Batteries

[Charlie Sieb]

Hello - I am new to this forum. Have large outdoor railroad under construction. Pre-1900 prototypes. Delton C-16's, Accucraft 4-4-0, LGB 2-6-0, etc. Want to use battery power/RC. Lots of interesting info on this forum. But I do not see any mention of who manufactures long-life, rechargeable battery packs. I am not an electrical engineer so can't build my own battery packs like some of the RC airplane guys do. - Charlie Sieb.

[kstrong]

Quite frankly, perhaps the easiest thing to do is head over to Wal-Mart or such and buy the Energizer NiMH rechargeable batteries. I put them in Radio Shack 4-cell holders and connect three such holders in series to give me 12 cells (14.4 volts) total. They're rated at 2.5 amp-hours, which will give you between 2 and 3 hours run time on a charge, assuming average usage with average trains.

I make my coal loads removable so I can get to the packs and switch out the cells once they die. I always keep some on the charger when I'm running, so I can run continuously. The other advantage is that you can switch to regular alkaline batteries in a pinch (such as during an open house when you discover that none of your rechargeable cells actually held a charge overnight.) I've been running with this set-up for 5 years, and it works very well.

If you're looking for complete packs that you can hardwire into your tender and charge externally, I'd check out http://www.batteryspace.com or http://www.all-battery.com. They've got NiCd and NiMH packs in a variety of shapes and sizes.

One other option is to use Lithium Ion (LiIon) battery packs. They're about half the size as the NiMH batteries for the same amp-hour rating. They're also available from the above linked sources. Lithium battery technology is just coming into its own, and has not really made large in-roads into the model train world yet. Aristo-Craft sells LiIon packs and chargers also. Lithium battery technology is kind of the high-octane battery technology. Because you're packing a lot more energy into a small space, the potential for for risk if the pack fails increases. (See myriad YouTube videos of flaming laptops.) By the same token, most modern rechargeable equipment today uses LiIon technology, so the technology is a lot more stable than the YouTube videos would have you believe. I'm just to use the batteries myself, but I've talked to guys who have been using them for a four, five years for their trains with great success.

The truth is, the same precautions need to be taken for all rechargeable batteries. Don't let the cells get too hot during a charge, use the right charger for the type of battery, don't overcharge, over-discharge, etc., and so forth. Some folks recommend removing the Lithium batteries and charging them in an area where they won't cause any harm in the event they do melt down. If you're using an appropriate charger, I'm not convinced that's a necessity, but on the other hand, having removable packs allows you to swap out the batteries and keep running, so you may as well. Cheap insurance.

Later,

K