Counted in Nick..

Just to clarify, the cells I am most likely going to purchase are RC3600's (as linked to in one of the above messages), not CP3600's.

I dont think there is much different between them as far as I understand sanyo's model numbers so far, but want to make sure you're happy with those cells.

Anyone else want some ? Any other options Jake ? I'll probably be aiming to get mine sometime in the next 2 or 3 weeks.. although I have to confirm the price per cell if we end up with less than 100 cells purchased.
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wel if u or somebody can make up some australian battlepacks then ill certainly buy some.
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Andrew Welch, Team Unconventional Robotics

Are they nimh's the 3600 cells?

If so count me in for 30 i will get more later too another 30 when i get more money And can you get some battery bars too brett if im going to spend the money on makeing packs id like some decent low resistance bars And i think everyone els would too

If there nicads i will have to think about it i just dont like the memory effect thing
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Tim Team Reaper.

Last edited by timmeh on Wed Sep 08, 2004 6:55 pm; edited 1 time in total

If they are NiCD's, put me down as a possible for 20 cells, pending on the price.
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https://www.halfdonethings.com/

You can put me down for 6 x 12V packs (60 Cells), and the RC3600 are good for me.

Is this bulk bye just for the cells or are they going to be made into packs
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It's all about the destruction.

Good question! Can we have the option of solder tabs or not? I would personally go with the tabs but not made into packs.

If Master Instruments is able to make packs as mentioned earlier, can they supply large heatshrink? That is useful even for people with pre-made packs, as the heatshrink does wear out before the batteries do.
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Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

Hi Everyone..

Some updates on my afternoons ongoing research into the batteries.

Master Instruments are unable to supply soldered packs, as soldering to a cell voids the factory warranty. Their packs use the normal spot-welded nickel bars and according to them they're not reccomended for sustained discharge rates over about 20 amps, so I'll be buying them as loose cells unless someone wants theirs spot-welded.

It seems the "Deans Silver Bars" are the standard as far as soldered battery connect bars go, I'm still looking for a reasonably cheap supplier of them in Australia if anyone has any suggestions ?

I personally wont be assembling them into packs for people, since if I did, I would have to wear the cost of any heat-damaged cells (no warranty for soldered cells remember). Is anyone out there interested in starting a "BattlePack Australia" business and making packs for people ? If not, then it will be the purchasers problem to turn them into packs.

The prices jake posted earlier were for 500 cell lots, which we might be pushing to reach unless everyone goes for the same battery (unlikely). The prices I got from them are for 100+ cells and are as follows

Sanyo NimH
rc2400 - sub C = $5.77
rc3300hv - sub C = $7.72
rc3600hv - sub C = $9.32

Sanyo NiCd
cp2400scr - sub C = $4.24
cp3600 cr - C size = $7.52

I might change my mind and go for a mix of the rc3300hv's and cp2400scr's rather than the RC3600's I was originally thinking of. I dont think the 3600's are worth the extra dollars over the 3300's unless you're a top-dollar RC Car racer.

Also, since the Nicad CP2400's are significantly cheaper and have higher peak currents than the NimH RC range do, they might be better for some applications. I'd like to try some of both and see.

If anyone really wants pre-made packs, there are a heap of people selling the GP3300 (Gold Peak) cells pre-assembled into 7.2v and 8.4v packs on Ebay (search for GP3300 and you'll find heaps). They're a little small for what we want so you would need to use multiple packs to get the 12-24v we typically run on, but buying them this way they're typically matched cells, soldered with bars, heatshrink and connectors all done for you. Keep in mind most of the ebay suppliers ship from overseas though, so make sure you include shipping, GST and Duties when figuring the price. Most of the ones I saw advertised worked out to about $8-$9 per cell which is comparable to the Sanyo's locally

These GP3300 cells seem to be very popular in the RC Car world, and they show very good capacity vs $ (according to the discharge graphs on battlepack.com), but cant supply as much discharge current as the CP series can.

The GP3300 curve looks like this


while the Sanyo's look like this
(sorry the pic is all yucko, its a transparent gif meant to be on a white background, but you can still read the numbers if you look past the snow)
{Edit - it looked so gross, I couldnt bear it, so I fixed it by saving it and converting it to a .jpg.. enjoy.}


note the Sanyo chart doesnt have the RC3300 which is comparable to the GP3300 or the even newer RC3600 and that they only discharge test them at 20-30 amps, which is probably ok for our drivetrains, but if you are powering a weapon motor as well, I'd expect it to average out higher than that.

O,k, so if you arent all totally confused by now, let me know and I'll find some more data to show you..

