8.4 volt batteries

[WingedBullet]

I am looking for a really good 8.4 volt battery pack if anyone could recommend anything. I have heard of LiPo but I don't know much about those type of batteries.

[Baz JJ]

1 volt shouldn't make a lot of difference.

[Sitting Duck]

depends on ya kit and if you are really gonna get into it

 

both need their own type of chargers or you could buy a good all in one charger that does both

(not such a good idea in my house as we often charge more than 1 battery night before or morning of skirmish)

 

normal battery - smart charger will be £10 to £15 say - these don't cook battery but supposed to stop charging

when they are complete, volts 7.2v 8.4v 9.6v 10.8v 12v - cells are 1.2v ya see

 

lipo or newer life batteries use different charger and either come in:

Lipo 7.4v or 11.1v - cell is 3.7v so there is very little mid range wise

Life 9.9v - cells are 3.3v - sort of high mid range option for lipo users that

don't want to hammer guns with 11.1v+

I say + coz most batteries pump out a bit over at first when just come off charge

an 11.1v was pumping 12.5v for a little while - wonder why gun was firing like nuts and a bit hot motor

[DEDSEC]

Depends if it's an NiMh (Nickel Hydrate) battery or a LiPo (Lithium Polymer). A 7.4v LiPo battery has the equivalent to a 9.6v NiMh.

 

What gun is this battery pack for?

[Samurai]

Don't buy nimh anymore. Lipo is better in every aspect. Size, capacity, discharge rate, price.

[WingedBullet]

So LiPo are smaller batteries with a big output?

[DEDSEC]

So LiPo are smaller batteries with a big output?

Don't buy nimh anymore. Lipo is better in every aspect. Size, capacity, discharge rate, price.

Very true, a 7.4v LiPo should be safe to use on 90% of electric airsoft guns. They're considerably smaller than a NiMh yet have more power and a larger discharge rate meaning you get a nicer trigger response and faster rate of fire.

 

So go with what Samurai said and just get yourself a 7.4v LiPo or if your gun can handle it, an 11.1v.

[Airsoft_Mr B]

IIRC a 7.4v LiPo will have a similar power output to an 8.4v NiMh. The advantages of LiPo are that they're much more compact and will give you a better fire rate and trigger response. It isn't very noticeable if you're using a 7.4v but it is using an 11.1 (which are not okay unless the gun is upgraded quite a lot) It's still an upgrade from a NiMh battery and it means you can fit them in buffer tubes whereas NiMh batteries are too large.

[BrightCandle]

A lipo when its fully charged is actually 8.4 Volts. As the battery drains the voltage reduces and 7.4V is about the 10% mark, and the time the battery should also be changed. So while they call it a 7.4V lipo in practice its 8.4V initially and ends at 7.4V, so its almost always above that rated voltage. For me the main reason to use a lipo is its smaller and I don't have to faff about with discharging it to avoid battery memory problems. I was always going to get a smart charger anyway and the lipo's are just easier to use and care for. Trigger response etc is a bonus I guess, but my trigger pull is sooo spongy I doubt that makes any practical difference. I can still pull the trigger partially and not get a round off but have the motor turn so its not like its lightening quick.

[Finius]

I'm still a stalwart fan of NiMh because they're cheap as chips and I like what I know.

 

Any 8.4v NiMh battery pack of the right size will pretty much be as good as any other in my experience, so if you do go that way, just visit component-shop and get some from there.

 

If you want to go LiPo (which I'd recommend because it's the future and I just refuse to catch up), then I have no further guidance for you.

[Sitting Duck]

I still use both - end of the day whatever fits and more over whatever is charged in time

when I leave for shooting....

 

got a few cheapo 9.6v nimh ones which seem to perform/hold charge well atm

lipo's are nice but there are stick nimh for that bastid battery fitting Galaxy mp5k

as well as stick lipo's for Fire Hawk

 

LiPo's are what many prefer to run with after a while, so it might be worth just going straight to 7.4v lipo

 

Life's 9.9v - range is very limited both amps & size

 

see what you started - asked about extra 1.2v battery and now you are really confused if/when to jump to lipo

(good idea but again - see if you really get into it if you just started airsoft)

[kirvesuk]

Hi all. Just to confirm, I would be ok swapping my trusty 8.4v 1600mah battery for a 7.2v lipo at 1800mah? It would be in a tm recoil.

