Starting the RC conversion conversation...

[ge_rik]

Try searching for Polyswitch, Henri
I get them on eBay

Rik

 

[David Price]

I thought I saw somewhere that you had some Fosworks or perhaps it was someone else. Look at some of the Handsets, the ones with the selecta button in the left can control up to 10 different locomotives.

OMNI RADIO Handsets and Receivers

Garden Railway Radio Control and Sound Radio DCC for Gauge 0 to Gauge 3 Analogue DC and live steam systems too

fosworks.co.uk

I'm possibly the person who had posted about Fosworks - but I'm running the Fosworks system for live steam on both a Roundhouse Porter and a 7/8" Accucraft Decauville.

I don't have any experience with Fosworks for battery power as I was already using CVP Airwire with Loksound 5XL decoders - it means I don't have to "bind" to change locos - just choose the DCC address as you would with an NCE ProCab or the like. Batteries are custom built LiIon (which has been the biggest saga of the conversions) designed to fit the space:

This was the dummy pack for a Bachmann Mallet supplied to my battery builder (pack was built with balsa tubes to the known dimensions of the available cells):




Even with this and an Excel spreadsheet it still took another 6 or 7 emails and multiple phone calls to get it built!

Having said that it will run all day without running out of charge whilst pulling a decent load.



Railway is a colleague's - Copperhead Garden Railway at Venus Bay, Victoria, Australia. (And despite his skepticism my Roundhouse Davenport coped with this load as well!)

 

[tim stevens]

Please bear with me while I post my first baby steps into RC / battery conversion of my loco's. A few years ago when my world was all different, I purchased a Micron Tx22v2 and two Micron MR603b receivers. These were put into storage but now has become the time to get that first loco and get the thing converted.
I've done a lot of homework and both sites form ge_rik and @JimmyB are very helpful to me.

Normally I have two approaches in tackling new challenges: 1) prepare it to the max 2) just slab it in and see if it will work. I'm definitely into option 1 this time.

I found on JimmyB's Stanz conversion an interesting section about making the conversion modular. Therefore he uses these nifty tiny plugs and sockets. JST-XH they seem to be called and he solders them on a pcb board. I think I might get me some of these too so when something doesn't work or breaks, I can easily replace it.

Furthermore I'm investigating on a battery charger, the SKY RC B6DC V2 (although the AC version with build in power supply is also tempting).
Also looking into suitable batteries as space is limited in my RTM Backer & Rueb steam tram.

Keeping you posted and hopefully some clever minds will warn if I make wrong decisions.

Hi Henri
I'm new to this site but have done a large number of battery conversions to my Bachmann and LGB locos using fosworks products. In particular I have used their DCC receiver transmitter combinations together with fused battery packs and charging sockets and switches. I have been very pleased with their products overall although running DCC off battery with my garden railway which has some pretty severe gradients means I don't get more than a couple of hrs especially from the LGB locos. The bachmann locos have tsunami dcc sound decoders in them which are great fun to use. My K27 has everything in the tender ( see photo) while the climax and Shay have everything in trailing cars/ coaches. The transmitters for the system can control up to 3 locos independently. If you are interested in investigating this route and need any advice let me know. Tim

 

[David Price]

Unfortunately Fosworks are unable to build battery packs using Lithium batteries - and even if they were they would be unable to post overseas via airmail.

I've got an order coming from Fosworks at the moment for another live steam conversion to radio control (for a Bowande Falk No.1) but have a four x AAA LiIon pack coming from a local supplier for the 7/8" Decauville.

Why?

Because available AAA Lithium batteries are 1.5V (or 3.8V if you choose the wrong cells!) and hold their voltage much longer than other options - I've just replaced 2 x 100Amp Hour Calcium long life/heavy discharge batteries (31Kg each) in our off-road camper with Lithium batteries (11.5Kg each) and the fridge is now very happy all day and night as the voltage doesn't drop...............

I'm assuming Tim's pack is 16 x 1.25 NiMH batteries - either giving 20V if all in series or 10V if 2 x packs of 8? I have a custom 14.2V LiIon pack that fits in a smaller space than that shown in Tim's image in my 3-truck Shay which ran the locomotive on a rolling road at an exhibition for two days without recharging:



And CVP's Tenergy Auto Select charger handles 3.7 to 14.8V automatically (no affiliation with CVP - just a satisfied user to date).

 

[tim stevens]

Unfortunately Fosworks are unable to build battery packs using Lithium batteries - and even if they were they would be unable to post overseas via airmail.

I've got an order coming from Fosworks at the moment for another live steam conversion to radio control (for a Bowande Falk No.1) but have a four x AAA LiIon pack coming from a local supplier for the 7/8" Decauville.

Why?

Because available AAA Lithium batteries are 1.5V (or 3.8V if you choose the wrong cells!) and hold their voltage much longer than other options - I've just replaced 2 x 100Amp Hour Calcium long life/heavy discharge batteries (31Kg each) in our off-road camper with Lithium batteries (11.5Kg each) and the fridge is now very happy all day and night as the voltage doesn't drop...............

