9V recharge & BCR

Get the BCR and forget about the batteries.  My opinion.

Only way to go.

He dosen't want to spend $25 when the old batteries lasted 7 years and I don't either. The question was is there a Walmart rechargable battery that is a replacement for the MTH battery.

Here's the deal with the batteries. There are two kinds of "9v" rechargeable NiCads - one has six cells internally and delivers 7.2 volts, the other has seven cells for 8.4 volts. You MUST get the 8.4 volt variety for an MTH locomotive. I don't know if Wal-Mart, etc. sell the 8.4v batteries or not. If it isn't specifically labeled as 8.4 volts, assume it's the wrong kind. Radio Shack has the correct batteries, as does Harbor Freight. If you want to get a bunch of them I would go online - I've seen generic 8.4v NiCads as cheap as 3 bucks apiece versus 8 or more at retail.

The other battery option is to upgrade to NIMH cells. These hold more energy and do not have the "memory effect" of NiCads. They are a buck or two more expensive, and well worth it. The MTH charging circuit will handle them. Again, the best deals are from online battery and electronic specialists, if you are buying several. If I were in your position, I'd probably shop around for an online deal on NIMH cells and stock up.

Finally, the big advantage to a BCR for Proto-1 is that they charge up in a minute or less, meaning you don't have to pre-charge an engine that's been sitting on the shelf for a while. That's less important for Proto-2, since you can't scramble the chip, but a Proto-2 locomotive with a fully discharged battery will act very strange until it gets some juice in it. Most Proto-2 locomotives have external charging ports, so it's pretty easy to pre-charge one. 

Personally, I have put BCR's in all the (very few) Proto-1 locomotives I have left. When the batteries go out on the Proto-2 engines I upgrade to NIMH. This fits my specific circumstances; I have a largish collection and I mainly operate at a toy train museum that's only open every other Sunday, so most of my engines only get run once a year or so. I always precharge a Proto-2 engine before taking it to the museum. I do have one BCR in a Proto-2 locomotive. That's an older Milwaukee Road Bi-Polar that doesn't have a charge port and is really hard to take apart to get at the battery, so I wanted a permanent replacement. YMMV.

Hope this helps.

Thank you for the replies. That last one pretty much took care of all of the questions that I had. I had a feeling that an 8.4v recharge was about the same as another 8.4v rechargeable batt.

Since I had pretty good luck with the batts, I may opt for a couple more to take me through the next 6 or 7 Christmas seasons, especially since I do not have to worry about "chip scramble" any more!

Greg

My opinion - (since you asked) get the BCR. Like the commercial says, "Set it and FORGET it." I NEVER have to worry about a battery failure screwing up my system again.

My LHS sells them. The techie will open my engine to see which type I need and install it for me at no charge. I have also put them in myself. Same as changing a battery. It will be my standard policy to put BCR's in all Proto engines after the initial warranty period is over. I still am not clear on whether they void the warranty or not. I have heard it both ways.

That being said, I wonder what MTH is putting in the Proto 3's?

Ditto 

Brad

I think "Southwest" has it down to a science.  Good advice!  As far as Proto 3 locomotives....Michael, I think they are batteryless!

Alan

Remember, any battery can and, as I've found out, will leak.  It's a roll of the dice.  BCRs will not leak, as per J&W's web description; one poster reportedly has had a BCR that either exploded or leaked, and took out his board w/ it.  The cheapest place I've bought batteries en masse from is "batteries.com", but it was one of their batteries which leaked.

Also, if using replacement batteries, be sure to remove just enough of the original plastic wrapping on battery to connect the snap-on and leave the rest intact, or use elec. tape to insulate battery from metal chassis and other metal parts.  This is why MTH batteries and BCRs are encased in plastic.

I think that MTH has taken the idea of the BCR, and integrated it, (a capacitor), into their operating sytem for PS3.

Capacitors are integrated into PS3 electronics. The loco will when powered up, wait for the capacitor to charge fully before doing anything else.

My rule of thumb for NiCd vs NiMH is, frequently used locos get NiMH, infrequently used ones get NiCD, since while NiMH cells don't have the memory effect, they tend to  self-discharge when left sitting unused for extended periods of time.

---PCJ

Gentlemen,

   I also like the BCR's and have them in most all my engines, I have never had a problem with a BCR.

PCRR/Dave