Atlas SW battery powered

I'm glad to see others trying out BPRC

What system did you use and how long is the 1000Mah battery lasting?

I'm using 2000Mah NiMh and 2200Mah LiPo packs in my steamers, electronics are from RCS Australia.  I get at least over 2 hours run time, takes 2 hours to recharge a typical pack.

Do you have to open the engine up to turn on/off the battery and charge it?  RCS Australia (so does RCS of NE) has a module with on/off and charging jack.

IMO the conversion was much easier than the DCS PS2 conversions I did when in 3-rail.

Talk about the PERFECT operational solution to an around-the-wall switching pike!!!!! 

Kudos. 

And, thanks!!....for promoting the next giant leap forward for this scale.....BATTERY POWER!!!

BTW....RCS is typically at York....Orange Hall.

KD

KD,

Don Sweet (RCS of NE) said he'd be there this year as well.

for this install im using cvp products airwire convrtr, sountraxx decoder and a lenz for the motor control. havent done a full test of run time but im thinking 45mins give or take. plenty for a small switching layout. Switch for on/off is located in the same spot that the TMCC equipped locomotives have theirs. For charging im really leaning towards putting the jack under the exhaust stacks and just having that whole piece removable.

Ben

I haven't converted a diesel yet, but I have a Weaver RS3 and a Williams E7 that currently don't have anything but motors in them so they are the likely candidates for BPRC.  It'll be interesting to see how the 2-motor E7 does.

Rather than trying to fit the battery in the engine and losing service during charge times, you could have 2 battery box cars.  Run with one while the other charges.  With a box car you could easily get a 4000 mah battery or bigger in there.  The engine would run for hours on that.

Have Fun.  Ron

I don't know about the others, but I don't like the idea of using a battery car when switching is my goal.  The whole purpose of switching is to leave/pick up cars, not drag one around the whole time.

But, why not use a caboose as a battery car?  A local switcher with a caboose (aka rolling office) would be a normal thing I would think, where else would the conductor do his paperwork?

The 2000Mah battery pack I use is approx. 1x1x4 inches, may fit inside a caboose if there's no interior, or if you could find/make a pack that would fit between the sides of the molded interior you could keep the interior.  A 1000Mah battery is even smaller and may be a better choice if going with a caboose/battery car.  A 4-cell inline battery pack may fit nicely.

But then you have a tether between the engine and battery car.

Nice conversion. The only thing I think I would do differently is use high quality LiFePo4 cells instead of LiPo. Just a personal preference from my experience in RC aircraft. I've seen some nasty fires. LiFePo4 batteries do not have the fire danger and can be safely charged much faster. Typically 5c-10c charge rate. For those that don't know what that means, a typical low quality LiPo is only safe to charge at 1c rate which means a 1000mAh, or 1A battery takes 1hr. A high quality LiPo or LiFePo4 can be changed at higher rates. A 5c charge rate would charge in 12 minutes or less. The drawback is that LiFePo4 cells aren't as energy dense as LiPos so they are larger. The same goes of NiMH which are also safer.

Which dead rail system did you use? Tam Valley?

Thanks for bring many of us up to date on the battery ? I like it as it removes the ? about DCC, DCS, and all the wiring. 

Nice job, and it crawls really well!

thanks fellas.......Jonathan i am using cvp products convrtr....so far no issues and an easy install.

http://www.cvpusa.com/mini_airwire_convrtr.php