Noob Battery Questions

[Endus]

OK, ive been playing for awhile know and have some "ok" guns, but ive been looking into getting new batteries for my M16, and Ak, but looking for batteries is like looking for a needle in a haystack for me. I see different sizes like "mini" and such. Also sometimes when im looking for batteries, the ends dont match up, why is this? I understand why some guns can only have a so much voltage, but whats with the ends?

[TokyoSeven]

Different ends or connectors if you will are up to user preference, hence why batteries are produced with different connectors. There are all sorts of pros and cons for each connector type out there.

If you are looking for some new hook ups for batteries I recommend either

Prairie battery
http://www.prairiebattery.ca/MAIN.htm

or

Cheap battery packs

http://www.cheapbatterypacks.com/ind...orwarded=true&

Both are excellent retailers and can custom create packs to your needs.

[L473ncy]

Tamiya (small or large) or Deans connectors are what they're called and the most popular ones in the Airsoft world (there's also "mini deans" and Traxxas connectors but those are popular in the RC world and split 50/50 about from what I can see). Pretty much because of differing amounts of contact surface more or less amperage can get pushed through the connectors to the wires.

The consensus is that Deans and Traxxas are the best connectors but Deans has a larger "market share" in the airsoft world and as such is probably the one you want to be using.

Secondly the size of the batteries like "mini" or "stick" or "nunchuck" or "brick/large" is the size and configuration of the battery. Ie. if you want to store your battery in a full stock or in a forward PEQ/battery box then get a large pack, if you need it in a MOD stock then a nunchuck is the one you want am I making myself clear?

[GODSPEED|seven]

I actually also have a question about batteries.. I've been looking at the KWA M4 S-System AEG.. and in the description, it says it will accept up to a 8.4v 7-Cell NiMh Mini battery pack.. I've also been looking at the SRC's HK 416 or G36k.. which can accomodate Li-Po bat packs... I think i know this (please correct me if wrong):
NiMh = more or less the amount of shots can take on full charge
Volts = Affects Rate of Fire

What I am wondering is simply; Should being limited to a 8.4v 1500 mAh Bat Pack on the KWA M4 S-System make me go for an SRC Gen III with a 10.1v bat pack ?

I really like both brands as they have good gearboxes from what I've heard, KWA M4 S-System shoots 410 FPS stock .. SRC 416 shoots 400 FPS stock and G36k shoots approx 360-380 FPS stock..

Thanks for your replies!

[Rock 'N' Roll Outlaw]

NiMH is Nickel Metal Hydride, the chemical composition of the battery itself. Others are NiCd (Nickel Cadmium), LiPo (Lithium Polymer), LifePo (Lithium Ferrite Polymer) among others. The mAh (milliamp per hour) rating is whats used to estimate the shots per battery upon full and stable charge. You are correct in the voltage is what affects rate of fire.

Running an 8.4V is perfectly fine for gaming. There are a large number of options for batteries in the 8.4V flavour, as well as the 9.6V. The lower the voltage the lower your rate of fire, but this also reduces the wear on your gearbox thus elongating the potential life of the gearbox. The higher the voltage the lower the potential lifespan. Anything higher than a 9.6V for NiMh/NiCd or 7.4V for Lithium batteries is not needed in terms of rate of fire. Those are perfectly usable. When players decide to go higher they are usually experienced in working their way around a mechbox and are able to replace and maintain as needed. Don't think rate of fire (or FPS for that matter as most new players think is the be all end all) makes you a better player or your gun better. Start with the standard batteries and options, then if you decide to make the switch do it after seeing a need as opposed to a want or by a misconception. Im not saying you show these traits, this is more of a general message to most new people who have similar thoughts.

[Shooting Addict]

Originally Posted by GODSPEED|seven

I think i know this (please correct me if wrong):
NiMh = more or less the amount of shots can take on full charge
Volts = Affects Rate of Fire

Volts does affect trigger response and ROF among other things. NiMh isn't how long the battery can last it's a type of battery ie Lipo=Lithium-ion polymer, what your thinking of is mah, the higher the mah of the battery the longer it will last with continues use before it has to be recharged.

Originally Posted by GODSPEED|seven

What I am wondering is simply; Should being limited to a 8.4v 1500 mAh Bat Pack on the KWA M4 S-System make me go for an SRC Gen III with a 10.1v bat pack ?

I assume you mean a 11.1 volt lipo battery? If you do a 11.1 and 7.2 lipo are essentially the same as a 9.6 NiMh battery in terms of power. You will get a little more ROF from the SRC then the KWA if you decide to go with a 8.4 but so long as the KWA is capable of using a lipo(as in the gun won't break in like 5 minutes) The choice between the two guns is all up to your personal preference...and your wallet

EDIT:Rock and Roll beat me to it lol

[Doombringer]

Those aren't exactly true.

What you are looking for is a High Current to get a fast response since it's the current that magnetizes motors, and not voltage. To get a high current, you need a battery with a high discharge rate. For exemple, you can get bigger cells in Ni-Mh or get a high "C" count Li-Po battery. Voltage by itself is not really relevant, you can get a 7.4V Li-Po that will outperform a 8.4V Ni-MH.

For the mAh (milli ampere hour), think of it like a gas tank in a car. The bigger the gas tank, the longer your car will run when it's full. But it's won't be more "powerful" or anything, it is just a storage count unit. So, a battery with twice the mAh will last about 2 times longer for the same voltage/amperage.

If you are looking for Li-Po products, and can rewire your batteries (very easy to do if you have a soldering iron at home), check your measurements and consider those:

http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store...idProduct=7312

They are cheap and really good batteries, they are meant for the RC world, but a battery is a battery. If it fits, it's good.