I'm assuming Tim's pack is 16 x 1.25 NiMH batteries - either giving 20V if all in series or 10V if 2 x packs of 8? I have a custom 14.2V LiIon pack that fits in a smaller space than that shown in Tim's image in my 3-truck Shay which ran the locomotive on a rolling road at an exhibition for two days without recharging:

View attachment 343114

And CVP's Te/Energy Auto Select charger handles 3.7 to 14.8V automatically (no affiliation with CVP - just a satisfied user to date).

Yes that's right the batteries are wired in series. I was once informed that a 12 v supply will not really be sufficient if running a DCC locomotive and I have found that to be the case. I should say that fosworks also supply an Electronic speed controller board which I use for my non DCC battery powered brass gauge 1 engines and these control the locos very well with under 10v. These ESCs have receiver inputs and motor and accessory outputs so you can control a sound card this way too. I haven't been down the lithium ion road yet but it is very appealing to be able to put everything into my Shay and climax.

 

[tim stevens]

Yes that's right the batteries are wired in series. I was once informed that a 12 v supply will not really be sufficient if running a DCC locomotive and I have found that to be the case. I should say that fosworks also supply an Electronic speed controller board which I use for my non DCC battery powered brass gauge 1 engines and these control the locos very well with under 10v. These ESCs have receiver inputs and motor and accessory outputs so you can control a sound card this way too. I haven't been down the lithium ion road yet but it is very appealing to be able to put everything into my Shay and climax.

This is the trailer caboose I use to hold battery and fosworks receiver for the Shay and climax. The DCC sound decoders are located in the locos. I'm guessing the lithium ion batteries would occupy a fraction of the space. I have wondered though about charging lithium ion batteries and using balanced charging leads. Are these permanently attached the the batteries and therefore occupy a fair bit of space in the locomotive?

 

[David Price]

Hi Tim,

NB: no image of your trailer caboose with your last post?

the LiIon battery packs and their (BMS) Battery Management Systems are buried inside the water tank of the three-truck Shay and split across the two halves of the Mallet's saddle tank.

So far charging has not been an issue using the charger sold by CVP - I've also used the same charger on a NiMH 5V pack (4 x AAA 1.25V) supplied with my second FosWorks order which will be replaced with a LiIon 6V pack that is currently coming from my supplier.

Charger is found here: CVP Products AirWire900 Batteries and Chargers - model I have is a Tenergy F3.7-14.8-010-D

I'll be ordering a second one shortly along with another hand throttle and a couple of receivers as I have some more battery powered conversions to do (Bachmann Consolidation, Climax & Heisler).

AAA LiIon batteries are also available in 3.8V so one needs to check on the output of a pack before using it if the cells are not clearly labelled!

I'm trying to avoid having to have a trailer vehicle as a requirement - I have an early Aster Shay with the zinc cylinders which is going to require some more work to get it to run (at least two previous owners were unsuccessful) and once the steaming issues are resolved I'm considering using the water tank for radio control gear and a Goodall valve in the line to the clack valve/boiler feed instead of the hand pump.

 

[Henri]

That is US only

 

[David Price]

That is US only

Hi Henry,

what do you mean by "that is US only"?

I'm in Australia (I thought the flag might give it away) and the battery charger I've mentioned can be purchased via Amazon.........

 

[Henri]

Ow I checked the 'dealer' pages and saw US only there ;-)
I'm not keen on Amazon nor Ebay, would like to purchase it in de EU if possible.

 

[David Price]

Hi Henri,

I purchased the charger direct from CVP in the US and it was promptly posted along with a throttle and several receivers.

You may not be keen on Amazon or eBay but I purchase quite a lot of items from both - making sure the sellers have reputable ratings. Amazon is very good for finding LiIon batteries and suitable chargers - do a search for AAA Lithium rechargeable batteries to see what I mean - not sure about shipping to Europe however (I use Amazon's Australian site and batteries are shipped from local suppliers).

I've just had the four cell pack arrive this morning to go into the side tank of my 7/8" Decauville live steamer for the radio control and servos and I run a four pack in the Roundhouse Davenport for the same reason.

 

[Rhinochugger]

Ow I checked the 'dealer' pages and saw US only there ;-)
I'm not keen on Amazon nor Ebay, would like to purchase it in de EU if possible.

Amazon and eBay are worlds apart.

Amazon is pretty good, and remarkably responsive to problems.

eBay sometimes needs a bit more care, so I tend to use it for things where I know what I'm buying, or for bits and pieces where there can't be any debate about what the specification is.

 

[Henri]

Gents thanks, I know. I just have personal problems with any kind of big tech and Amazon is on my blacklist. I prefer not to elaborate on this
Ebay is not commonly used in the Netherlands therefore I don't (want to) use it.
According to my 23 yr old son I'm a boomer although I don't match the age criteria

I have enough online options to source my parts, although I sometimes need to search a bit harder to get the required goods.

 

[Henri]

Got the fuses, 30V 1,6A from a Dutch supplier.

The first order is placed at Conrad, with two LiPo battery packs (11,1V 1300 mAh) and the charger SKYRC B6DC V2.

Trying to figure out the dimensions of the battery packs: