Radio Shack 7.2V Batteries and Maxx Paxx
Jono & Lisa Davies
sharing consumer knowledge, here it is.
Now I'm not in the Radio Shack fan club and typically choose to buy consumer
electronics more in the main stream, but my opinion is this store is very
handy for the electrical project components and obscure audio connectors.
Indeed recently they have partnered with several competitive outfits to
provide items that I believe the general public seems to have had marked
residual faith in.
I began my RC hobby interest 10 years ago with a "top of the line" Radio
Shack Black Phantom 4WD. At the time, the NiCd 1200 mAh (Cat 23-230) were
cutting edge and cost $20. I managed to acquire several of these Radio
Shack packs as well as 3 Red Arrow Racer buggies, the fastest car the Shack
had at the time with a 540RS motor. It would scream at 17 mph.
I ran these things pretty much several hours a week for the next few years
and occasionally over the next several years typically beating the hell out
of them running down stairs, over ramps and sometimes into amphibious
disasters. I made good use of the order replacement parts feature through
the stores.
Some new interest in the more serious RC hobby was sparked early this year.
As I researched the more astute hobbiest lines of cars from Traxxas, HPI and
Associated, I pulled my old cars from the attic to compete with some friends
with the latest electrics. Those original 1200 mAh NiCds were still running
strong, amazingly - perhaps at 90% of their original duration and capacity.
My old 400mA wall adapter chargers kept the anticipation brewing for the 5
hour prep.
I bought an E-maxx and a Duratrax Intellipeak charger and proceeded to get 6
minutes out of each pair of 1200s. The truck would even do wheelies right
in the beginning, but I noticed a gradual degradation of these cells over
the next month. They had put in a good show and I was suitably impressed
enough to further experiment.
Immediately on ordering the E-maxx, I had been browsing the latest prices of
matched packs on the web and wondering what would be the next move. On a
whim, I found Radio Shack had some 2000 mAh NiCds on clearance for $12.97.
Seemed like a respectable investment as a backup set, considering past
performance. With these I got 12 minutes with 10 of them being wheelie
popping. I had to condition them initially as I was only getting 6 minutes
of burst and then 6 minutes of wimp. More recently the trends have changed
with these as described later. But they even survived the nuclear melt down
when my ESC fried. The shrink wrap split on the ends and the connectors
dripped, but I'd say they seem almost as good as new now with new wires.
These are impressive for the price. Still having not experienced true
serious batteries and looking at increasing my run time I opted to try the
Radio Shack NiMH 3000 mAh packs rather than spend the $70 on each NiMH 3000
at other places.
With these 3000s, I get 18 minutes with 15 of them being wheelie popping. I
was amazed that with these batteries and the new Novak ESC, and all else
stock, except wheelie bar, this E-maxx can ride 200 ft wheelies. Just need
a big open space because it's impossible to steer. I can even shift into
2nd and keep it up. Loads of fun.
I must point out that within the first week of these 3000s, one went into
melt down during use for no apparent reason. No serious damage and Radio
Shack readily handed me a new one to replace it. This episode did cause me
to question the quality of these Radio Shack NiMHs. The wrapper on these
new ones is different than those ten year old ones. I wrote to the Shack to
inquire whose cells they were using, but they would not disclose this info.
The original 1200 NiCds were made in Japan.
The Radio Shack 2000s NiCds (Cat 23-330) are made in China.
The Radio Shack 3000s NiMH (Cat 23-431) are made in France.
Needless to say, Radio Shack has apparently changed their supplier for the
NiCd cells and have taken on a new supplier for the NiMHs. So I don't have
much history with either of these new ones. I also wonder why the Shack had
the 2000s on clearance. One will speculate.
I do notice that these have developed a characteristic of running strong for
8 minutes, then delivering about 75% of capacity for another 4 and then
trailing off to 20% for the last couple of minutes. This may be from
overheat damage caused by my original ESC meltdown, but not enough data
points to tell.
In general, the Radio Shack batteries connectors seem to be an inch shorter
than other brands and the guage wire may be one notch thinner. I believe
the internal resistance may be slightly higher as they seem to take longer
to dump and don't get as hot as the Maxx Paxx.
Two weeks ago, 3 of my 1200's all died on the same weekend. That's a great
failure distribution for you.
I also plan to cut all these packs open to discern the cell origin and any
other interconnect details. Hope to post more then.
I have just purchased a set of Trinity Maxx Paxx and my initial run was
dissapointing, but explained. The batteries were not conditioned. My next
run with these was outstanding. I estimated that I was getting about 15%
more power as this truck was on steroids. The next day, n this second run
the Maxx Paxx set dumped in about 6 minutes and the packs were really hot, I
would estimate 75C. I had earlier measured my NiMHs after a hard run and
they got up to 65C. This evening, on my 4th run with these Maxx Paxx, the
initial couple of minutes was very strong, but after that I couldn't pull
wheelies. I'm not sure why, but these packs lasted 10 minutes with fairly
descent power and then another 4 of sluggishness.
I'm still testing, but my initial view is that these Radio Shack batteries
are fine for back yard bashing, or a backup set and for someone on a budget.
Quality may be not as high as the more expensive packs, as you may get a bad
cell in a pack, but the Shack has good customer service and will likely work
with you if you have the receipt and don't wait too long after the purchase.
Subjectively performance feels like about 90% of the mid priced batteries
matched batteries.
I definitely think the matched sets are a step above in performance as
witnessed by seeing a friend's E-maxx with matched Sanyo 2000s. From what I
have seen, I would rate the Pirahna 1500s about equivalent in current output
to the Shacks', but of course less duration. This was determined by trying
a set of these 1500s after my 2000s and 3000s and not noticing any
difference in performance.
I think my next set of packs will the the Peak PowerMaxx 2400s or even
another set of Maxx Paxx. I really need to get more time and field
experience with these higher expectation batteries.
I would appreciate any constructive input or experiences on the thread to
help the public make an informed decision in the appropriate acquisition of
electric go juice.
Best of luck to you all. Go forth and ponder.
Regards,
Jono
Antonio Garza
>
>The original 1200 NiCds were made in Japan.
Sanyo or Panasonic?
>The Radio Shack 2000s NiCds (Cat 23-330) are made in China.
???? I tried to research my Nitro car's Rx pack Chinese cells only to find a
ton of companies in China making cells.
>The Radio Shack 3000s NiMH (Cat 23-431) are made in France.
Pehaps SAFT (Alcatel)?
(SNIP)
Antonio Garza
Richardson, TX USA
Martin in Maryland
>melt down during use for no apparent reason. No serious damage and Radio
>Shack readily handed me a new one to replace it. This episode did cause me
>to question the quality of these Radio Shack NiMHs.
Well, I don't know much about batteries since I'm a nitro guy but I have read
that to get 3000 something or other from the cells they have to use a foam core
or something like that which doesn't hold up as well as the NiCds.
Everything you'll ever want to know and maybe some you won't is in the
RCVehicles forum. If you want to learn about the "latest and greatest" and the
"do and don't" as well as on track testing as well as dyno testing of batteries
and motors, then just follow the link in my signature. Steve Hill from Hilltop
batteries and a couple others are selling respectable packs for a good price.
Martin
Team RCV Member
http://rcvehicles.about.com