Can I use a NiMH battery instead of the 3s lipo my car came with?

[explosifpete]

Hey thanks for taking a look at my question.

ive just got myself a arrma senton 3s brushless.

it can with a 3s battery and I had planned to get a charger and run the lipo but after some research I don’t want the risk of burning down my house.

so will it run on Nimh? I know it will be slower and I assume I need to reprogram the esc 

 

[Zyphruk]

6 minutes ago, explosifpete said:

Hey thanks for taking a look at my question.

ive just got myself a arrma senton 3s brushless.

it can with a 3s battery and I had planned to get a charger and run the lipo but after some research I don’t want the risk of burning down my house.

so will it run on Nimh? I know it will be slower and I assume I need to reprogram the esc 

 

it would be similar to running it on 2s, would be alot slower.  however you see some horror stories about lipos but they are few and far between, ive been using lipos for over 8 years and been using them for racing so high amp charge and discharge and never had an issue. Don't get me wrong if they can be dangerous, but i wouldn't let that put you off, just do plenty of research on how to charge and store them.

[explosifpete]

I only got my first rc car for Christmas so I’m still very new to it so being slower might be a good thing 

[Fred barlow]

NiMH equivalent to a 3s would be a 10 cell pack, they are available but check the size of battery you can fit but you could always make one up using a 6cell and a 4 cell or 2 5 cell packs,

Iv been around RC batteries since the nicad days, iv used lipo batteries with my planes and seen my fair share of lipo fires (for several reasons and had my own), I use NiMH in my cars now because they are safer for my girlfriend to use (untill she gets used to the charger and how to charge safely) and they last longer than a lipo (usage cycles not duration)

Diligence is key when charging, use and storage with lipos. Also I use a temp sensor on all my batteries with the cut off set 10° above ambient (it slows charging but it's safer)

[Oh How Original]

I wouldn't worry about burning your house down, treat LiPos with respect and don't over discharge them or overcharge them and you'll be fine.

If you're really worried, get a LiPo charge sack and/or do it near your front/back door.

Also, not to say LiPos are always 100% safe, BUT with a LiPo you tend to get a slight few seconds warning, either puffing of the battery, a small hissing sometimes or smoke and heat, with a NiMH you don't, a LiPo more often erupts where as a NiMH mostly just goes bang.

Running such an awesome truck on a NiMH pack is like the difference between swimming in water and swimming in treacle.

Note below, this is a 4s 6200 LiPo, the rocks you see near it are what we threw at it to try and make it burn up, it didn't.. It didn't even get hot, it let out a tiny puff of smoke and that was it... This was done on private grounds, miles from anywhere I should point out, the LiPo was already on it's way out so we decided to see what would happen.

 

 

[explosifpete]

Thanks for all your replies. 
I’m going to run the nimh for a while, I might even leave the senton alone till I stop smashing up my maverick strada but look into lipo in the future 

[skidder]

Seems overly cautious to me.  Getr your self one of these:

 

https://hobbyking.com/en_us/bat-safe-lipo-battery-charging-safe-box.html?queryID=6a48527f73aec7a7428726608b86fea6&objectID=61997&indexName=hbk_live_magento_en_us_products

 

(I have one, it's great)

 

and a bag and you are good to go and can't damage your house

 

In the one in a million situation you have a lipo catch fire while using your model, too bad, but your house is fine

[Rc211v]

I had similar worries over Lipo's at first but I've been using them for years now. OP just get yourself a Lipo bag to charge them in (or a safe box like mentioned above) and a cheap ammo tin from Ebay (£10 - £15) to keep them in when not using and that should put your mind at ease. Keep an eye on them when charging and you're sorted. 

 

Once you've charged / storage charged one a couple of times and seen how much better than NIMH they are you won't want to go back.