battery question

[loonyboy30]

Can some one explain what the difference is between how many cells you have in a battery pack and what the mah number means. I am looking for additional battery pack to take with me to the park. The battery pack that came with my sabre is a 7cell 650mah. Do I have to stick with the 7 cell batteries or can I use a 6 cell with a higher mah number.

[tdswan]

The number of cells determines the voltage. A 7 cell pack will be considered a 8.4 volt pack a 6 cell will be a 7.2 volt pack, a 4 cell will be 4.8 volt....you ge the picture. The Mah rating is the capacity of the battery. It's actually the capacity of the individual cells. As long as they're hooked up in series, the Mah rating stays the same and the voltage increases. If they're hooked in parallel, the voltage stays the same and the capacity grows...2 1000mah cells then would be 2000mah in paralel and 1.2 volts....2 1000ma cells in series would be 2.4 volts and 1000Mah.

I hope I didn't confuse you more.

As a general rule, more mah= longer flight times as long as the voltage is right.

[pakaak]

Hey tdswan, thanks for the battery info. Would you happen to know any good web sites or periodicals on lithium battery basics as I would like to read up on the subject.

[Motions]

Here's one very good site about batteries.

http://www.rcbatteryclinic.com/

[tdswan]

What Motions said.