Replacement Batteries

[Fezwig]

The battery in the Newqida loco is getting a bit tired, ie not holding a charge and only 30-ish minutes run time so I'm thinking of a replacement Nicad, the old is 7.2 volts at 1800mah, would I be ok replacing it with one 7.2 volts 3300mah, assuming it will give me a longer run time?

Thanks Pete

 

[Gizzy]

Yes you are correct Pete.

You should be able to get them from any model shop that does radio controlled cars/boats/aircraft, and they should confirm your thoughts....

 

[Rhinochugger]

Yep, 1800 mAh is pretty lightweight - 3,300 will give a noticeable difference in run time.

As it's difficult to know with some of these 7.2v packs whether they are LSD, it's probably best to charge it on delivery, run it until it is discharged (as in the loco stops) then re-charge it.

Always charge it after use, no matter how short the run time.

From experience, that is how you will get the best out of NiCad / NiMh cells

 

[Fezwig]

Thanks chaps, will get 2 and a new charger too.

 

[PhilP]

The originally supplied battery will be NiCad, and of limited capacity..

Swap it for a similar NiMH pack. - This will not suffer from 'memory' and be of a higher capacity.

I would suggest using a better charger, than that supplied with the loco, though.

PhilP

 

[Fezwig]

cheers PhilP

 

[Rhinochugger]

Thanks chaps, will get 2 and a new charger too.

Something like this

Battery Chargers - ALL | Strikalite

 

[dunnyrail]

I have been using similar Smart Chargers for some time now and the batteries appear to be fine with them up to now. Some of my batteries have been around over 9 years now. Mine have been fitted up with a plug that goes into a socket in the loco courtesy of Peter Spoerer (retired now and replaced by ===>) and newer ones from Fosworks.

 

[Mike Whitcomb]

You would be better off using NiMH batteries, they have no charge memory and don't require them to be fully discharged before re charging them. I have been using NiMH's with my trains and Airsoft for the past 15 years.

 

[Greg Elmassian]

Actually they seem to have less of a "memory effect', they are surely not perfect. Also you NEVER needed to fully discharge any battery before recharging, you just needed a better charger. Lots of old theories that have been debunked over the years.

I have nicads older than most college students working well, and I have systems that blew them up in 6 months. Same for nimih. Smart charger technology really improved with lithiums, since instead of a bad charger just ruining the batteries, it caused a fire!

Greg