Could I battery power a Walthers walking beam pump that I motorized, could I battery power future things?
If not what would be a better option.
of course you can use battery power, but a more viable alternative would be a wall wart .... [ small direct plug in transformer]
batteries can be messy after awhile ..
Welcome to the Forums!
I noticed that you posted this same question twice. I think the issue is that your first posts will not appear immediately until you have posted several times. After moderation of several posts, your posts will appear immediately after you post them.
I hope you continue to post questions here. There are quite a few modelers who can answer just about any question.
We are always interested in others' layouts and questions.
York1 John
I asked my doctor if I gave up delicious food and all alcohol, would I live longer? He said, "No, but it will seem longer."
Here is a Logan Holtgrewe scratch built power supply
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
wvgca of course you can use battery power, but a more viable alternative would be a wall wart .... [ small direct plug in transformer]
Rich
Alton Junction
Quick answer - Yes!
Presuming you have all your voltages and amperages worked out. While "power adapters", "wall warts", etc.... what ever you call them - they are ok and will work. But wont do you any good if your accessory is mobile OR, you have more accessories than you have wall plugs! And you have to plug/unplug after each use if no on/off switch is provided - same as battery.
Check your main transformer. More times than not they have "accessory" terminals just for this purpose. A spare transformer could be used to power just accessories if you have an extra. ( just make sure it isnt a 'pwm' type output - lights dont like that!)
Your second option is better than batterys. No one - i mean NO ONE makes a battery that works as intended or doesnt leak. So using batteries, you will need to check your accessories quite often to make sure they havent become leaking acid pots.
For those who really want to get your hands on some repurposing - grab that old PC your about to toss into the dump. Yank out the power supply, and use it for accessories. (Tower PC's, not a laptop!)
(Just in case your wondering, you could use your car battery if your really hurting to run trains and no power. Is also a great use for your trolling motor when its not fishing season and your inside.)
Lastly - be safe around voltage!
PMR
I have a few of those 'pumpjack' walking beam oil pumps. While the motors are rated — and I believe Walthers might even suggest — using 12 volts DC on them, they are very noisy and run too fast (IMHO) at that voltage.
Previous suggestions for a 'wall wart' kind of power supply are good but try to find one in the 6-9 VDC range or use a DC to DC adjustable regulator like this if your supply voltage is 12 V or higher:
https://a.co/d/3HyhrYP
Good Luck, Ed
Any device which is DC powered can be powered by batteries by just matching the voltage of the batteries with the voltage required by the device. A single cell battery is 1.5 volts. 9 volts is simply six 1.5 volt batteries hooked together in series.
The real question is why would you want to. Batteries are expensive and have to be changed frequently. Rechargable batteries are an option but they don't hold a charge as long as standard batteries.
It also depends on what you're powering and why. I have a grade crossing that's made of two Walthers flashers driven by an Arduino on one of my modules. I have it battery powered. I decided to go with battery power because I don't have to worry about tying it into the power bus for the layout and didn't have to worry about being near an outlet if I had used a wall wart. Pulling the batteries out is just part of the teardown process.
Although you can power it with batteries, something like the walking beam pump that will be running (I presume) all the time the layout is being operated is going to burn through batteries a lot faster than something that is just used once or twice per session (like the grade crossing lights mentioned above).
What I've done is picked up old MRC DC powerpacks (dual ones if I find one) at model RR fleamarkets for $20-30. That way I have a variable DC source that I can provide "just enough" power for lights etc. since as was noted most lights and many accessories work better at less than full power.
Oh yes sorry I posted twice because I didn't think the first time worked.
wjstix What I've done is picked up old MRC DC powerpacks (dual ones if I find one) at model RR fleamarkets for $20-30. That way I have a variable DC source that I can provide "just enough" power for lights etc. since as was noted most lights and many accessories work better at less than full power.