Armortek

But.........times and technology have changed, and i cant get a straight answer from the other posts.

here goes (I can almost hear the groaning) Which are the best batteries for the Tiger 1 with fully loaded efficiency option pack??

Looking for, in order of preference
1) No leakage, explosions, melting etc.
2) Long operation of tank
3) Short charge time
4) Simple charging and storage

Thats it.

Many thanks in advance

Hi Bob.

12 volt sealed gel type batteries 22 amp at least no leaks you can fit them laid down if need be simple to charge and keep topped up.
Easiet bet for you is the link that Gill has supplied on the forum you get a discount and very fast postage
Cheers Paul

I use 22amh Gel batteries as paul said but I did manage to melt a set recently. They take a while to charge. Bob,
I do'nt know if the items on your list exist for us.

got mine from a site called puredrive. Also quick shipping.

Thank you gentlemen for a straight answer. 22 amp sealed type it is then.

John, item 1 came about after reading your melting post mate

Still no idea how it happened. Now I just top up charge every 2 weeks and it's just connected to charger for a few minutes. I have also got a small 12v 7 amp battery for the lights animatronics and maybe smoker. Should save the power in the main batteries. Your new drive system should give much better running time anyway.

There is probably more than one answer to this, but here is mine: I use a whole bunch of small, sealed, gel type, lead acid bateries. As many as I can fit and a quality charger.
This gives the tank prototype movement properties (very majestic indeed!) in the terrain and provides running time for a full day.
The batteries I use are used and I effectively squeeze the last bit of life out of them. This results in some batteries litterally cracking, but nothing but dry substance that can easily be cleaned out has ever fallen out of them. Sometimes they just get hot, indicating that there are internal problems and that they are more of a power consumer than supplier. These are removed and discarded.
So:
1 There is leakage, but nothing difficult to take care of such as alien molecular acid melting its way through the hull etc
2 Given enough battery capacity (Ah), there can be enough for a long day. My record is seven hours continuous running at a show.
3 Charging time is not a battery property, but a charger property (as long as we are speaking lead/acid batteries). Higher capacity charger is more expensive. If you have enough battery capacity for a full day's running, charging the full night is likely no problem.
4 With a quality charger, all you do is leave it connected and switched on and it will trickle charge and keep your batteries in good running order. However, with many small batteries, disconnecting and managing them physically when needed is quite a nuisance and so is wiring.

Cheers,
/Chris

Thats interesting christoffer thank you. How many batteries and what size plaese?

30 12V batteries of nominally (when new) 4,5Ah, but as mine are used, probably less than that.

Cheers,
/Chris

Over the years I have found that Absorbed glass mat( AGM) type batteries are far better than gel types. I find that they give excellent duration and have a long life. When I first ran my Tiger over seven years ago (mine was the second ever Tiger to be up and running) I used 17amp batteries and over the years they have increased in capacity till I now I have 24amp batteries installed. When you are not using your tank, always have the batteries fully charged. Never leave them sitting in your garage etc half charged.

I prefer LiFePo overall.
Light, compact, can be positioned everywhere. Fast to be charged. No leaks, no explosions.
With good deep charge/discharge performance

Damned expencive....

Hello Bob, I use Hardware Express,recommended. Two CSB GP Gel cells, 12v 20Ah. I ran the Comet at a number of eight hour 'shows' last year and still enough power to drive the Comet tank off it's trailer into the bungalow.....and behind the settee, where it is in hiding..... Mick

Jan_Donadoni wrote:I prefer LiFePo overall.
Light, compact, can be positioned everywhere. Fast to be charged. No leaks, no explosions.
With good deep charge/discharge performance

Damned expencive....

I quote Jan, a couple of 12,8V 4S lifepo connected in series or a single 25.6V battery is the best choice for a model. A 20Amp/h battery will give you true 20Amp hours of almost constant voltage, after years of usage it will still give you that capacity or only a bit less.
Lead acid batteries have a "nominal" power that is valid (when is valid) only when the battery is new.
At a show here I invited some armortek owners, all with gel type batteries, but, as they run their models not so often, most of them had problems with the batteries, most of them needed to replace them.
I use a couple of 20A/h 12,8V lifepo batteries on my halftrack, they use almost the same space (just a bit more) of a couple of 12V 7ah gel battery but my halftrack will run the entire day with it.
A lifepo compatible charger is obviously needed.