Battery requirements for RC Bachman Mogol and other problems

[Anonymous]

I'm a beginner in RC and the Airwire 9000 and a compatible Pheonix sound system still sit in boxes and my Kansas Central Mogol hasn't moved except last year on my track power layout. My two layouts(50's UP and 1870's Kansas Central narrow gauge) are under a forest canopy and are subject to so much debris, flooding and winter frost heaves that I'm fed up maintaining track power. I want to convert all my engines to RC, but I'm a techno idiot and I'm affraid to rip my locomotives apart to do the necessary lobotomy. I need people to tell me its easy.

I need advice on the number of Nimh batteries I need to power my mogul (trailing car) and a few Bachman cars around a relatiely flat track plan with two reversing loops. My other four locos are all small steam and a diesel switcher. No big loads, no operating just watching and photgraphing and gardening.

I wasn't thinking of how to handle the track power on the reversing loops - LGB had some little gizmo I could use so I just went ahead and do what I like doing, building the layout with tunnels, bridges and waterfalls. Now I'm stuck, LGB is in trouble and there are apparently part shortages - all the more reason to go to RC. I met a fellow named Stretch from Oregon who said he would design a system for handling the reverse loops and switches but he's probably not back from the Las Vegas event yet so I haven't heard from him.

I went to a local Batteries Plus and saw NIMH batteries but had no idea how many to buy for my Bachman loco or how to gang them to get a particular voltage. The clerks in the store just looked at me funny so I left embarrassed. Then I have no source for a charger. Somebody tell me what to buy and where.

The Airwire people should have a group clinic to help clutzes like me convert a locomotive. I know people who will do this for me for a few hundred but they all seem to be backed up with work. It's almost July and my nephews are asking, "When are the trains going to run?" Help?

[calenelson]

I know nothing about installing the Airwire....I am a RCS user and self installer....

In my Bachmann Annie 10 Wheeler, I used NiCads purchased from Dave Goodson (TOC) @ NWRCS.  There are 2 7.2v packs in the tender along with all sound and RC Gear.  It is my understanding that most Bmann locos "like" 14.4v DC.  My RCS gear requires 12v to operate.

My BMann 45 tonner ran nice on a 14.4v NiCadDrill Battery in a trail car.  I am installing 14.4v in an LGB Diesel Switcher using 12 "AA" 1.2v NiMh batteries=14.4v.  I have also powered my Bmann Railtruck with the "AA" NiMh batteries(12 again).

I ran across some "Jesse James" NiMh battery packs on clearance at Wal-Mart a year or so ago, and have been opening them up and building my own batteries to fit application...it's not that big of a deal to do... 

I use the same charger for all batteries!  The MAHA Charger was also purchsed from Dave Goodson at NWRCS.

Dave Goodson! NWRCS

 

Give him a call, he is our 1 man "group clinic"!

[Anonymous]

I do suggest RCS and Dave is the man to let you know! Great products and great service!!!!

[sawdust]

Welcome Kansas, I am a retired farmer, not an electrician but I have converted an LGB Mogul and a Bachmann Big Hauler to Airwire and Phoenix Sound.  Very easy, just follow instructions and note your break down.  I think Airwire is the best way ever for outdoor RR. 

The LGB, I used 14 volt pack of NiMh, in the tender.  I put the speaker and sound card (P-5) in the floor, made a floor on top of it for the battery pack.  Had to cut out some of the inside of the tender so the pack would slide in easy.  The fuse block is also inside the tender.  I did not add charging jacks, I have 2 packs for nonstop RR.  I get 3 to 3 and 1/2 hours of good running time with 1 and 1/2 hour charge time.

The Big Hauler I use 12 volt gel cells ($14.00) from local battery place.  Everything is located in the tender except the Airwire card.  From the Loco to tender you need a multi plug you may want to order from Airwire, I made my from parts from electronic store. 

You will love Airwire and Phoenix sound, it makes like real railroading.

Allen

 

[cacole]

All of my engines are equipped with the AirWire 900.  Except for one Heartland Doozie rail bus, mine are Bachmann 1:20 scale steam engines -- a Shay, 2-6-0, and 2-8-0.  My most recent conversion is a homemade beastie that started out as a North East Narrow Gauge Dunkirk kit.

For the Heartland Doozie the AirWire receiver is in the baggage compartment and the battery is in the trailing passenger car.  I don't have a sound system in this one.

The most difficult part of the conversions of Bachmann steam engines was removing the boiler so all the Bachmann circuit boards could be removed.  You don't want to leave any of the wheels with electrical contact with the track because that can cause short circuits, and removing the Bachmann circuit boards eliminates electical contact with the track.

For the 2-8-0 the AirWire receiver/decoder went into the boiler in place of the Bachmann smoke generator, with the antenna sticking up into the smokestack.  A SoundTraxx Sierra sound system is in the tender.  I use 12 Volt Gel-Cell rechargeable batteries from All Electronics in a trailing boxcar or reefer.  The existing wiring between the tender and locomotive was used to get power from the tender to the AirWire receiver.

The 2-6-0 was converted basically the same except for this one I used a SoundTraxx DSX Sound-Only decoder which is normally used for smaller scales.  It still has adequate volume.

