Over the last few weeks I noticed a lot of repeat battery questions. So, I dusted off a battery guide I found on the web, rewrote parts, added parts, and rearranged parts to make it easier to get to the main info. I don't remember where I got this guide exactly so if it is yours in part speak up and I will gladly share the credit for its creation.

Also, if you see any problems with the guide please feel free to add to the information.

It is rather long but the first section or two is the stuff that most people want to know.

Battery Basics

Tech Terms

mAh: MilliAmp Hours. A 1 mAh battery could last ~1 hour at one milliAmp load.
Amps: Amperes, Current
Volts: Voltage
Ohms: Resistance
NiCd: Nickel Cadmium. A rechargeable battery chemistry.
NiMH: Nickel Metal-Hydride. A rechargeable battery chemistry.
LiPoly: Lithium-polymer rechargeable chemistry (expensive)


Rechargeable Batteries

There are 3 principle chemistries of rechargeable batteries recommended for AEGs: NiCd, NiMH, and LiPoly.

LiPoly batteries are recently coming into usage for airsoft -- while voltage options remain limited (the most common is 11.1 volt), they are about the right size for airsoft, and if you take care to not heat up the gel-packs, are an extremely good high-ROF battery. This battery is recommended for upgraded AEGs only.

NiCd batteries are probably the most common type found in airsoft AEGs. They come in two basic cell sizes, AA (mini cell size) and sub-C (large cell size) and each cell produces 1.2 volts of power. The capacity of the cells vary from ~500 mAh to ~1800 mAh. By stringing together NiCd cells you determine the final voltage of the battery pack. 7 cells = 8.4 volts, 8 cells = 9.6 volts, 9 cells = 10.8 volts, and 10 cells = 12 volts. However, a battery pack’s capacity is determined by the mAh of one cell. Each cell is discharging it’s mAh at the same time.

Example: An 8.4 volt, 1000 mAh NiCd battery can produce 7000 mAh of constant current for ~one hour through a 8.4 volt electrical “faucet”. 7 cells x 1000 mAh = 7000 mAh total current.

Two more things concerning NiCd batteries: First is the need to discharge the battery before you recharge it. If you don’t, the battery “remembers” and resists taking on a full charge. (I have read a few commentaries that suggest discharging is not necessary but conventional wisdom says to discharge) Secondly, after recharging, the battery will lose about 1% of its charge per day just sitting on the shelf.

NiMH batteries are also, very common in airsoft AEGs. They are a bit more expensive, but they have a higher capacity (up to 3300 mAh). NiMH are a bit more difficult to charge than NiCd, so make sure your charger is able to handle them. NiMH batteries also have a higher rate of self-discharge, losing about 2-3% a day. Discharging the NiMH before recharging is not necessary.

Charging Batteries

One of the most important things about charging up a battery is not to over heat it. The battery should never get so hot you cannot pick it up easily with your bare hand. Once the battery begins to get a little warm you need to stop charging.

In order to estimate how much charge you have left in your battery without a voltmeter you can expect to use 1 mA per shot in most stock AEGs. If your battery holds 1000 mAh then you should get ~1000 shots before the battery loses power. This is especially important for NiHM batteries because you do not have to discharge them before recharging. If you estimate that you shot 500 bbs in the last skirmish you probably have half a battery full. Use this information to help determine charging time for NiHM batteries.

There are several types of chargers available. If your charger does not shut off automatically there is a simple way to estimate the recharge time. Almost every charger I have seen has its mA output written on the charger. So, if your battery has a 1000 mAh capacity you divide that by the mA output of the charger to get the number of hours to charge the battery.

Example: 1000 mAh (battery capacity) divided by 500 mA (charger output) = 2 hours (some say to add 10 to 20% to the answer)

Trickle chargers, which plug into the wall, and then into the battery, charge the battery at a very slow rate (typically between 200 and 500 mA, so charging usually takes several hours). They look like a regular wall mounted transformer (or a "wall-wort") with a wire plug that connects to the battery. There are different kinds, be sure the charger voltage matches the voltage of the battery. They can and do overcharge the battery if you leave them plugged in too long.

