Batteries?

MagicIRL

I was looking around on some of the Airsoft online shops and noticed alot of different types of batters and different voltages.

What does the voltage do to the AEG?
Can all AEG's use all batteries?

MerryDespot

Hi MagicIRL. The higher the voltage the greater the rate of fire. Also, the higher the mAh the longer the battery will last.

For example:
8.4 v 1200 mAh mini battery will give slightly lower rate of fire and battery life than a 9.6v 1500 mAh mini.

Will all batteries fit all aegs:
Depends on the space - voltage is usually determined by the number of cells (in NiMH batteries). So more voltage means more cells - which means more space needed. You can also get batteries that are nunchuck (i.e. two 'sticks' of cells joined by wires to the connection - this gives you more 'play' to fit the battery around the barrel in a handguard and also allows you to fit it in some stocks which are designed for nunchuck batteries), mini or large single brick (which are usually a double row of cells of differing sizes) or long stick (which are normally used for AK models - single row).
The first thing then is shape/size/space.

The second thing is the make/design of the aeg. Some aegs are a bit on the fragile side and are not designed to be used with higher voltage batteries (i.e. only 8.4 not 9.6 or lipo - more on Lipos later). Generally they'll work with a higher voltage battery, but the life of the aeg may be reduced as the internal parts may not be up to the increase rate of fire. In my opinion (and it's just opinion as I'm certainly no expert) any of the aegs that are in this bracket will probably need some work done on them at some stage anyway, and are usually cheap - so sod it and use the 9.6v.

Lipos.
These are a different type of battery - NiMh are nickel metal hydrate (sic) batteries that look much like 'normal' battery cells. Lipos can come in different shapes, but most come in a smallers size than the cell based NiMh batteries, but with comparible or higher voltage. So - with a Lipo you get higher voltage (and rate of fire) with smaller size - meaning that lipos can be used in the stock tube or where space is limited.
Note: Lipos are a bit more difficult - they require a special charger with a balancer to make sure that they don't over charge. A lipo can be damaged if it is totally discharged or even catch fire if overcharged or seriously physically abused. But generally as I've recently learned, they're fine (thanks again for the link Puding).

See here for a run down on it from the lads at Airsoft Austria TV:

MagicIRL

cheers man!