The Shay presented the biggest challenge because there was not enough room for the AirWire receiver and DSX decoder in the tender, so the AirWire receiver is in the trailing battery car.  I used an 8-pin DIN connector to get all of the light, sound, and power connections from the battery car to the locomotive's tender.

When I built the Dunkirk, I used the AirWire Split Board kit and managed to get the receiver/decoder and a DSX sound decoder all into its tender area.  For this one, I also use the AirWire external antenna kit mounted on the back of the tender area.

The trailing boxcars and reefers with the rechargeable batteries can be used for any of these engines except the Shay.

When I first began AirWire conversions their receiver/decoder was designed to operate from a 12 Volt battery.  They now have a higher voltage receiver available.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the Walmart lead. How did you assemble your packs? If I buy the batteries then take the tender apart (big step for me) I'll understand how to configure them but I'm not sure of the connections betwen bundles. An 8 pin DIN connector to the engine, I guess. Thanks for the Dave Goodson lead. I'm calling him. His website was too much jargon. Is the MAHA Charger an unusual product or would Bateries Plus have them? They just looked at me funny.

[altterrain]

Also look at http://www.all-battery.com/index.asp for battery packs and chargers. They have a big assortment of packs and some pretty good sales going on. I picked up one of these packs -http://www.all-battery.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1035 and get better than 5 hours of run time with my trailer car battery RC set up (I have yet to run it dry).

I installed tamiya plugs on my packs and took the top of a spent dewalt battery (taking the old battery over to recycling at my local home depot, of course) and rigged it up with a tamiya plug for charging. Works great!

 

 -Brian 

P.S. I sympathsize on the use of all the jargon. I had a bit of a rant about it on another site last year and it spawned a long discussion. 

[Anonymous]

Are thous burn marks?!

[altterrain]

Nope , just some old (there when we moved in) oil stains!

-Brian

[calenelson]

I just pry open the packs, and remove the batteries....decide how many I will need, and solder them together!  you can assemble them to fit your application (Dave also sells batteries-custom and tabbed)...black tape them up to make sure everthing is not touching anything...and there you go....the MAHA was purchased from Dave, as good a price as you'll find.

I'd also encourage you to check out RCS Tony has posted many install how to's that you could use to help guide your Airwire install....

 

cale 

[grandpopswalt]

KC,

I buy my batteries from a surplus outlet. I've purchased about 30 NiMH 3200 MAH batteries for about $1.00 a piece. I solder 12 cells together into a pack and mount them in a modified Big Hauler  tender that I pull around with my Indy. I don't think you could fit all those batteries and the R/C and the sound board with speaker in the small tender that comes with the Indy. You will almost certainly have to add some weight to the loco in order to pull more than 1 or 2 cars. I use Crest's On-board Train Engineer R/C.

So far this system has proven to be very satisfactory. 

Good luck.

Walt 

[Rex in Pinetop]

I'm probably the newest AirWire and Phoenix sound guy as I'm still working on it.  I bit the bullet and bought a Bachmann Consolidation and Phoenix sound from one vendor and AirWire and battery from and another vendor both at the Las Vegas show.  The battery is a 14.4v pack of c cells rated at 4200.  It fit in the tender on top of the rear truck.  There was plenty of room inside the tender which was already designed for the Phoenix sound speaker to fit the Phoenix board as well.  I removed the leads from the tender track pickups.  The loco came apart with some help from cajole.  That was a tense moment as I sure didn't know what to do with all those wires.  For my own peace of mind I tagged each wire before I cut them.  I ended up completely eliminating the Bachmann board so I used the space and mounting bracket for the AirWire board.  When I got it all together per the wiring diagrams it didn't work so that was frustrating.  Trouble shooting discovered a loose jumper on the AirWire board which when reseated made the AirWire decoder listen to the throttle control.  I wired up the Phoenix board wrong too but it made sound although I couldn't command anything.  Some more help from this forum and the Phoenix help line and now that is running.  I'm still working on getting the LED lights working.

So what do you need to make the conversion beside the AirWire and Phoenix?

1.  You need a switch and a charge jack for turning your system on/off and to charge the battery.  I bought a BIKU package for $35 from Electric Model works.

2.  You need a battery.  I bought a 14.4v 4200 pack for $89 from Electric Model works.

3.  You need a battery charger.  Batteries Plus made a 14.4 v charger for me for $24.95.

4.  You need some 18 and 20 guage wire and heat shrink tubbing which I got from Radio Shack.

5.  You need some connectors to get power and signals back and forth from the loco and tender.  I used the two connectors already on the tender and the motor power one.  That took care of 8 wires.  I had a heavy (18 guage) connector from my R/C flight box for the battery connection.  For the rest I used R/C airplane servo extensions.  They are cheap and available at most hobby shops.  Cut them in half and you have excellent 3 wire connectors.

6.  I'm probably going to need some little 1/4 watt resistors for the LED lights if I ever figure out how to get those to work.

7.  Finally you need some of the great contacts here on this forum to help you out when you get stuck as well as the Phoenix help line number and the email address for CVP handy.

Keep us posted on how you're doing.

Rex