Timer -based "fast charger" (I have been advised against fast chargers because they can send too much current into the battery too fast if not set correctly. You should not charge a battery faster than its capacity. For a 1000 mAh battery the charger should not charge at a rate greater than 1000 mA.) - These chargers can charge up a battery in an hour or so. They typically feed it with a few amps of charging current. Most of these units (around $20-$30) are a small box with a few switches/dials for setting the battery voltage and/or the charge time or battery capacity. There is one wire that goes to a wall plug, and another that goes to the battery. They charge at a fast rate, and use a timer (that you either manually set for a certain amount of time, or calculated based upon the capacity that you told it your battery had). The problem with this is that the charger has no idea when your battery is really full. These can undercharge the battery (resulting in less battery time for your AEG, and possible memory effect if your battery capacity is more than the charger was set for. If there is still some power left in your battery, the charger will most likely overcharge it, which can cause it serious damage. It is important that you use a battery discharger to make sure that the battery is empty before you charge it back up if you are using one of these chargers.

Peak Chargers (also called an "intelligent charger" or a "smart charger") can be acquired as well. This is the best type of charger you can have. These chargers can detect the slight drop in voltage that signals that the battery is full and automatically switch themselves off. These chargers also usually incorporate a discharger as well. These chargers typically cost $40 and up, and look similar to the timer based chargers, except that they are usually bigger and have more switches/dials/indicators on them. One very popular charger in the world of airsoft is the $50 TLP Intellicharger, that can run off 110 volt AC, 220 volt AC, and 12 volts DC. A peak detecting charger can help you ensure that your batteries are in tip-top condition and they charge batteries quickly. You can save a little bit of money by getting a cheap timer-based charger, but your batteries will thank you if you buy Peak instead. Before charging any NiMH batteries on your Peak Charger, ensure that it is designed for that or you may risk damaging the battery.


The following information is for those who want to understand the battery issue in more detail. Enjoy.

Batteries, Airsoft and You

Batteries for airsoft have two general characteristics, voltage and capacity. Capacity is measured in mAh. Voltage is measured in volts. Amps are a measure of how strong a current is. Capacity is just how much power the battery can hold; it is basically how long you can use the battery before it stops being able to power the system. Amps measures how much power a battery can push out. Voltage is how fast it pushes.

Think of a battery as a water balloon. The mAh measures how much water is in the balloon. Voltage tells you how big a hole you have in the neck of the balloon. Amps tell you how much pressure is being exerted on the balloon. Resistance measures how much fabric you have blocking the water from coming out.

So...more or less mAh is more or less Water. Basically what volume of water you have to work with. Voltage tells you how much water you can let out of the balloon at one time. A bigger neck on a balloon will let more water out at one instant. More or less amps measures how fast the water is moving out of the balloon. More pressure on the balloon makes the water come out faster. The Resistance over the neck slows the water from flowing. The less resistance, the more efficiently the water will be delivered.

The main things Airsofters are concerned with are how much water they have and how much they can deliver at one time. mAh and Volts. For advanced users, the discharge rate (measure in Amperes, varies from 20A to 35A -- 30A is ideal)

You should usually aim to get the battery with the highest mAh rating you can because it will last longer. This is why it is preferable to use a "large" type battery (generally between 1200mAH and 3000mAH) as opposed to a "small" type battery (generally 600 mAh). There will be no adverse side effects to using a battery with a higher capacity; it will simply last longer before it runs out of juice. A battery with a higher mAH rating will not damage a gun.

The capacity rating of milliAmp hours means that if you drew the rated amount of milliamps from the battery, that the battery will last for 1 hour before "dieing". For example, a 3000 mAH battery can deliver 3 amps (1 Amp = 1000 milliamps) for one hour continuously, 6 amps for 30 minutes, or 1.5 amps for 2 hours. A battery's rating is usually "\20H", meaning that the rating is for 20 hours. For example, a 3000 mAH battery is specified to deliver 150 mA for 20 hours. The batteries will have a slightly less capacity in an AEG application (where they will be providing a high current for a short time) since the higher load is more stressful for the batteries, but you can still compare mAH ratings between batteries.

