Hobbies And Interests
Shape
RC battery packs come in two main styles: saddle and stick. In a saddle pack, all cells are arranged in series (meaning the positive of one connects to the negative end of another). Cells are aligned parallel to one another in two square-shaped clusters of three cells each, which are then connected by a short section of wire "saddled" between them. With a stick pack, the cells are also connected in series; however, instead of square shaped clusters, two sticks of three cells each are formed by orienting the cells end to end. Two ends are connected to eachother, while the other two ends are affixed with a positive (=) and negative (-) lead.
Capacity
RC batteries are rated in accordance with how many milliamps they can supply consistently over a given amount of time. It is a standard practice to label battery cells in a measurement of milliampere hours, or mAh. For example, a battery rated at 3,000 mAh can supply 3,000 milliamps of power for an hour.
NiMH vs. NiCad
Most RC batteries are either nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) or nickel-cadmium (NiCAD). While NiMH offer much longer run times than comparable NiCADs, they cannot handle high-rate charging/discharging (that is, rates exceeding 1.5 to 2 amps) as well as their nickel-cadmium counterparts. When in an idle state, NiMH batteries discharge at twice the rate of NiCADs.