Converting LGB to R/C

[matthew]

One other thing I would recommend is to investigate the Li po batteries as tested by Peter (whatlep) and available from ebay. I've just bought another 2. I put one in my LGB Corpet about 4 months ago (together with Barker RC) and it has run for many hours, but still doesn't need charging.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290656714...NX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649#ht_3325wt_952

Those batterys look to be the best solution, but 12V doesnt seem to be much power when compared to what we normlly run on via trackpower (around 15-18v).
How would i go about a two motored loco, as it looks like the V52 will be the first candidate?

Many thanks for everyones help by the way, were getting there

 

[Tony Walsham]

Hello Matthew.
Most R/C ESC's that can be used for Large Scale model trains use just the elevator stick for speed and direction control. Given that the speed is controlled by 45 degree movement of the stick either side of neutral the resulting speed control is somewhat coarse.
My RCS brand ESC's use the full 90 degree movement of the throttle stick for speed control. This is double the stick movement which gives far smoother control.
The elevator stick is used to set the direction and control variable momentum when starting and stopping.
Before deciding which brand of ESC to use you might consider whether or not you want built in directional constant brightness lighting, four sound triggers and loco speed matching.
I make three different ESC's. A 3 amp for small locos and 6 amp for heavy duty locos. I also make a 3 amp Plug'n'Play ESC for Large Scale locos that have the standard PnP socket such as those made by Bachmann and AristoCraft.

Sure, RCS ESC's are not cheap, but neither is their performance and reliability.

 

[beavercreek]

The Aristocrat Revolution system is very comprehensive especially if.you have a few locos to RC. The handset and control of many functions looks very much akin to DCC even though it battery powered......there is even a base station to act as control for track.power if
you needed it.

 

[Madman]

Mathew, I have had very good performance and service from Del Tapparo at
G-Scale Graphics
http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/DelTapparo/
I have two types of the units he sells. The R/C units and the Simple Critter Controls. I converted to battery power a little over a year ago, and have not regretted it one bit.

Ian Thompson showed me his Cliff Barker set up last year when I visited him. It too is very impressive. I particularly like the small transmitter, as it fits nicely in your hand.

I house the controls in trailing cars, so that any loco can be utilized. As you may imagine, this has it's good points and not so good points, depending on your type of operation. The only down side I see is that while performing switching or shunting operations, the trailing car is always there.

What it has done for me is to allow me to convert my railway into an operational one, rather than just watching trains traverse the railway continuosly. I experimanted with the LGB R/C and Aristocraft systems a few years ago, while still operating track power, with mixed results. Battery power has freed me up in so many ways. Track cleaning is non existent and wiring is cut to a minimum. Both have released me to enjoy the railway more.

 

[dunnyrail]

I concur with beavercreak, having converted 3 items of motive power to battery the Aristo for me so far is the only option. Yes it is not cheap but you will get that silky smooth running even of dirty track as if your loco was new out of the box on brand new squeeky clean track. That for me is the experience that I wanted to recreate on dirty track. The Aristo system wins on all counts on this. I have however a had few issues with sound, having two different sound systems installed. It has been a voyage of discovery.

My first loco was the Austrian LGB Rod Diesel, this has a Brian Jones Sound Card in and to get the Horn working I had to put in a relay. Brian himself was very helpful in getting this up and running giving advice over two or 3 phone calls. Now that it all works I am very pleased.

My Railcar has a has a 'my loco steam' sound card in it, whilst the quality of sound is not up to the digital sampled sound of the Jones card it is adequate and I had few problems fitting it.

My current project an RHB lookalike Box Motor has a Phoenix Sound Card in it. I have a few issues at the moment getting the Horn working, but as I have been working on this between getting ready to move it probably means that I just need more RTFM time.

Thus far I am very happy with the Battery experience. But another option to look at would be the offerings from 'Timpdon Electronics' . His system uses a Hand Held somewhat like an LGB or Massoth unit in size ( I do not like the Model Airplane or Car type Hand Units) and will also work with RC live Steam which is why I will be investigating this is the near future.

