BCR verses MTH BATTERY

Ray,

 

I have installed BCR's in my older PS 2 engines. I have purchased both types of BCR's for stand  by in the event I have a battery failure. I have one of the MTH battery chargers and so far the remaining original batteries in my MTH engines have been re charging.

 

The only failure of a BCR I have ran into is a crcked case. I taped the case closed and it has continued to work.

 

Hope this helped.

 

Richard

Panic? No. But it would be prudent to test the batteries before running the units if they've been sitting around a long time.
The green battery is likely a nickel-metal hydride cell. Not prone to the "memory effect", but will self-discharge if left unused for long periods of time. They're generally best for frequently-used locos
They're the only maker of the ones with the J&W brand name. "BCR" (and/or the name it stands for) may also be a trademark of J&W.

There are other devices that do the same thing, (I think Dallee makes one) and some folks have made their own substitutes.


The usual test is to power up the unit and let it shut down without going into forward. If the shut-down sequence runs all the way through, the battery is doing its job.

Whether it'll keep doing it well enough to prevent problems can be another story. usually you'll have to take it out and hook it to a battery tester that can place a load on the battery, or hook the battery to something like a light bulb and monitor how well the voltage holds up, since a failing battery can appear to show the correct voltage when charged, but actually try to power something with it and the voltage will sink like a leaking balloon, which plays havoc with certain boards as they try to save information during the shutdown procedure.

---PCJ

I think the best answer to this is not to panic.  If you have a small fleet, just keep a small record of when the battery was installed.  At the 4-5 year point I would replace it with new, or go BCR if you chose.

 

For PS1 or PS-2 5V with the 8.4V I would stay on top of battery age and just replace at the 4-5 year point regardless of how it is running.

 

For PS-2 3V with the 2.4V battery, they last upward of 7 years and are not critical at all.  I would wait until it wasn't supporting a charge before I replaced it.

 

For PS-1 newer engines 1997 and up.  Even with a dead battery chances are you won't scramble the processor.  If you do, it is easily reset by an MTH tech.

 

For PS-2 5V I am more hesitant to let a battery sit.  Some of these boards are more fragile as it was the original design and some versions seem to die early.

 

For PS-2 3V far more robust and not affected by battery issues unless a direct short.  Something a BCR can do too, if it fails.  G

I had battery problems in the past, but since I installed  BCR's in all my MTH engines never had another problem.

 

Jack 

Another related question....

I have the MTH dealer appreciation Trainmaster FM with Proto 1.

I installed a BCR. Now it's quite an engine so on my layout I never get it

over 7 volts even with cars behind it.

 

Is that enough to recharge the  BCR ? Or do I need to let it idle at 13v

for a minute before I shut it down ?

 

...

..

.

 

 

 

 

That would limit the BCR to about 7V give or take depending on how the circuit is designed.  Does it work?  Otherwise no harm in raising the voltage for 15seconds or so be for shut down.  The BCR should already be partially charged.  G

I've got a 2005 Premier PS-2 SD60 that has a 5 volt BCR installed, and a number of other PS-2 units, that have a  3 volt BCR installed. Sometimes, at certain locations,on my track, some of these BCR equipped locomotives, will stop dead in their tracks. If I remove the dead locomotive, and start up again, in a different location, the unit seems to operate correctly; but, when it gets to the trouble spot on my layout, the unit shuts down.

 

I thought that was the point, re: batteries and BCR's... to keep a unit operating in a dead zone? BTW, my battery equipped units keep motoring through those dead spots; the batteries are doing their jobs.

 

I've got a number of BCR's that I haven't installed, in locomotives, yet, because of the power losses I've experienced..., with the BCR's that I've installed.

 

BTW, I put a BCR equipped unit on the track, power up the track, let the unit sit for a few minutes(trying to charge the BCR), and then power it up. The unit starts, proceeds as directed, until it hits the trouble spots.

 

 

Rick

 

 

 

 

 

 

Engine works fine, though once in a while I have to let it sit about 5 minutes

before the sound works properly.

I remember something here on the forum that you needed 12 volts to proberly

charge things. My thought was, if I'm running 7 volts could that be part of the

problem...

Thanks for the input....

 

Bruce..

 

Is this the Lackawanna trainmaster DAP from 2000. If so I think this is the first PS-2 engine made.

You need to charge the BCR at start up,(60 seconds) no need to do it when shutting down.

If turned off the BCR will hold the charge for a couple hours. At least it's suppose too.

Bruce,  When the BCR is installed and not fully charge on a PS-2 model, you can have reduced volume as the charge circuit is overloaded at initial charge up.  That is why you can hear the sounds come back after a full charge.

 

I would raise voltage to a higher value at start up and wait the 45-60 secs.  Than lower to your operating value.  That way you have a fully charged BCR while your operating the train.  The other method works for shutdown, but doesn't provide full voltage while running.  G

I never take a chance on PS-1's.  I'll use a 9 volt alkaline on a new one I get until I get a BCR.  I never use the old installed ones.  PS-1's run beautifully and have pretty good detail on their higher end engines.  It's a shame not to have them at the ready.

Alan

Gentlemen,

   Got to say I am a big advocate of the BCR, I preordered one of the MTH P2 263E's had Frank @ the old Iron Horse install a BCR when it arrived, that same BCR is still running my MTH 263E even today.  If you own P1 stuff IMO BCR is the only way to go,

if you do not want your engines damaged. The new P3 engines have a form of BCR built right into the engines, IMO BCR's are pretty good engineering.

G gives great advise on proper usage of the BCR in his prior post.

PCRR/Dave