Battery Operation

[Anonymous]

This is for Fredboyer. You asked about an R/C unit between batteries and motors. This works, is cheap, and is available at most comprehensive hobby shops dealing in R/C cars. That's CARS, not trains, sometimes we must tred in unfamiliar territory.

Assuming you have a battery pack of 12V or less, and a motor draw of only a couple of amps, such as a Bachman Climax, The Novack "SPY" electronic speed control or ESC as they are known will work well for you. They are rated as a seven cell unit, meaning top factory recommended voltage is 8.4 volts, but I have found that since the unit is rated tor 12 amps, the reduced current and increased voltage does not make for any heating problems. I regularly run mine on 12vdc, no problems ever. These units are really designed based on the power the motor consumes, and power = volts x amps. Don't take this voltage for current swap to the limit, but it does work up to a point. If you have room for a larger unit, Novack makes a unit called the "Rooster" which can handle an obscene amount of current, far more than locomotives ever would need. Either control provides the 4.8v needed for the radio receiver, so no extra batteries or wiring are needed. In selecting model car ESC units for locomotives, always get ones that reverse. Some top end racing controls have no reverse.

Couple either of these ESC units to a Futaba "Attack SR" two channel AM R/C unit, and you have a low cost winner under $100 + batteries. The only drawback between this and units made specifically for locomotives is that the transmitter must be on and sending signal all the time the locomotive is running. With interference the locomotive's operation may become jumpy.

[Anonymous]

This is for Fredboyer. You asked about an R/C unit between batteries and motors. This works, is cheap, and is available at most comprehensive hobby shops dealing in R/C cars. That's CARS, not trains, sometimes we must tred in unfamiliar territory.

Assuming you have a battery pack of 12V or less, and a motor draw of only a couple of amps, such as a Bachman Climax, The Novack "SPY" electronic speed control or ESC as they are known will work well for you. They are rated as a seven cell unit, meaning top factory recommended voltage is 8.4 volts, but I have found that since the unit is rated tor 12 amps, the reduced current and increased voltage does not make for any heating problems. I regularly run mine on 12vdc, no problems ever. These units are really designed based on the power the motor consumes, and power = volts x amps. Don't take this voltage for current swap to the limit, but it does work up to a point. If you have room for a larger unit, Novack makes a unit called the "Rooster" which can handle an obscene amount of current, far more than locomotives ever would need. Either control provides the 4.8v needed for the radio receiver, so no extra batteries or wiring are needed. In selecting model car ESC units for locomotives, always get ones that reverse. Some top end racing controls have no reverse.

Couple either of these ESC units to a Futaba "Attack SR" two channel AM R/C unit, and you have a low cost winner under $100 + batteries. The only drawback between this and units made specifically for locomotives is that the transmitter must be on and sending signal all the time the locomotive is running. With interference the locomotive's operation may become jumpy.

[grandpopswalt]

My locos are based on Bachmann's Big Hauler parts and running gear. Everything else is scratchbuilt. I use 24VDC servo gear-motors running on 22 onboard batteries, 6 in the tender with the radio and throttle (75MHZ) and the rest in the engine. I've also built an 0-4-0 tank engine (no tender) which uses a 12VDC motor with all 12 batteries crammed in with the radio and throttle. I use 24VAC constant voltage track power which is rectified on-board and keeps the 3000mah NiMh batteries charged.

The batteries are currently available from American Scientific Surplus for $1.75 each. So far I havn't had any problems with any of the batteries I've ordered. These batteries are slightly larger than a standard "AA" cell.

I'm currently completing work on my first engine, an 0-4-0 dockside switcher. All of the mechanics and electronics have been bench-tested during the design/buiding stage but the engine has not had any real-world layout exposure. If anyone has had any experience with constant voltage AC track power (or DC) with on-board batteries I'd like to exchange info with you.

Thanks

Walt Sarapa
Deep River, CT.

[grandpopswalt]

My locos are based on Bachmann's Big Hauler parts and running gear. Everything else is scratchbuilt. I use 24VDC servo gear-motors running on 22 onboard batteries, 6 in the tender with the radio and throttle (75MHZ) and the rest in the engine. I've also built an 0-4-0 tank engine (no tender) which uses a 12VDC motor with all 12 batteries crammed in with the radio and throttle. I use 24VAC constant voltage track power which is rectified on-board and keeps the 3000mah NiMh batteries charged.

The batteries are currently available from American Scientific Surplus for $1.75 each. So far I havn't had any problems with any of the batteries I've ordered. These batteries are slightly larger than a standard "AA" cell.

I'm currently completing work on my first engine, an 0-4-0 dockside switcher. All of the mechanics and electronics have been bench-tested during the design/buiding stage but the engine has not had any real-world layout exposure. If anyone has had any experience with constant voltage AC track power (or DC) with on-board batteries I'd like to exchange info with you.

Thanks

Walt Sarapa
Deep River, CT.