3000mah vs 5000mah Batteries- Which One is Better?

Getting confused about which battery to pick is confusing. It’s even more confusing when it comes to RC models. 

There are so many options out there at so many prices. So one might wonder-

3000mah vs 5000mah- Which One is Better?

LiPo 5000mah offers more runtime than NiMH 5000mah,3000mah, and LiPo 3000mah battery. 5000mah is also heavier than 3000mah. However, both 3000mah and 5000mah of NiMh provide better low-temperature performance than LiPo.

Well, these were a small portion of a much more vast comparison of 3000mah and 5000mah. We’ve outlined a detailed comparison of them in our article. So what are you waiting for? Let’s dig right in!

Quick Difference

There are 2 types of batteries that are used in the RC world. Yes, they are the LiPo and NiMH batteries. So here we’ll be pinpointing the basic difference between these 2 types of batteries with 3000mah and 5000mah.

Let’s have a look-

Main Aspect	Lipo 3000	LiPo 5000	NiMH 3000	NiMH 5000
Amps	3Ah( 1C)	5Ah(1C)	3Ah(1C)	5Ah(1C)
Nominal Voltage	3.7v	3.7v 7.4	1.2v 9.6	1.2v
Discharge Rate	C/10, C/5, 1C, 3C, 10C, 15C,25C,40C,50C, 75C, 80C	C/10, C/5, 1C, 3C, 10C, 15C,25C,40C,50C, 75C, 80C	3C-15C	3C-15C
Low Temperature Threshold until performance drops	Above 50 degrees Fahrenheit	Above 50 degrees Fahrenheit	-22 Degrees Fahrenheit	-22 Degrees Fahrenheit
Recharge Capability	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Weight(6s)	17.6 ounces	25.61 ounces	12.8 ounces	16 ounces

Which Battery Type are You Buying?

Considering the battery type plays an important role in the performance of your RC model. For example, a Lithium Polymer battery provides the features which NiMh or NiCd does not!

LiPo batteries have a more constant/steady discharge rate than NiMH batteries. LiPo batteries also have no memory effect but NiMH does. It means that you need to fully discharge a NiMH battery before you can recharge it. This is not needed in the case of LiPo batteries.

LiPo batteries are even lighter in weight than NiMH. Plus they have higher energy density. This means the amount of charge stored in a LiPo is higher than an equivalent NiMH battery. NiMH batteries are also seen to be unable to hold charge at times.

LiPo

LiPo battery operates with Lithium-Ion technology. But, it comes without some of the limitations of Li-ion batteries. So it can be an upgrade of the Li-ion battery. 

LiPo battery has a Solid Polymer electrolyte in place of liquid electrolyte. And, it uses plastic as anodes with electrolytes. The solid polymer electrolyte provides higher conductivity.

They come with a slower discharge rate than NiMh batteries. A Lipo battery has a self-discharge rate of 5% per month. Whereas, a NiMH battery has a higher discharge rate of about 30% per month. Plus the energy density of LiPo is much more than a NiMh.

NiMH

On the other hand, NiMH batteries are an upgraded version of NiCd batteries. It replaces the Cadmium of NiCd batteries with a metal hydride that can absorb hydrogen.

NiMH batteries are environmentally friendly. However, they cannot operate with higher discharge rates like 80c. If you wanna choose this battery, go with the highest discharge rate. They have a max discharge rate of 15C. If LiPo batteries can go up to 80C.

So, if you wanna use the most updated technology in batteries, LiPo batteries are the way to go. We have already mentioned their advantages above. But keep in mind that NiMH batteries are cheaper and easier to use than Lipos.

Detailed Analysis: 3000 mah vs 5000 mah

We know that most of the differences we pointed out so far are super confusing to absorb. But don’t worry. We’ll make it easier to comprehend by breaking these comparisons down. It’s important to have proper knowledge about both LiPo batteries. And NiMH batteries too.  

The Comparison 1 out of 3: The Runtime

The run-time will differ based on the user. If there are too many maneuvers, high jumps, and higher altitudes, the run-time will obviously reduce.

But despite these factors, there are some calculations through which the run time can be calculated. And this runtime will depend on the battery capacity(mah) and the discharge rate(C Rate).

So the question arises “What is C Rate?”

C rate indicates how fast a battery will discharge or recharge at a certain mAh.

For example, If you have a 1C 3000mah battery you‘ll get 3000mah in 1 hour.