The battery's voltage determines how much power the motor will have. Stock AEGs take an 8.4 volt battery. Upgraded AEGs sometimes need higher voltage battery packs, such as 9.6, 10.8, and the insane 12 volt pack. The higher voltage will make the motor turn faster (higher ROF) and/or harder (to drive those bigger springs). Please also note that a higher voltage battery will put much more stress on your motor and the mechbox internals. You can easily tell what voltage a battery has by counting the number of cells; each NiCd or NiMH cell is nominally 1.2 volts. A 10 cell pack has 12 volts. A 7 cell pack is a standard 8.4 volt pack. The power of the motor (measured in either watts(W) or Horsepower(HP), 746 W = 1 HP) is a function of the voltage it is being fed and the Current it is drawing. Watts equals Current (in Amps, 1000 Milliamps = 1 Amp) times voltage. Please note that the motor will draw more amps running at a higher voltage since it acts somewhat (not quite, but good enough for a simple comparison) like a resistor. The motor follows Ohm's law: Current(in amps) = Voltage divided by Resistance (in ohms). The resistance of the motor stays somewhat constant. So, the amount of current the motor draws will increase linearly with the voltage. Since the power of the motor is volts multiplied by current (which also increases with the voltage), the motor's power increases with the square of the voltage, while the current increases linearly with the voltage increase.

Resistance

Each cell of a battery has internal resistance, which limits the power it can put out. A cell with the lower Internal Resistance (IR) will always be better. Early NiMh cells had a high IR making them not perform as well as NiCd or recent NiMh cells. Also, the connectors, wire, and battery bars in a pack all have resistance. Resistance is what is stopping the flow of electrons. The lower resistance in everything, the better. The stock connectors on pack are horrible. They have high resistance, and over time will wear out and get even worse. Getting some low loss connectors such as Deans Power Plugs will help to cut down on the resistance. The wire is also a place where you can cut down on the resistance. You can use some 12 gage wire in place of the thin wire that some pack have. Also, if you look at regular battery pack the cells are connected with thin, foil like strips of tin. These are horrible compared to solid copper, or silver and gold plated battery bars you can get. Each of these things alone may not seem like a big deal, but by replacing the connectors, wire, and battery bars you can reduce the resistance in the circuit.

Getting more technical

Let's assume that we have a motor, running at 8.4 volts, and drawing 10 amps (a guestimate...nice round numbers). This motor puts out 84 watts of power, and has a resistance of about 0.84 Ohms. Now, if we were to increase the voltage of the battery pack to 9.6 volts, the motor will draw about 11.43 Amps, and will put out about 110 watts of power. A 10.8 volt battery pack will cause the motor to draw 12.9 amps and produce 138.86 watts of power. The somewhat insane 12 volt battery will cause the motor to draw 14.29 amps, and produce 171.43 watts of power (that's about twice the power! but we are only using 43% more voltage. Remember, double the voltage, quadruple the power, increase the voltage by the square root of 2, and you double the power). Note from this that the motor will drain the battery faster if a higher voltage battery pack is used, since it will draw more amps. For this reason, an 8.4 volt, 1500 Mah battery will last much longer than a 12 volt, 1500 mAh battery pack.

As shown by Ohm's law, an increase of resistance in the circuit will cause the current drawn (and subsequently, the power) to decrease. Therefore, it is extremely important to have the lowest possible resistance. For example, let's take the 8.4 volt, 0.84 ohm AEG from the voltage discussion that produced 84 watts of power. If we added an extra 0.1 ohms to the circuit (let's say it came from the battery connectors or something), the total resistance will increase to 0.94 ohms, causing the motor to draw 8.94 amps instead of 10, and put out about 75 watts of power instead of 84 watts. resistance can come from many different sources. One place where resistance can come from is the battery pack connectors. If you are fabricating your own battery pack, try to get the best possible connector for it. Another source of resistance are the various interconnects and wires in the gun and in the battery pack. If you are making your own battery pack, you should try to use the best bus bars you can to connect the batteries together. If you are rewiring your AEG, try to use the biggest (smallest gage number) copper wire that will fit in there. Resistance can also come from the AEG's fuse, this is one reason that people remove it. I do not like the idea of removing the fuse, since it is an extra safety measure incase of a shorted motor, etc. People also remove the fuse to make room for a bigger battery pack, or if the fuse blows frequently due to a higher current draw from the motor (rather than try to put in a slightly higher-rated fuse). Resistance can also come from the switch (in the mechbox, as part of the trigger/selector switch assembly). Higher currents and voltages can also cause the switch to wear down. I recommend using some contact cleaner and switch lubricant on it if you ever have the mechbox open (and put some of that contact cleaner on the battery connectors, too). The final source of resistance come from the batteries themselves. All batteries have a certain "internal Resistance" (IR). The better cells have a lower IR than the cheaper ones. Cells intended for (serious) R/C car duty are the best for airsoft, since they are engineered to have the lowest IR possible, so that they can deliver high currents for short times (as opposed to the higher IR, larger capacity batteries that would be preferable in less current intensive applications). The best cells are those made by Sanyo and Panasonic, though a number of 'GP' cells have shown to have very good discharge rates.


