Fosworks OMNI Tx-3 / Strikalite AAA 4.8v 0.900Ah Battery Packs - Charging problems.

[Rhinochugger]

I have a switch on my Kamel that often accidentally gets knocked on, now if only the sound was always on but on this DCC equipped loco one always has to turn the sound on. One piece of advice was to have the front or rear lights (depending on direction of travel) come on when turned on. This helps as a reminder to turn the thing off, a well worthwhile doing tip that one day I must get round to on all my battery conversions.

Big Bertha's internal cab light comes on - and it's a bulb (not LED) but I still missed it a few years ago now

 

[newboydave]

Always switch the smart charger off, before connecting / disconnecting battery packs..
Little tip..

The smart charger will Red/Green Red/Green (self-test) then detect a battery pack, and start charging..
They are a 'gentle' charge, so it can take several hours..

Regarding your (very) flat battery pack.
You need to connect either a power supply. MUST be a similar value to the batteries, not too much more, for a few minutes. - No more than five.
Do NOT leave this, and go do something else. At least every minute, check the pack is not more than warm to the touch. - If it gets hot, stop immediately and disconnect everything.
Let it cool, and check it is cooling.. - If in doubt, put it outside, away from anything combustible.

After the five minutes.. Let the pack cool down. Then try the smart charger again. - This charge might appear quite quick, it might take several hours..
When it finishes, turn off the charger, then disconnect the battery. Give it half an hour, and measure the voltage. - Make a note of it.
Leave it overnight, and measure the voltage again. - It will probably be half to one volt lower..
Charge the battery for a second time. - This could take a while.

This should recover the battery pack. It will never be as good as it was, but should still have a useful life.

PhilP.

Hi Philip.
I followed your suggestions reference re-charging the 'flat' battery, and it was a resounding success. After the first charge, it tested at 5.77V, then after a second charge for longer, it rose to 6.08, before dropping back to 5.77v the following morning. Tried in the Loco, and all good. Thanks for the 'Life Saver' and the input from others ( Dunnyrail, PaulM, rhinochugger, Maximodel, broken wing and JimmyB).

 

[a98087]

I can vouch that this method does work,

I’ve done it on various batteries, including car batteries.

With a car battery a had to charge 2 batteries in parallel to get the flat battery up to enough voltage for the charger to charge it.

The only downside with smart chargers is they need to detect a certain voltage,

Obviously as Phil says be very careful when you do it, maybe even do it outside

Dan