JonD

 

[CoggesRailway]

Dont't worry about lower voltages than available on a transformer unless you enjoy running everything at unrealistically high speeds. I build 14.4v packs and that runs most LGB stuff too fast. Worry about the mah value that give run time. On my two motor locos I build a diode protected pack that discharches in paralell and charges entirely seperately. This means you can pull a very long train in a ballasted loco for hours on end.

 

[nicebutdim]

Reasonable priced speed controller for Loco.
http://www.mtroniks.net/details1.asp/ProductID/193/sid

From a little personal experience I would steer clear of these. They were originally designed for rc cars with forward only function. The reverse was an afterthought add-on and failure rate is (or was) quite high. I converted mine to run forwards all the time and then wired a relay operated from the steering channel to control direction.

 

[Midwalesstokie]

Matt, I've used the Electronize speed controllers in four separate locos, ive also used an mtroniks loco and my dad has a Brian jones mac 5. There doesn't appear to be any difference in performance terms, I only use them for going forwards and backwards at different speeds, no lights etc and they all perform the job equally well. The only downside to the Electronize esc is that they are quite big. Not a problem if you use a trail car or are converting larger locos though.

 

[mmts]

Matt, I've used the Electronize speed controllers in four separate locos, ive also used an mtroniks loco and my dad has a Brian jones mac 5. There doesn't appear to be any difference in performance terms, I only use them for going forwards and backwards at different speeds, no lights etc and they all perform the job equally well. The only downside to the Electronize esc is that they are quite big. Not a problem if you use a trail car or are converting larger locos though.

Yup ive used an Electronize unit in my V51/52..... controller in the little end and batteries in the longer end

 

[matthew]

Matt, I've used the Electronize speed controllers in four separate locos, ive also used an mtroniks loco and my dad has a Brian jones mac 5. There doesn't appear to be any difference in performance terms, I only use them for going forwards and backwards at different speeds, no lights etc and they all perform the job equally well. The only downside to the Electronize esc is that they are quite big. Not a problem if you use a trail car or are converting larger locos though.

Yup ive used an Electronize unit in my V51/52..... controller in the little end and batteries in the longer end

Well thats what i intend to do with the V51

What battery did you use Ed? Also, does the Electronize unit allow the lighting to be used as normal?

 

[matthew]

And i think this may be the last question what is the job of the 'cut out' on the diagram i posted, is it nescessary? and can anybody link me to the ones they use, as well as the charging socket

The other small parts i can source cheaply from ebay, aswell as the batteries (would Mels 12v one be suitable for 2 motored loco's, or am i better wiring two 7.2V ones togeter together)

 

[MRail]

...what is the job of the 'cut out' on the diagram i posted, is it nescessary?

This is a safety device instead of a fuse. Protects the wiring from melting in the case of a dead short.
It's a good idea to have one. Mine were supplied by Brian Jones.

 

[mmts]

Matt, I've used the Electronize speed controllers in four separate locos, ive also used an mtroniks loco and my dad has a Brian jones mac 5. There doesn't appear to be any difference in performance terms, I only use them for going forwards and backwards at different speeds, no lights etc and they all perform the job equally well. The only downside to the Electronize esc is that they are quite big. Not a problem if you use a trail car or are converting larger locos though.

Yup ive used an Electronize unit in my V51/52..... controller in the little end and batteries in the longer end

Well thats what i intend to do with the V51

What battery did you use Ed? Also, does the Electronize unit allow the lighting to be used as normal?

Sorry only just seen it...
Ive used two of the stick type's usually found in r/c cars from e-bay china
It was a squeeze to get it all in with a fuse and charging socket
And the light work as intended but not sure if I wired them to the electonize or to the motors?