Executive summary


* mAh and Volts are what is important: how much juice you've got and how much it puts out
* Peak Chargers are best for conditioning your batteries
* NiCD Inexpensive and generally lower MAH, NiMH: Expensive but excellent performance
* While people 'know' there is some sort of 'memory effect' no one can explain how it works

This post has been edited by Bullfrog: Nov 22 2006, 01:14 PM

Pinned... I haven't had time to read all of it yet, but I will when I have time. I think I will add some to it myself too, to add a more laymans perspective to the lot.

so, when we're not using it, do we discharge it and leave it like that until you have to recharge it again?

As I understand it, with NiCd's leaving them discharged is not a problem. But usually I recharge immediately anyway since they lose their charge so slowly and my next airsoft event is usually only a few weeks away. Or I just leave them as they are after an event and the day before the next one I go through the discharge/recharge procedure.

NiMH's are different however. I have been advised not to let them get fully discharged and of course you don't discharge them before recharging. I would suggest recharging them after every event and if you don't use them for over a month recharge again even if you have no specific plans to use them. Use the estimated number of bbs fired as a guideline for how much the battery is left. Rule of thumb is 1 shot per mAh in the battery.

This post has been edited by Bullfrog: Dec 15 2006, 10:23 AM

[Quote] NiMH batteries also have a higher rate of self-discharge, losing about 2-3% a day. [Quote]

this is confusing. on trinity airsoft it says that NiMH have a lower discharge rate. also, I have a NiMH battery for my TM M16A2, how long should the battery life be? it's fairly new, so it hasn't been charged much, only once.

I can't explain Trinity Airsoft's claim about the self-discharge rate of batteries. I went back through the info I have collected on battery care and I verified that NiMH batteries self-discharge quicker. The main thing is in order to keep your NiMH batteries in good shape you should recharge them at least once a month.

Your question about how long the battery will last. I assume you mean before you need to recharge during a skirmish. The rule of thumb is one shot per mAh. If you have a 1000 mAh battery you should get ~1000 shots before noticing a loss of battery power. NiCds drop off sort of gradually and NiMHs lose power all of a sudden.

If you are asking about how many times can you recharge the battery before it totally dies and can't take a charge any more, that is a little harder to know. If the battery is heated up too much during recharge it could damage the battery and shorten the overall life of the battery. HEat is the big enemy of battery life.

NiMh batteries can be stored charged, discharged, or anywhere in between, it doesn't matter.

NiCad batteries actually produce higher voltage under load than the identically MAH rated NiMh cell.

Only real advantage NiMh batteries have over Nicad is the fact that they have no memory, and generally have higher capacity for the same size cell.

#1 killer of Nimh is heat. They don't hold up as well as Nicads when it comes to heat abuse.

Would this be why my brother's BE Steyr AUG (that came with a 12v charger, and a 9.6v battery) refuses to shoot bbs more than 5 feet?

This post has been edited by TMontana: Jan 14 2007, 08:29 PM

I don't think the difference in charger voltage would affect the shots like that. It is when the charger has a lower voltage than the battery that there may be difficulties in powering up the battery properly. A higher voltage charger just has the danger of over charging the battery and making the battery too hot. Was your brother's battery over heated? If the battery was ruined by over heating then it would not fire the gun at all.