Who's ready to buy in the next week or so ?
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Last edited by Spockie-Tech on Wed Sep 08, 2004 8:26 pm; edited 1 time in total

give me two weeks and i can buy 30 cells

i will buy 30x rc3300hv cells and some deans battery bars if possible "this is my final decision so count me in brett" i cant go any bigger capacity cells as my 12kg bot cant afford the extra weight

Later i will buy 30 more cells
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Tim Team Reaper.

OK Tim. BTW to anyone else interested in a group-purchase.., a couple of conditions..

Cash in my bank account is required *prior* to the buy. You pay first then you get your cells. Sorry, but I cant afford to go and buy hundreds of cells then have to chase people for the $. If you dont trust me, go buy your own..

The price listed above does not include shipping to your address. Master Instruments is closeby to me, so I will pick them up, and you can collect your cells from me in Glen Waverley, or I will ship them to you at your cost..

I'll give you all a copy of the invoice (which will be a cash sale), any warranty claims are between you and master instruments, I take no responsibility for them.

A bit harsh maybe, but if you dont like it, go to your local hobby shop and pay $10-$15 per cell, then you can complain at them..
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so what cells are you buying? and do we send you our address first before we pay you and then you send us the postall cost then we pay the full amount?

And can we pay in cash\postall order or cheqe?

Allso are the battery bars long enough so you can put cardboard rings in your packs or just leave space between your cells?
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Tim Team Reaper.

I'll most likely be getting 40 of the RC3300HV's and 40 of the CP2400's for my own two bots.

The postal cost will most likely vary according to the weight (how many cells you buy), and whether you want it sent express, regular, insured or whatever.. so it might be best if you just send the money for the cells first and tell me how you want them sent, then I'll send them and advise you of the postage cost afterwards, unless you really want a quote on the shipping first. I can probably ask Aus-Post to guesstimate it based on the individual cell weights x the number of cells you order.

If you do direct-deposit to my account either from your closest National Australia Bank branch, or via Internet banking (if you use it), thats probably the easiest way. Cash/Post Orders/Cheques are OK too, but I'll have to wait for them to arrive/clear before going ahead with the order, so they would need to be sent pretty soon.

I dont know about the length of the battery bars yet, since I havent found anywhere to buy them at a reasonable cost locally yet. You can just cut up strips of copper from a sheet and make your own, but if I can find a local supplier of the deans bars, I'll let you know. Does anyone know of a source for the spacing rings as well ?
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I might have to order mine few weeks after the bulk buy , as I cannot quite pull $120 out right now. But give me 4-6 weeks Brett, and you'll have money in your account for mine. Looking at 20 x Sanyo NiCd CP2400SCR
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https://www.halfdonethings.com/

I would like to get 25 - 30 CP3600 cells and can send you the money next Wednesday. My Thingaps will suck anything less dry in less than 3 minutes.

Did battlepacks use the Dean's bars? If so, the plating on them is not that great for solder adhesion and I would probably make my own from bare copper. Time to to get out the guttering iron

For spacers, we could get a sheet of UHMW waterjetted into spacers along the lines of the intercooled battle packs. The setup cost could be spread around a number of users and would end up fairly cheap.
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Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion

just talked to my contacts (love saying that lol) and yes steve hill has quit making battlepacks (again im told) because he doesnt think its worth while making them for such a low price.

but ballistic still makes packs that are essentially identical to the battlepacks. tornado mer uses them as to the whyachi bots im told.

no order for me brett tho
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www.demon50s.com - Minimoto parts
http://www.youtube.com/user/HyzerGlen - Videoooozzz

Ok, so as I see it at the moment we have Ajax, Myself, Nick and Tim confirmed..

Problem, everyone wants different cells, so we havent reached quantities of 100 on any of them yet.. we presently have

cp2400scr x 40 (40 for brett)
rc3300hv x 70 (40 for brett, 30 for tim)
cp3600cr x 30 (30 for Nick)
rc3600hv x 60 (60 for Ajax)

so... anyone else want to jump in ? Jake ? Aaron ?

Ajax - would you consider going for the 3300's instead of the 3600's ? that would bring the rc3300's over the 100 mark at least.

I could think about changing my cp2400's to cp3600's, but I dont see the value for money for them. you can nearly get two sets of 2400's for the price of a 3600.. of course if you need the capacity, what can you do ? Anyone else want some cp2400's or cp3600's ? Aaron ?

I'd like to order mine next week or the week after at the latest if possible.. but if master instruments insist on the 100 of each type to get that pricing, then might have to wait until some more people are ready..
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