At 2C, you’ll get (3000*2)=6000mah in ½ hours or 30 minutes.

At C/10 or 0.1 C, you’ll get (3000/10)= 300 A in 10 hours.

So now you know how you can calculate the run time of your LiPo or NiMH battery. However, NiMH batteries are seen to be 10%-15% less effective than LiPo batteries. 

Here we have prepared a table showing the run time at various C ratings (With 10% system loss for NiMH). So that you can understand the calculation better.  

Discharge Rate	LiPo 3000	LiPo 5000	NiMh 3000	NiMh 5000
C/10	300mA-10h	500mA-10h	–	–
C/5	600mA-5h	1000mA-5h	–	–
1C	3000mA-1h	5000mA-1h	–	–
3C	9000mA-33.3 minutes	15,000mA-33.33 minutes	8,100mA-33.33 minutes	13,500mA-33.33 minu
5C	15000mA-12 minutes	25,000mA-12 minutes	13,500mA- 12 minutes	22,500mA- 12 minutes
10C	30,000mA-6 minutes	50,000mA- 6 minutes	27,000mA-6 minutes	45,000mA- 6 minutes
15C	45000mA-4 minutes	75,000mA- 4 minutes	40,500mA- 4 minutes	67,500mA- 4 minutes

The Comparison 2 Out of 3: Discharge Rate

We’ve already talked about how discharge rates work and determine the run times. Now, the discharge rate is something that varies with each model of LiPo or NiMh battery.

LiPo 3000 and 5000 batteries offer a higher discharge rate than the NiMh 3000 and 5000. LiPo comes with high discharge rates like 75C and 80C. Whereas, NiMH offers a discharge rate at a max of 15C. It’s always better to go with higher discharge rates. A higher discharge rate ensures better mileage/hour than lower discharge rates. 

It’s a misconception that a higher discharge rate can blow up your battery. However, there’s no such thing. A discharge rate is simply the amount of power that your motor will extract from the battery.

There are two types of discharge rates- continuous and burst. If the label says 40C, it implies the continuous discharge rate. It means that the motor will receive power 40 times larger at a constant rate. 

Whereas, the burst discharge rate is double of the continuous. And it occurs for only 10-15 seconds of the entire run-time to boost up the model. A 40C label implies it has a burst discharge rate of 80C.

One of the limitations of NiMH 3000mah and 5000mah is that they supply much lower discharge rates than LiPo 3000mah and 5000mah.

We’ve made a table showing the discharge rates of these batteries below-

Battery	Discharge Rate
LiPo 3000	C/10, C/5, 1C, 3C, 10C, 15C,25C,40C,50C,75C,80C
LiPo 5000	C/10, C/5, 1C, 3C, 10C, 15C,25C,40C,50C,75C,80C
NiMH 3000	3C-15C
NiMH 5000	3C-15C

The Comparison 3 out of 3: Cost

Now that you know LiPo 3000mah and 5000mah offer better results than NiMh. It’s important to know about the prices of each of these batteries.

LiPo batteries are more expensive than NiMh batteries. In a typical 4s battery, the nominal voltage is multiplied by 4. So at 4s LiPo 3000mah, you’ll get 3.7*4=14.8v. And in a 4s NiMh 3000mah battery, you’ll get 1.24*4=4.8v

The higher the cell number(s), the higher the v and thus, the higher the price. We’ve mentioned the price comparison of 4s cells below-

Cell Number	LiPo 3000	LiPo 5000	NiMH 3000	NiMH 5000
4s	$40-$45	$45-$55	$19-$25	$25-$35

Our Recommendation

By now we hope that you understood which one you need. To save you the hassle, here are our top picks from each of these categories-

FAQs

Here we’ll answer some of the commonly asked questions about 3000mah and 5000mah

Is higher mAh better for the battery?

A higher mAH implies a longer battery life or larger energy storage. A 5000mah battery can provide 500 amperes for 10 hours. Whereas a 3000mah battery provides only 300 amperes for 10 hours.

What AMP is a 5000mah battery?

A 5000mah battery supplies 5 Amps in 1 hour if the discharge rate is 1 C. At 2C, it will supply

10 Amps in 30 minutes.

Conclusion

We hope we’ve helped you know the difference between 3000mah and 5000mah in the RC world. There were a lot of technical terms. But we tried to explain them as simply as we could. There should be no more confusion regarding which one is suitable for you.

Thank you for staying with us. Let us know if you have any queries.