I think the shooting problem is something else. Poor compression, bad air nozzle, over adjusted hop-up, bad o'rings on piston head or cylinder head, all are possible culprits.

or just a bad hopup bucking period

Excellent, somebody was successful at getting pinned.

Captain Plastic tried it, and I have tried it: incidentally, under the same title, "Battery Basics." http://www.airsoftforum.com/board/index.ph...=battery+basics

Whoever gets pinned, it's cool, as long as basic information is available at the top of the thread, so everyone can easily access it.









NiMH can be stored discharged?

This is first time I have heard that. In every source I have encountered and in my experience, NiMH should be stored after fully recharged. All batteries discharge at small but steady rate. If left discharged, NiMH will drain itself out and will reach completely stable state. Chemicals would have reacted without the presence of electrons and it will not recharge again. At least that was the conventional wisdom.

I have lost many NiMH batteries out of neglect. Heat is bad, but some of these batteries I have lost were used only a dozen times under normal loads. That is not sufficient heat to kill it. And I always charge at around 3A. 3A would not create too much heat. And I never charge it when it's hot, and I don't use the battery when it's warm from recharging. I always cool it in between. Which is why I agree with many others that leaving NiMH cells discharged would destroy NiMh cells. At least that's what I think.

This post has been edited by Von Luck: Jan 18 2007, 02:56 PM

Hey Bullfrog...you may want to update your post....oh wait this isn't ASP...can't edit after a certain time...

GP4300 have been out since last fall and they are pretty much tops in the Sub-C category for Airsoft with 4300mah and an ~2mOhm's Internal Resistance - IR.

Followed by IB4200 with an IR of ~6mOhm's.

Also..some people were confused by the battery type in 2/3A so here is a picture.



One on the left is the "Nunchuck" pack, good for grip mounted battery compartment AEG's, some AK stick type AEG's and anything with a solid stock.



No such thing as a Double Nunchuck as a weapon, and long ago the middle pack was classified as a "Butteryfly" by the old-timers, but is commonly found as "Double nunchuck"...

The Middle pack is a good option 9.6V pack for AUG's, P90'S and Forgrip mounted battery packs, along with solid stocks.

The right one is a common 9.6V mini pack. Not all AEG's can sport this configuration, the "Butterfly" is far more flexible in transfering from AEG to AEG without having to buy new packs...followed by the "NunChuck" type packs.

Now for the Elite packs....Cheapbatterypacks.Com has them listed as a very good cell, its suppose to be even better then a IB1400.

I put a mini-pack on my charger, and with 1000mah added in, the output voltage was only showing to be 8.43V, do I have a dead cell? Sice I have clear wrap (hint, hint) a visual inspection turned up nothing of concern. I will put on another one to test...

As for the IB1400 with 500mah put in for a charge, it was showing output voltage of 9.88V for a 7 cell pack.

Putting both packs on a Star FNC, 390fps with .20. The Elite delivered labored 8rps shots, while the IB pack delievered ~12rps.

I will update my results after the second pack charges up.

Well..it was a bad pack...the second Mini in 1500mah that I charged up put out 10.11V at 1000mah...glas I had multipls to test.

Performance wise its on par with IB1400...it looks like there is a new king of 2/3A for Airsoft....the Elite 1500.

sry for semi-necroposting lol but does anyone know if an 8.4v 3800mah battery will fit in a full stock of a TM mp5a4?

I know that with larger capacity, each cell will be bigger so I was wondering what the max capacity before it no longer fits because an 8.4v 1700 barely fits in my mp5.

hmm... not sure. I think its generic. the brand is tenergy, which I know nothing about or how big the cells are or its internal resistance. I just know that capacity is 3800mah and volatage is 8.4volts.

Oh...you have a bad pack. Tenergy and Powerizers are know as rebranders of defective cells. If a cell failed QC at some factory...those two companies buy them.

In the 3800 capacity...those are most likeley failed GP's...they are fine for stock AEG's...but they don't last as long for as a first rate NIMH and they have a hard difficulty powering upgraded AEG's.

