need to check the operating temp for a given battery.  19f is -7.2c, so if operating temp is 0c I could see that being a problem.  It’s often a lot lower than that though.  Like -30c. If it’s cold on the outside but warm in the inside (or visa versa) you get material shrinkage issues though plus I think you said it was wet? so there’s possible shorting issues.  If it wasn’t wet, but cold brought into a warm environment with a high enough dew point it could become wet spontaneously.

Edited December 5, 2020 by Bombastinator

[Zodiark1593]

1 hour ago, Bombastinator said:

Non rechargeable Alkali batteries have a higher max voltage so they can work a lot better for some systems.  Difference is something like .3 volts but it’s a difference that can matter.

The difference extends when more cells are placed in series. 
 

It should be noted that an Alkaline battery is at 1.5v at full charge, and doesn’t remain there long, dropping off over time. A NIMH cell at full charge actually sits at just north of 1.4V, but drops quickly to ~1.2, where it will sit for the majority of it’s discharge cycle. Once at the end of it’s charge, voltage rapidly drops off. 

[Sarra]

2 hours ago, Bombastinator said:

Need to check the operating temp for a given battery.  19f is -7.2c, so if operating temp is 0c I could see that being a problem.  It’s often a lot lower than that though.  Like -30c. If it’s cold on the outside but warm in the inside (or visa versa) you get material shrinkage issues though plus I think you said it was wet? so there’s possible shorting issues.  If it wasn’t wet, but cold brought into a warm environment with a high enough dew point it could become wet spontaneously.

It was a very low quality NiMH pack from my LHS.

 

I decided to go LiPO whenever I get around to replacing it. I also needed new wheels, new tires, and some upgraded suspension components, but since the RC Car industry is really stupid, they were literally never in stock, except for a huge markup from a third party reseller.

[Bombastinator]

21 minutes ago, Sarra said:

It was a very low quality NiMH pack from my LHS.

 

I decided to go LiPO whenever I get around to replacing it. I also needed new wheels, new tires, and some upgraded suspension components, but since the RC Car industry is really stupid, they were literally never in stock, except for a huge markup from a third party reseller.

LiPO will have all the same heat and water problems.  The heat problem might even be larger.  I don’t remember a lot about LiPO. Mostly how they're made, that the need working stabilizing electronics to run, and that theyre famously fragile compared to other battery types.  

[Sarra]

1 minute ago, Bombastinator said:

LiPO will have all the same heat and water problems.  The heat problem might even be larger.  I don’t remember a lot about LiPO. Mostly how they're made, that the need working stabilizing electronics to run, and that theyre famously fragile compared to other battery types.  

The ESC my RC has is already set up for LiPO.

 

It's a rock crawler. It's normally a very slow draw, and weight is more important than brute power. The NiMH pack would last over an hour, a 2C LiPO should last around the same, or a 3C should last for an hour and a quarter or more.

 

I also normally don't run it during the winter, since all of my favorite spots are, well, under snow. o.x