Kamron wrote: > I was wondering if the battery from a kiddy car would have enough power to > support a tank? and if not are there any suggestions?
The kiddy cars that I'm familiar with typically run a single 6v 12 Amp- Hour (AH) deep cycle battery. Most active tanks are running between 18 to 26AH capacity and 12 or 24 volts. So the answer to your question is no. Typical setups in our tanks are two 18AH batteries wired in parallel or series (giving you 12 or 24 volts respectively) or a single 26AH (or larger) battery providing 12v. When it comes to selecting a battery setup for your vehicle, we need to know what motors you will be using and the amount of space on-board for the batteries. Some random thoughts on batteries. Amp-Hours doubles when batteries are wired in parallel, so if you wire two of your 6v 12AH kiddy car batteries in parallel you will have a 6volt 24AH battery pack. When batteries are wired in series this doubles voltage but not AH, thus wiring two of the 6v 12AH batteries in series gives you a 12V 12AH pack. The batteries we use are deep cycle batteries. These are different from car and motorcycle starter batteries which are not appropriate for running electric vehicles. Our batteries are typically marketed for UPS and alarm system backup service. SLA is another term that we use for these types of batteries. It stands for "Sealed Lead Acid". Spend the money and get a smart charger for your batteries. Do not use a car charger if at all possible. Some hard learned lessons on ordering batteries. If you have a local source for UPS batteries - great, if not, eBay is probably your only source for batteries. When searching for batteries on eBay, use something like "18AH SLA", or "UPS Battery". This will weed out the multitude of other types of batteries that a simple "battery" search will return with. When ordering batteries, determine the date code from the vendor before ordering them. You want batteries that are no more than a year old. If the vendor acts like he doesn't know what a date codes is, wont give you the codes, or gives you a song and dance about how "fresh" they are, go to another vendor. Tell the vendor that you insist on matching date codes and model numbers (if ordering more than one battery). Let the vendor know that you expect the date codes to match what he told you and that you will ship them back as incorrect items if they do not (and leave appropriate feedback). Determine if the warranty includes return-shipping. Most don't but you may be able to find someone that does. Tell the vendor that you want the batteries shipped fully charged (most ads state that they do this) and that you will check voltage when you get them. State that you will consider any batteries that do not match the rest in voltage (within .5 volts or so), you will consider to have internal cell damage and will return as damaged. If the vendor does not agree to these terms, find another vendor. Insist on a description of the shipping method and exact packaging that the vendor is using. Many of the online vendors are now advertising low-cost flat-rate shipping. They get away with this by shoehorning the batteries into USPS flat-rate priority mail boxes. Some vendors do it better than others. I've received batteries that were well packaged with layers of cardboard that arrived undamaged and I've had others packaged in shredded newspaper that arrived with cracked cases. If you can, get the vendor to ship signature required. This will give you the opportunity to check for damage before accepting the shipment. If you have to go to the post office to get them, take a voltage meter with you. The box or boxes will most likely have at least some dented or crushed areas on them. This is your excuse to open them up to "check for damage" before accepting the shipment. Checking for damage means checking for cracked or dented cases, a voltage check, and don't forget the date codes. Refuse the shipment if you note any damage whatsoever. If you do this, this will save you on return shipping of defective batteries. When buying multiples of two you can often get better per piece pricing by looking for UPS replacement packs. As an example, larger APC UPS's (American Power Conversion) battery packs are typically two 18AH batteries that are taped or glued together and sold as a single unit. If you can, pay by credit card and avoid PayPal. If you have to return product, the vendor may be less than forthcoming on the refund. You are almost 100% assured of getting your money back through your credit card company. You are 100% assured OF NOT getting your money back if you have to go through the PayPal grievance procedure. Do not buy used, surplus, or "refurbished" batteries, these are more than useless IMHO. These batteries are pulls from old UPS and alarm systems. They will typically be very old and will not take a deep charge. Some vendors sell magic de-sulfating chemicals or mystical "pulsating" devices that they advertise can rejuvenate an old worn out SLA. This is all BS and none of it has ever been proven to work so don't wast your money on these schemes. Steve Tyng > > -- > Conar > > () > __)(__ > '-<>-' > )( > || > || > || > || > || > || > || > || gnv > \/ --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You are currently subscribed to the "R/C Tank Combat" group. To post a message, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected] Visit the group at http://groups.google.com/group/rctankcombat -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
