Taking Care of NiCad and NiMH Batteries

Two popular types of rc car batteries are NiCad and NiMH. The NiCad are cheaper and easier to maintain. The NiMH provide longer run time and require more care and maintenance.

For stock racing and playing, NiCad are good. For serious modified motor racing, the NiMH are a must to be competitive.

	NiCad	NiMH
Usage	Once a day	Twice a day
Charging current	3 - 5 amps	5 - 6 amps
Peak charge temp	-	125 F
Discharge	After racing	Before racing
Storage	Fully discharged	10 mins of charge
30+ days of storage	Fully discharged	Full charge
Dead shorting	No	No
Faster acceleration	Lower IR	Lower IR
Higher top speed	Higher voltage	Higher voltage

For small, tight tracks, look for battery cells that have lower internal resistance (IR). This is for faster acceleration.

For large, high speed, flowing tracks, look for battery cells with higher voltage for higher top speed. Example a cell labeled with average voltage (AV) of 1.180 is better than 1.170.