Lead Acid Battery in g-scale trains?

[-bbbb]

Someone gave me a couple of these lead acid rechargeable batteries. They seem like they would fit well enough in a G scale train. Has anybody used this kind in a train before? Are there any issues I should be aware of with these? What kind of charger would you recommend for them?



-bbbb

 

[Tony Walsham]

These types of batteries were often used in the early days of battery R/C Trains.
They are heavy. 1.2 Ah is not much given the large size and weight. Available in 6 volt and 12 volt only.
They were first replaced by NiCd and then NiMh and now Li-Ion. The energy density has increased dramatically and the weight decreased just as dramatically.
Most smart chargers can charge them OK.

 

[Slawman]

You can't beat free. My two motor Mallet draws around 0,6 amps (22v) with sound running pulling two meters of carriages so a rough calc. would see one of these powering something similar for an hour or so or stick them together to get two hours.

People used to use these all the time for trains (and probably still so).

A smart charger would be best as there are a few stages to the charging process. Further info here:

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/charging_the_lead_acid_battery

 

[dunnyrail]

I have had a couple of things with these and while they do give power and weight in plenty they have issues. One being that they do not like being completely discharged and they tend to loose power over time so a charging regime is important. Think of them as like a Car Battery and you should not go far wrong. We all know what happens to a Car Battery if it runs down to nowt, they are never quite the same again and will give constant problems thereafter.


I had a friend make up a magic box that was connected between the battery and a Car Battery Charger to recharge mine and this setup worked very well till I neglected charging both of my similar Batteries during a problamatical move. Now just so much dead weight, but one was useful on the workbench for a weight at times till I found something better.

 

[PhilP]

As others have said..
If you can fit them, they will be fine. - They quite often come from alarm engineers, where the backup batteries are changed as a 'routine maintenance' item..
Those from Uninterruptible Power Supplies for computers et al, are quite often beyond use.

You do really need to charge / discharge cycle them for a long life, but if they were free, you may not want the aggro of that..

A smart charger should cope with them.. It will do newer technologies, so not a waste of funds.. Use them if they will fit, and suit your loco's, until they die.. - You should also get a small amount form the 'scrappy' at end of life.

 

[Paul2727]

I tested one of these 1.2 Ah batteries recently. (Bought from Maplins in their closing down sale for a couple of quid. )It ran a playmobil loco block pulling 3 LGB 4 wheeled coaches on a circle of track continuously for over 4 hours without any problems. It sat quite nicely on the block too. Had potential for a battery powered track cleaning loco / device I thought.

 

[Greg Elmassian]

If they are free, then my guess is they were removed as part of a regular maintenance. So, they should be pretty much used up.

Also, smart charger needs to have a "gel cell" setting... just being "smart" does not mean it includes the specific charging parameters for gel cells, which is NOT nicad, or NiMih or LiIon...

My experience is not worth the trouble.

Greg