Proto 2.0 Battery Question

If would probably change it.  If you are running in conventional, you may have an issue where it won't leave neutral.  Even through it is not supposed to happen, I have had one or two re-set their DCS I.D. number (even though I did not attempt to change it-attempting to change the I.D. through DCS with a dead or discharged battery will be problematic).

 

There are no issues with the electronics being damaged by a dead battery with PS2 as there were with some PS1 locomotives (if it were PS1, I would say to definitely change it).

 

I have started going through some of my engines and changing batteries, as many of them are five years old, or older.

 

You might ask this on the DCS forum.  I believe Barry's new book has detailed answers regarding what happens with PS2 with a dead or discharged battery.

If it were me I would replace the battery at this time. Better yet spend a little more and get a BCR and never have to replace another battery again. I know the BCR talk keeps coming up, but it really is a great product IMO.

Thank you both, I was leaning in that direction.  I run this in conventional mode.  I was interested in the BCR, however this is not the rectangular 9 volt type battery, but something that looks like two AA's taped together.  Do they make a BCR that would replace that type, or do I need a new harness and bracket?  

Yes they do make a BCR for the 3 volt system which sounds like what your describe. Ask for the BCR2. I have only used this BCR2 for my MTH subways and it was a plug and play type deal. The BCR2 is slightly smaller than the MTH 3 volt battery, but I did not find the smaller size to be a problem in my case.

Yes, 3 volt, that is what the owner's manual says.  Thanks!

James,

 

Until it's "broke", there's nothing to fix. The battery may be 4+ years old, however, it's operating life is only about 1/3 used.

 

If it holds a charge, leave it alone. Just give it a good charge overnight and stop worrying about it. Even if it goes dead, no harm will come to your engine's electronics (unlike PS1 engines). 

 

There's always a risk of doing something "unfortunate" when one opens up anything that's electronic in nature. There's no reason to take that risk any sooner than necessary.

I would agree with Barry on this.  If it ain't broke, leave it alone.  I have operated PS2 locomotives that arrived new-in-box but were released as many as seven or eight years ago.  Charged the babies up overnight and they were (and are still) good to go.

I'll add another Vote with Barry.

I have several engines that are over 5 years old. I only replaced the battery in a PS-1 unit.  And even then I waited until it failed to hold a charge for a week - At that point I believe it was around 10 years old. 

I recently bought another battery, but haven't got around to replacing the other PS-1 unit's battery, it still holds a charge for at least a week so I'm in no rush.

Allan -

 

Did you leave it on the tracks to charge or do you have a battery charger?

 

Barry -

 

Good to know, thanks.  Unfortunatly, I already put a scratch in my boiler taking it off to test the battery, but no electronics were harmed!

 

I have each of the types of BCR's in my Proto 2 engines. After the initial year MTH warranty expires I replace the batteries. Once and done.

The older Proto engines I'm converting almost always have a battery which won't hold a charge overnight.  I charge them up to test run them before opening them up.  When I convert them to Proto2 I will probably install a BCR2 to be done with the battery. My first conversion I went ahead and used the MTH battery which came with the kit.

For the few locomotives that will remain Proto (no kits available) I'll install one of the BCRs I already purchased.