Changing from G scale DCC to 16mm battery power.

Rhinochugger said:
Mmm, I keep looking at their Baldwin 50hp tractor and that doesn't look bad value - wouldn't have called it pricey :think::think::think:
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I have a pdf models 7/8ths Ruston LAT which is probably my favourite battery loco: waterproof, good adhesion and with a little extra work, smooth bodywork: a skim of filler over the screwheads made a big difference. My go to loco for snow-ploughing!

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I don't think you'll regret it. A chance chat four years ago lead me to radio controlled BCVs and I haven't cleaned a track since. I'm now so confident that I am about to double my track so that I cna run in both directions . Twice the spectacle !!!!
 
Charging battery powered locos seems to be an annoying step. Would it be possible to have battery powered locos charge via the tracks in say a track-powered yard (though nickel plated brass of course :drunk: )
 
dennishodge said:
Charging battery powered locos seems to be an annoying step. Would it be possible to have battery powered locos charge via the tracks in say a track-powered yard (though nickel plated brass of course :drunk: )
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Theoretically, yes..
Practically, there may be problems:
  1. You may have loco's with differing numbers of cells in them.
  2. You may have loco's with differing battery chemistry's in them. - So requiring different charging systems/regimes.
  3. If you use 'intelligent' charger(s), you can only really have one loco per charger, at any one time. - Else how does the charger know what to do for each loco.


You can, 'top-up' your loco's this way, during a session.. I would use a current-limited charger for this.
BUT,
I would ask if this is really necessary?
You can get several hours of running from a single charge.
If you use 'low-discharge' cells, and charge after a running session, your loco(s) should be good to go, straight from the storage shelf / yard.
Cycling the loco's, so each gets used regularly is also a good idea. - Helps get a good life from your batteries.

Note:
Batteries should be considered a 'consumable'.
Over-time, they will deteriorate, and will eventually need to be changed. However, I would guess (unless you are running a few hours every day) that you will get 3-5 years from a set of batteries.
 
dennishodge said:
Charging battery powered locos seems to be an annoying step. Would it be possible to have battery powered locos charge via the tracks in say a track-powered yard (though nickel plated brass of course :drunk: )
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As Phil says, it's not really an issue, although it does need to be a discipline - but it's one that is easily adopted when the alternative is track cleaning :rofl::rofl::rofl:

Running times are sufficiently long that you either can charge the loco at the end of the session or, if you have actually run the battery down before the end of your play time running session, you've obviously been running one loco to extreme and you've got another one ready to use ;););)

So whatever you do, just charge them all up after each running session - batteries stay healthier longer when they're fully charged:cool::cool:
 
I charge each of my locomotives after each running session. I usually use four locomotives per running session. The running time of each fully charged locomotive varies, some will run for two hours, some four hours and a few over six hours.
Prior to a running session I give the locomotives a boost charge.
 
On battery life, I’ve found that NiMH seem to last in the region of 7 years at the rate I use them. That’s probably not up to the theoretical one thousand or so charge cycles that some say to expect, but real world in my environment; climate, depth and frequency of discharge cycle etc. It’s quite obvious when they have died - they won’t hold a charge.

Haven’t had a LiIon get to the end of its life yet (about 4 years is the oldest) although I did get one dud from evilbay which died after a couple of months.
 
A slight downside to running radio control locomotives be it live steam or battery, is the tendency to accumulate radio controllers. I have 43 at the CFR.
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Very true! I’ve only got 10 or so, but that is still a bit of a pain in the neck. I’ve had a couple of occasions when a running session was planned and one or two locos wouldn’t run. Unfortunately in that situation the last thing you, well I anyway, think of is the battery in the TX.....so I now record the age of their batteries on the loco status board!
 
casey jones snr said:
A slight downside to running radio control locomotives be it live steam or battery, is the tendency to accumulate radio controllers. I have 43 at the CFR.
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I was in danger of heading in that direction until I broke one of mine - not physically, but the el cheapo electronics gave up, and I changed to PhilP's (RC Trains) Deltang.