[Samurai]

Yes.

[Trojan]

Just make sure it fits OP;)

 

A good lipo kit that will last forever should cost £70 ~ ( £30 charger & psu, £5 lipo bags nd alarm, £35 a few 7.4v lipos. Nimh is much cheaper though.

 

 

All lipos do is allow the motor to have a higher amperage intake.... So it can work harder / faster. Up until a point where it no longer needs the excess amps, most high powered setups need a max of 60-70A at full load.... People buy packs that deliver 100+A just to have a cool battery pack

 

(Similar to how if you had a 1000W PSU but the most your PC ever used is 600W at load then the PSU will be very quiet and incredibly cool)

 

To work out the amps divide the MaH by 1000 and multiply by the Discharge rate © so 1800mah 20c would be 1.8 x 20 = 36 Amps

 

MaH is not only linked to capacity of the battery but also the discharge output.

[Samurai]

A very decent lipo is £14 and a charger is £5.5 inc. postage. Alarm is just causing more trouble than it helps with.

[Trojan]

Buying a cheap non balance / smart charger for a fiver? Mate, that's what's called a "false economy".

 

HK sell great little 7.4 1700 20c lipos for a fiver each. Lipos aren't expensive. Alarms just help prevent user from discharging the lipo flat.

 

The IMAX b6 balance charger is £17, PSU are free if you have a laptop charge compatible, or around £9

 

Again they're not terribly expensive because if you plan on playing the game for a reasonable amount of time, you may as well do it properl, and do it from the beginning.

[Samurai]

An Imax B3 is enough. It does everything an average airsofter needs with the lipo.

 

There are two problems with the alarm: It discharges the battery by itself. A friend of mine forgot about it and it killed the lipo (and he was glad that it didn't burn down the house). And when you fire the gun, the voltage drops significantly for that moment. The nominal charge is still way above the alarm level, and the battery could handle the drop for a moment but with each shot the alarm sounds. Alarms are designed for continuous drain, and not for the pulse-like drains airsoft guns have.

[AK47frizzle]

I have a 9.6v nimh battery and it shucks. I charge it fully one day and it's dead the next day.

[BrightCandle]

Personally I just go buy a rough estimate of 1mah = 1 shot. I can roughly track how much ammo I have used and hence track when my gun likely needs a battery change. More nominally the efficiency is more like 1.5 shots per 1mah but I am not trying to empty my battery out, I am just ensuring I swap it before it runs out. But honestly I swap it at lunch regardless, and there is no way in a couple of hours of gameplay that I rack through enough ammo to get through a 2400 mah battery anyway. I don't carry that much ammo, more like 1200 rounds.

 

The battery testers are basically worthless when the estimation is so easy and the batteries relatively cheap.

[ikarma70]

Don't buy nimh anymore. Lipo is better in every aspect. Size, capacity, discharge rate, price.

Same here, it's amazed me how a lipo made my Cyma glock 18 fire much faster and improved the trigger response and I can fit a mini lipo into my cm16 crane stock so I could fit 2 lipos instead of one nunchuck

[Mr Monkey Nuts]

So can someone please scientifically explain to me why a £30 imax / turnigy charger is significantly better than a standard £15 balance charger? .....

[Samurai]

If you are asking about the Imax B6 then it can do much more. It can charge and discharge lipo, life, li-ion, nimh, nicd, pb batteries. Also you can set the amps you want to charge/discharge with. You also can run cycles of charging, discharging, and monitor the voltages/amps during the process. You can charge some types to store level. You can balance, and with an additional sensor you can stop on overheat of the battery. And then some.

 

But as far as an average airsofter is concerned, a simple balance charger like a B3 is perfectly enough for a lipo. You plug it in, and it charges the battery for the next game.