Which battery type to you guys/gals prefer and why??
I'm old school rc'r from back int he dirt track days (Black Widow Speedway etc for those who remember)

LiPo
NiCad
NiMh


Thanks in advance,

Russ

NiCad (1910, 1899 origin) is old school battery tech that had fast charge times, good temperature stability and high cycle times, but suffer from memory effect and were not environmentally friendly.

NiMh (1989, 1970 origin) is the current standard of simple rechargeable battery types and has higher capacity, can be charged many times, but have very fast transitions of voltage (When power is low it fades FAST).

LiPo (1997, 1970 origin) is the current generation of high energy density battery. Higher more stable power output, but the chemical reaction of the component parts results in "Puffing" (electrolyte decomposition). Limited cycle life.

I personally use Lipo's and still have a plethora of NiMh batteries.
(5000 MaH NiMh runs my KV-1 for an 3/4 oh an hour, 5000 MaH LiPo runs it for 2.)

Some rules of thumb: (Ignoring NiCd, since it is toxic and not really used anymore...)

NiMh: Run them from 100% to 0% before recharging. Reduces memory effect. In the tank, usually the sound starts to go wonky when the battery power is low.

LiPo: Make sure to connect a battery alarm. Lipo's generate heat when they have current overdraw (not likely with our tanks) and when there is resistance in their cells (caused by delamination of anode/cathode layers, aka electrolyte decomposition). Aka the more puffed they are, the more puffed they become when used. There is NO way to stop the decomposition. Use proper chargers, and inspect your batteries. A good thread for LiPo's.

Thanks Mike.
Good info for sure... LiPo has always worried me....but I like the run time you get from your
I still have some Nicads kicking around....lol I run them through my battery charger/conditioner
Maybe I'll play it safe and get NiMh..

I know I'm coming in late here, but might I suggest Li-ion batteries?  They're very similar to the LiPo in terms of performance, but they tend to catch on fire far less often.

They're what I use in my tank, anyway.

Li-Ion is a viable alternatives for our tanks.

For a comparable battery (voltage & mAH):
Li-Ion is cheaper, but heavier and usually have a lower cycle life (number of recharges). Li-Ion also can have a memory effect and cannot be used for high discharge applications (High power ESCs like for RC cars). 1/16 tanks do not require more than 20C discharge rates (even 10C is good enough) due to the huge gearbox reductions and slow speed/acceleration. Unless you are Ren...

I've been using Lipos for a number of year's in my RC planes with no issue.
BUT you do need to properly maintain them.
Don't over charge and don't drain them right down.
Buy a good quality charger if your going to use lipo batteries and ALWAYS monitor when charging.

Does anyone know if you can run 3s Lipo in the new HL 7.0 Leopard ?

I was looking at the Heng Long 6.0/6.1 and 7.0/7.1 yesterday and noticed all of them has input power rated at 7.4v to 12.6v so my take would be that you are good to go. Don't know if they are lipo aware but just stick a lipo warning plug on it and you are good to go. 3S is rated at 11.1v nominal and even with the overage you are only looking at 12.1v at most.

thanks for the reply MikeC