Exchanging NiCad for Lipo Batteries in Transmitters?

by Truman Duncan
(Prescott Valley, AZ USA)

My RC airplane transmitter came with a NiCad battery pack.

Is there any reason why I cant change out the supplied NiCad pack with a Lipo battery?

It seems that Lipo batteries are widely used to powered electric RC airplanes in general. Why can't they be used to powered our transmitters also?

Will this do away with the memory issues associated with NiCad batteries?

Thanks

Matt's Reply:A lot of people use lipos in their transmitters

Hey Truman,

There is no problem at all exchanging the NiCad's that come with RC transmitters with Lipo packs.

You can pick them up for a pretty decent price at Hobby King, they have a location in the US now so shipping is cheaper and it shouldn't take near as long for delivery as it used to from the Hobby King brand in china.

I've never actually used a Lipo pack in any of my transmitters, but I've bought tons of Lipo's from Hobby King in the past for my electric planes.

All the batteries I've bought from them have been great and they are a fraction of the cost of the big name brands.

As a matter of fact I've had better luck with Hobby King batteries than I have with the expensive ones that come with ParkZone planes etc.

Anyway, just pick one out that fits inside your radio. See if this one will work for you.

Rhino 2620mAh 3S 11.1v Low-Discharge Transmitter Lipoly Pack

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Exchanging NiCad for Lipo Batteries in Transmitters?

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Not for me just yet.
by: Mike from Oz

G'day

I have 7 transmitters. I only bought three of them new, the others have been bought when they came up cheaply. They are up to 8 years old. I have only ever needed to replace one battery. I do not cycle my transmitter batteries except when I think they may be dying (and one only has died and it was in a transmitter from an unknown source).

I replaced it with a pack made from Sanyo Eneloop NiMh cells. They are brilliant. Very low self discharge, high capacity and low memory effect. I have been using them for receiver batteries for some time. And you can charge them with the normal charger.

The downside of using a LiPo is simply that you have to remove it to charge it. When radios start coming already fitted with LiPos I will use them but they do seem to have a relatively short life (about three years) and the good old NiMh seem better than that.

I can see no real reason to change.

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