For those who haven't seen it yet, I have posted an expanded battery article in the Library of the forum. I have taken this original battery basics and added more explanations and additional info. I hope you find it helpful.

http://www.airsoftforum.com/board/Battery-Encyclopedia-t71428.html

It's alright to charge a NiCd battery only half way right? I know that's kind of stupid question but I can't be too careful

I don't know why that should be a problem. However, not fully discharging (full discharge is actually bringing the cells down to 1v per cell) it first is not a good idea.

Okay, should I buy a Tokyo Marui Nicd discharger for my battery? Or is that not necessary?

is it safe to charge a 8.4v 4200mah battery at a 4amp rate?

Actually that would be a good charge rate for that battery. 4 amps = 4000mA so your charge time should be just over 1 hour.

lotr10 - Yes you should have a discharger for a NiCd battery. If a NiCd is not discharged fully before you recharge it then it will develop memory effect.

I just picked up a 9.6v 4200mAh 35 AMP battery pack for my stock VFC VF416 D. Do you think it will hurt anything?

This post has been edited by blackspeed416: Jul 9 2007, 12:43 AM

So what is the biggest battery that can fit in a p90 or Sig 552 without modding? In amount of shots I mean, so largest Mah.

thats probably cause of the hop up or somthing else in the gun.
or maybe its a cheap clone.
another problem maybe is (I know your not stupid but) youre using heavier bbs than your supposed too or are they too big (like 8mm).

I cant find it but it is the part where you state that mAH decides how long your gun lasts and voltage is how many times the motor will turn. In my experience a higher mAH battery turns the motor more than a lower mAH battery of the same voltage. For instance a 8.4 1800 mAH battery we'll say will give you 600 RPMs and a 9.6 1800 will give you the same amount, if you take the 8.4 1800 and pair it up with a 8.4 3600 mAH battery to see which one will give you higher RPMs the 3600 will do it. This giude that you speak of must be wrong because it is backwards. MAH's decide how many RPS/RPMs happen and Voltage defines how long the said battery will last like a 9.6 will last longer than an 8.4 even if they have the same mAH's becuase the 9.6 has an extetended amount of power due to the fact that it has 8 cells as opposed to the 7 in the 8.4. This is my opinion and knowledge added together from what I have seen heard and done myself.
..::MIKE::..

This post has been edited by admin: Mar 23 2008, 09:20 PM

Nope. He was right. While a battery with a high mAh rating will outperform a battery of the same voltage with a lower mAh rating, it is not because his facts are backwards. I believe that it has to do with the lower resistance between cells for the larger type batteries, or with the higher amperage per cell, though I easily could be wrong.

yah im not sure either I just noticedthat his facts were sorta contradicting what I had noticed so I posted for feedback. but now I don't have to deal with all of this stuff I use LI-POLY'S
and they typically fire like 6000-7500 on one complete charge I love them!!!!

ok this may be a newbie question but a battery has a bunch of small batterys all connected together right? are those little batterys called cells? so when you charge a battery with a smart charger and set the number of cells, you determine that by how many little battery there are?

correct. Each little battery is its own cell

Very useful info for a Newbie like me. Thanks!

One question...

I have 2 1900mAh 7C Flat Pack batteries (8.4v) should I just get a standard "trickle" charger or go for a more advanced? I want the best deal of course but I don't want to screw anything up. TIA.

I would probably get one of these two. I own the one on the left. Just about everyone with a smart charger has one just like it [at least in my area].

Thanks! My local hobby store wants like 40-60 bux for their basic smart charger

Hey, so I was searching the forums on exactly what the consensus was for discharging NiCad batteries for the purpose of extending their life. I can't list the people from memory but the people for this pin and other FAQs on ASF have taught me a lot. I was googling around, because I want to see what I should do to maximize the use of my shuangbao 1500 MaH NiCad, and typed in "ni cad memory". the first link leads you to a comprehensive discussion called "sci.electronics FAQ: NiCd Battery FAQ". Like this pin it gives you the scientific explanation. I didn't want to violate any rules for directly linking (not to mention credit to this guy), so I'm just telling you how I found it. I wanted to ask ASF guys if what this guy says is following in line with your thoughts, because it seems you would not really need to force discharge them, but rather just go with what you "want" and then go through the force discharge occasionally to get rid of the crystals that form.