You have to be careful with that, though, as you could end up going the opposite way, where you can only run one train at a time.

S'okay for me with a single line, but even then, with battery power, I can have three trains tail chasing on the same line >:)>:)>:)
 
casey jones snr said:
A slight downside to running radio control locomotives be it live steam or battery, is the tendency to accumulate radio controllers. I have 43 at the CFR.
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Yes, this and the ridiculous plane / car / boat type transmitters that use to be supplied (and some still do) is what put me off battery control in the past.
Now I will be using something like this from day one. Tx22 transmitter And if I have more than 12 locos, I'll have to buy another one! :D
 
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Hello Gardennbahner.
As good as they are, you don't need a TX22 in order to have 12 or more locos.
You can bind as many Rx's to one Deltang based handpiece as you like.
Just switch on which loco you want to use and simply leave the other locos switched OFF until you want to change over to one of them.
If the locos are speed matched you can gang one or more together and control such a consist as though it was just one loco.

Unless of course you want to leave every one of them switched ON and waiting until you just used the Selecta system to access them.
 
Tony Walsham said:
Hello Gardennbahner.
As good as they are, you don't need a TX22 in order to have 12 or more locos.
You can bind as many Rx's to one Deltang based handpiece as you like.
Just switch on which loco you want to use and simply leave the other locos switched OFF until you want to change over to one of them.
If the locos are speed matched you can gang one or more together and control such a consist as though it was just one loco.

Unless of course you want to leave every one of them switched ON and waiting until you just used the Selecta system to access them.
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Hi Tony, My layout has two interconnected loops (inner and outer) so I can run two locos independently at the same time. Plus the station area has a passing loop to hold another train ready to go when one of the others stops there. So the "Selecta" feature will be very important for me.
 
My four battery operated locos are all charged via the track. Each loco has 4 18650 lithium cells with a 4 cell protection circuit and are charged from the track via a bridge rectifier and a buck step down regulator set to 16.4 volts. The slightly lower voltage means that whilst I lose 10% capacity, the charge/discharge cycle life doubles and I don't have to worry about overcharging.

My layout leads directly into my summerhouse so after a session the locos remain on the track to charge from a 20 volt current limited power supply. I normally bring my locos indoors but in case I forget, the power to the summerhouse is automatically switched off at night.

The oldest loco has been running like this for 4½ years.
 
Gardenbahner said:
Yes, this and the ridiculous plane / car / boat type transmitters that use to be supplied (and some still do) is what put me off battery control in the past.
Now I will be using something like this from day one. Tx22 transmitter And if I have more than 12 locos, I'll have to buy another one! :D
Click to expand...
Tony Walsham said:
Hello Gardennbahner.
As good as they are, you don't need a TX22 in order to have 12 or more locos.
You can bind as many Rx's to one Deltang based handpiece as you like.
Just switch on which loco you want to use and simply leave the other locos switched OFF until you want to change over to one of them.
If the locos are speed matched you can gang one or more together and control such a consist as though it was just one loco.

Unless of course you want to leave every one of them switched ON and waiting until you just used the Selecta system to access them.
Click to expand...
I have always hated those RC Car/Boat/Plane transmitters and prefer the smaller types. I am currently wedded predominantly to Spoerer / Fosworks ones but I have 3 Aristo plus one Aristo DCC. For Multiple Locomotives I believe that the Aristo are easier as I find it a pain to Rebind things to run them. Plus it gets messy on Operating Days when around 4 or 5 guys are running Trains. Thus a dedicated FOSWORKS Tx to each Loco works fine for my setup. But like Casey I am collecting a goodly set of Tx, all being on a Card to indicate when bought, what they are and when charged. I did start using a Spreadsheet but sometimes the old ways work better!
 
OK PP3 battery on the shopping list :rofl::rofl::rofl: I used to keep loads of AAs, but I only have two Txs that use AAs now, the rest is all on one Deltang (which doesn't have selecta but I doesn't worry).
 
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