If you are looking for "Deans Ultra" (NOT the mini connectors), get those: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.10788

They are 10x cheaper than the real thing and will perform the same. The red plastic is plastic here and the real deans are nylon but if you are careful when soldering (not leaving your iron on the metal for 30 seconds), you will be fine.

[GODSPEED|seven]

Well, thanks for all your very informative answers, they are much appreciated.

This clears up a few things, especially regarding the Voltage versus potential lifespan.

I know I will eventually open up the gearbox and check it out, as I always do that for everything anyways (I enjoy seeing how things work with my own hands and eyes), but for the moment, or for this summer season, I want to concentrate on getting decent equipment that will last, upgrades will wait for next winter.. so I want to have good stock internals. As for battery, I will do more research, but 8.4v 1500mAh seems to have a good price/"quality" ratio.. not too much stress on parts, and still giving a decent amount of shots (I plan on always having a second one as backup).

Any more information would be welcome, and I thank it in advance.

[ThunderCactus]

NiMH - Most common type of battery, pretty safe to use
LiPo - offers more amperage than NiMH, so you can have less voltage for the same rate of fire, but you need to know what the hell your doing when using LiPo as they vent violently when broken, and they break under different conditions than NiMH.

It's important to know what kind of battery you have when you pick your charger.

-Voltage: increases ROF and trigger response. Too much voltage means too much speed which means gun problems. 8.4v is the standard for large batteries (over 2200mah), and 9.6v is the standard for mini batteries (1200-1600mah)
-Mah: The amount of gas in your battery, the more gas there is, the bigger the battery is, and the higher the discharge rate
-discharge rate: how much amperage your battery puts out, physically larger cells have a higher discharge rate. IE a 9.6v mini battery will have the same ROF as an 8.4v large battery.

Think of the electrical flow as a river, amperage is the amount of water in the river (little stream or big river), voltage is how fast that river is flowing, and resistance is the rocks slowing down the water.
So a battery with high amperage and low voltage (7.4v 20C 1600mah LiPo) would give you the same rate of fire as a battery with high voltage and low amperage (9.6v 1500mah NiMH).

[GODSPEED|seven]

Where is a good source.. or where has a large inventory of batteries, either online or walk-in in the area of Montreal?

007 only seems to have 8.4v 1500mAh max.. I would be interested in something closer to 8.4v 2000mAh.. or is there a better combination, I'm not looking for extra high rate of fire, I'm looking for somthing that will be nice on the gears.. in short, something good for a starter

[ThunderCactus]

Keep in mind the size restrictions of your AEG, not every AEG can use an 8.4v 4200mah battery, some only have the room to use a mini battery, and the largest mini cells are "ELITE" 1500mah cells.

[L473ncy]

RC Hobby shops are always a good bet, Airsoft and RC use the exact same batteries, chargers, and connectors (usually) so the staff there will know their stuff and be able to help you pick the best you can get.

There's also cheapbatterypacks.com is if you're willing to order from online.

PS: Sounds like you're waiting to get a gun from the classifieds first. In that case DO NOT buy a battery until you get your gun and figure out how you're going to mount it. If you have an idea of what model you want then figure out where to mount the battery then buy it.

ie. an M16 can store the battery in the fullstock in the butt area and holds a "large" battery, while an AK you can store it under the dust cover but it will only be a "stick" battery, then if you want an M4 with a MOD stock or something you can fit a "nunchuck" battery in there, as well you can also have your gun front wired to the handguard and it will fit a stick battery as well.

[Doombringer]

You can go to hobby shops in montreal. There is one near my place, it's called Udisco, it's on Decarie/Queen-Mary, or you can go to SurplusIG if you really want to buy in Montreal. But you're better off buying one online. Cheapbatterypacks is really good.

[GODSPEED|seven]

Awesome, I'll check those out!

Now onto another Battery question...

Is there a battery configuration I should look for?

What I mean is, how much should battery configuration affect my choice of AEG? Will getting a crane stock battery give me something better than a mini type? or will a nunchuck be better than large?

I know this must really sound noobish, but thats what I am at the moment.. pure and utterly noob-like hehe.

Its hard to explain, but for example, the SRC 416 uses a crane style bat pack, what difference does this make compared to the SRC G36's which use mini style bat packs? Another example, the Full stock AEG's usually have the benefit of fitting Large bat packs.. at the expense of maneuverability.. I like to usually be in the front line, I'm a decently quick player (small frame) so I'm looking for a smaller AEG, M4/G36K being the longest I want to get, without touching the 9mm SMG's.. what type of bat config should I look for? and should I base my choice of AEG on the bat configuration?

When I get my AEG in the following months, I want to make sure I don't regret it; it is lots of money invested. So I am relying on players here instead of store clerks who even if they have best intentions, don't know lots about it..

thanks for your patience with me 'the uber-noober'

[GBear]

Originally Posted by Rock 'N' Roll Outlaw

NiMH is Nickel Metal Hydride, the chemical composition of the battery itself. Others are NiCd (Nickel Cadmium), LiPo (Lithium Polymer), LifePo (Lithium Ferrite Polymer) among others.

Just to let you know, it's not Lithium Ferrite Polymer. The composition is LFP/LiFePO4 or Lithium Ferrite/Iron Phosphate. As of now, it's got the highest abuse tolerance of Lithium batteries while still having better/comparable life cycle/discharge & charge rates/nominal & max voltage/etc as the other Lithium batteries. These are most commonly used in DIY electric cars and such where high safety is priority.