To make it more specific what I'm referring to in the guy's FAQ, search "<Flame shields on> YES". That's what I found to be the relevant section regarding the mysterious "memory". The rest of the guide is also very informative, but an earlier post put memory as mysterious, so I wanted to try and contribute.

The is no problem with posting external links in most cases. Links to other forums are about the only links that are somewhat regulated. The only place where outside links are specifically not allowed, is in your signature.

http://www.repairfaq.org/ELE/F_NiCd_Battery.html



In summary,

fast charging is better than slow charging, provided the battery doesn't get too hot. Don't let your battery overheat or overcharge. There is no need to discharge your battery each time, just do so every 5 cycles or so.

I personally don't know if he's correct. I know that batteries are finicky things, so the is certainly right about the overheating and overcharging part. About the slow charging, that makes sense as well. But about the discharging ever several cycles instead of every time, I don't know.

Thanks for the link thecrimina1.

This post has been edited by bat21win: Jan 1 2008, 01:38 PM

Hmmm, I couldn't really find an answer to this particular question: Does cell type affect ROF? The guide says that it could but I don't really understand how. I currently run with a large type 8.4 1100 maH battery and am looking to get some boosts in ROF. I'd like to go to 9.6 but the problem is my battery compartment (my famas sv) doesn't accept that easily and I'm not looking to modify that just yet. How can I use a batt to up ROF without havign to cut apart my battery compartment? I was considering using a 9.6 small type. will this work?

EDIT Couldn't find out how to delete this when I made a new topic, so sorry guys.

This post has been edited by thecrimina1: Jan 8 2008, 02:38 AM

A lot of people, including me when I started out, have difficulty soldering Deans. Here are some tips I posted on another forum.


If you haven't soldered Deans before...or don't have a lot of soldering experience it can be tricky. Some people (OK me the first time I soldered them) heat them up too much which will melt the plastic housing and cause them to be really hard to assemble. The trick is to tin both the wire and the tab on the Dean's connector first. You don't need to, and shouldn't apply a tremendous amount of heat to the connector tab when tinning. Just lay the iron on the tab for a couple seconds and then push the solder between the iron and the connector. I prefer rosin core solder. It has built in flux so you don't have to preflux. The hot flowing solder will warm up the connector enough to stick without melting the plastic. Form a nice big bead on the tab. Now place the tinned wire on top of the bead and press the iron against the edge so it touches the bead and the wire. Move the wire around a bit to make sure it is submersed in the melted pool and then hold it while it cools. If the wire gets too hot to touch you are applying more heat than you need to.

It makes it a lot easier if you have something to clamp the Dean's connector in while you are working. I use a hobby vise with little spring clamps. Before I had one of those I used to use locking pliers.

Rosin Core Solder





This post has been edited by IamDisaster: Jan 20 2008, 11:29 AM

I don't know if you had this in your main post but is it that the larger the voltage the more the battery can hold or is it the larger the mAH.


Also does anyone know of a high grade battery that would be good for a TM M4 RIS with M16 stock? It would help me out alot

Question: my son was given an airsoft gun which runs on a rechargeable battery. Apparently the first battery was defective and now it seems the replacement battery's connectors are not the same as the original battery, ie. red wire is connected to the square connector and black is connected to the round connector. In order to match polarity with the gun, the connectors need to be switched. Is it OK to do this? By doing this will it charge correctly? Obviously this is totally new for me so I would appreciate any help!!

For the first part of your question, mAh is mili-amp-hour and the larger the mAh, the longer the battery can usually last. As for the second part, it would be best for you to create a new topic about this so people can discuss it. I think if you create a new topic and use "need TM M4 RIS with M16 stock battery" or something like that - the right person is bound to see and answer your question more quickly.



Your replacement battery sounds suspect to me. the red lead should be the square end on most standard rechargable batteries for RC toys and airsoft guns as far as I know. As far as cliping and changing the ends around, I would measure the volatge on your replacement battery first to make sure because something just doesn't seem right about that picture. You might also want to take it to your local hobby store to see what they think about it too