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[justboatonic]

When Im looking at different electricery items, such as batteries, esc, distribution boards etc, they give the voltage as say, 6v, 12v but they also say something like 5v nominal or 10v nominal.

What does the 'nominal' mean? Does it mean average voltage or working voltage or something else?

[malcolmfrary]

Usually, in the case of a battery, its the voltage printed on the battery.  A 12 volt SLA, when charged, will give about 14.5 volts, and a badly overcharged one somewhat higher, for a time.  Any circuit designed for use with that type of battery should take this into account.  It should also take into account the fact that during discharge, the battery voltage will drop below 12, so the circuit should neither cook with the higher voltage nor fail to operate with the lower.
Any reference to a non-battery supply at other than a recognizable battery voltage, is shown as "nominal", should also declare its hand by stating what its limits are.  A battery eliminator may show a "nominal" voltage output.  This will be load dependent unless the eliminator is voltage regulated, and unloaded my exceed the printed number considerably - under load it will drop.

[nick_75au]

Nominal, for electric motors, is the voltage used to obtain the other figures such as RPM, no load amps etc, as an electric motor will run on any voltage (within limits ) this information can be used to calculate the figures for different voltages. Batteries are quoted at nominal voltage due to the fact that their voltage will vary depending on state of charge, its close enough to the average volts.
 Electronics will have absolute figures such as max. and min voltage, amps etc.

Nick