 

[Rhinochugger]

And i think this may be the last question what is the job of the 'cut out' on the diagram i posted, is it nescessary? and can anybody link me to the ones they use, as well as the charging socket

The other small parts i can source cheaply from ebay, aswell as the batteries (would Mels 12v one be suitable for 2 motored loco's, or am i better wiring two 7.2V ones togeter together)

The cut out or fuse is the most important part of the equation. Modern battery outputs are comparatively high, and a short circuit can have potentially serious results - don't ask me how I know but there was lots of smoke, battery pack glowing red hot and burnt fingers where I tried to rip out the burning wiring.

I'm not sure if anybody has tried wiring Li-pos in series. You'll need to check with the experts. Ni-Cads and Ni-Mhs are OK in series. In parrallely you have to do something fairly sophisticated as Ian (Cogges Railway) has done.

 

[KleineDicke]

Two words for you - Hobby King (as in http://www.hobbyking.com). < Link To www.hobbyking.com ). Great source for inexpensive R/C Hardware. Also, see this thread: http://www.gscalecentral.net/m15306

 

[matthew]

Two words for you - Hobby King (as in http://www.hobbyking.com). < Link To www.hobbyking.com ). Great source for inexpensive R/C Hardware. Also, see this thread: http://www.gscalecentral.net/m15306

Thanks for this! Hadn't seen the Sandstones RC section and it's so detailed, fantastic find!!

 

[matthew]

It's just the cutout component im after now. Not sure what kind it is?

Is it a thermal cutout such as these? http://www.maplin.co.uk/thermal-fus....maplin.co.uk/auto-reset-circuit-breakers-493 < Link To http://www.maplin.co.uk/a...t-circuit-breakers-493

 

[gregh]

Thanks for this! Hadn't seen the Sandstones RC section and it's so detailed, fantastic find!!

Thanks Mathew, I've been meaning to reply to your thread, but hadn't got around to it. If you're able to solder up a DPDT reversing switch and can do the little bit of work to make a servo operate it as I describe, then the FAR cheapest way to go is the stock standard 2.4 GHz equipment 'model plane' from Hobbyking. And get your batteries from them too. They have a warehouse in Germany for you in the UK. Some people don't like the big transmitters, so they can go spend lots of money if they want.

It's just the cutout component im after now. Not sure what kind it is?
Is it a thermal cutout such as these? http://www.maplin.co.uk/thermal-fuses-470
or something like this? http://www.maplin.co.uk/auto-reset-circuit-breakers-493 < Link To http://www.maplin.co.uk/a...t-circuit-breakers-493

You need a Polyswitch - Maplins don't have on their webpage, but here's an ebay seller...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5-x-PolyS...444?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27b7ed4f74 < Link To http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm...mp;hash=item27b7ed4f74

I can only reiterate what a few others have said
- battery power makes the whole GR thing much more enjoyable if you want to actually drive your train and not just have it go round and round.
- you don't need as much voltage with batteries as you would think from looking at the voltages of transformers/power packs etc. I have never needed more than 10 NiMH cells (approx 12V) or 3S LiPo (11V).

 

[MRail]

It's just the cutout component im after now. Not sure what kind it is?

This is the one supplied by Biran Jones - other ratings are available.
Works fine in a Lehmann Porter on 12-14V with battery tender.:-

 

[matthew]

Thanks Mathew, I've been meaning to reply to your thread, but hadn't got around to it. If you're able to solder up a DPDT reversing switch and can do the little bit of work to make a servo operate it as I describe, then the FAR cheapest way to go is the stock standard 2.4 GHz equipment 'model plane' from Hobbyking. And get your batteries from them too. They have a warehouse in Germany for you in the UK. Some people don't like the big transmitters, so they can go spend lots of money if they want.

Yes your page was very helpful Gregh in just confirming a couple of the things i was wondering about. One thing i wondered was, your page didnt show that you wired an on/off switch and the cutout in, but i presume you still did both of those?

I was also looking at going with the system you showed, but using this 12v Lipo battery that Mel suggested, http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290656714473?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 < Link To http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm...ksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
Would that be fine?