Putting MTH engines away for 6 months-Remove Batteries or Not?

kennyb posted:

Hello Guys,Due to unforeseen circumstances,I am going to be putting my MTH engines into the closet for around 6 months,until I can complete a job assignment and a move.

All of the batteries have been replaced within the last 3 months,and I was wondering if I should remove the batteries out of them before I put my toys away for awhile and take care of this business I need to get done.

I will not be around much to run trains,but knowing me,I'll probably set up some fastrack on carpet central!!

But just in case I am unable to do this,should I remove the batteries from them?,like we did on the old postwar stuff? Just looking for the safe answer,I've spent a lot of money on these trains in the last 6 months,and I sure want them to return to the new layout I will be building once this business assignment is over!!!

 Thanks in advance,Kenny Baughman 

Hello kennyb

Yes , I WOULD remove batteries from any PS-1 and PS-2 engines prior to storing,  If they have BCR's in them I would leave them in.  Why take a chance when you don't have to ?  Better safe than sorry later.  

Tiffany

Thanks Guys.I am still very new to the world of Command Control.I had the feeling they would need to come out,but I was unsure about the memory and all of that jazz I have not learned about yet.

Are the batteries in the tender for the K Line Empire Express Hudson in the tender?

I just recently picked up this engine,and it is my first TMCC engine. It's as close to the new Lionel Empire Express that I'm going to get for now,and I ran it for the first time last night,and finally used my Lionel Cab-1 remote I bought over a year ago.  I understand that you can run TMCC engine through the MTH remote,but that's another topic!!!!

Honestly,for under $200.00,it's a very nice model of the Empire State Express.All Die Cast,and it smokes like crazy for not having a fan driven smoke unit in it. Maybe I will start another Topic so I can know how to run the TMCC stuff through the TIU when I get up and running again.  

I swore I would never do it,but I have been bitten by the DCS bug and I love my "Expensive Talking Trains"as the wife calls them!!!

I have some MTH engines that haven't been run for months. I leave the batteries in and they've worked fine. Exception is TMCC engines which use conventional batteries. I remove those.

Straight from the 0-6-0 RailKing Imperial manual I have:

The battery is a dry battery that should not
leak or cause any damage to your engine.

Kenny,

I was wondering if I should remove the batteries out of them before I put my toys away for awhile and take care of this business I need to get done.

That's not a good idea. The very small risk of leakage of an 8.4 volt rechargeable battery is much less than the risk of damaging the engine by opening it up. If you open an engine to remove the battery, and then open it again to replace the battery, that's two opportunities for self-inflicted damage.

I have more than 100 MTH engines and have never had an issue where the battery has leaked. They only get opened up when it's absolutely necessary.

For any Lionel products, you should CERTAINLY remove any battery, those are not rechargeable batteries and will slowly drain.  When they get discharged, they tend to leak, even when they say leakproof!  I should take pictures of some of the ones from Lionel products.

The opinion is more mixed on the NiMh or NiCad rechargeable batteries, however, I have seen many of the older MTH white NiCad batteries tarnish the contacts on the battery plug, and even one of the newer green batteries that was discharged also left some corrosion behind.  I have yet to see one of those batteries leak and do a lot of damage, but I suspect the possibility exists.

Bob Delbridge posted:

Straight from the 0-6-0 RailKing Imperial manual I have:

The battery is a dry battery that should not
leak or cause any damage to your engine.

Don't you believe it. Any battery can leak. I would take them out, just remember they are out before you try to run them again.

Leave the batteries in with respect to MTH products.

Take the Lionel ones out.

I have never had a problem with with any of my MTH engine batteries leaking dating back to 2003!

Dave

If you are experienced in working on engines and are more comfortable removing them, then by all means do so in order to remove all risk.

That being stated, I agree with others that the risk is very small you will have leakage and there is far greater risk in opening up the engines, not once but twice, especially if you are not experienced in doing so.  

Personally, I've never had any battery issues with storing some of my MTH engines.  

- Greg

I just removed a battery from a Brand new (never opened or run) MTH PS-1 from 2000.  No leaks no damage.   I WOULD NOT Remove unless you NEVER intend to run it again and it is a display only Train.  I have PS-1 engines on my layout that have not been run in over a year.  Start right up and run.  THese are sealed batteries, and the only risk (very small) is gassing out and corroding a battery terminal which is replaceable.

Alkaline are a totally different design and they are not sealed.  So leaving them in a Lionel engine can cause issue if left in a hot climate or extended periods. G

If your really worried about them you can send the engines to my house and I'll keep them charged till you get back. That's just the helpful kinda guy I am. ��

rustyrail o scale posted:

If your really worried about them you can send the engines to my house and I'll keep them charged till you get back. That's just the helpful kinda guy I am. ��

That's what is great about this forum - one forumite willing to help another!

-Greg

After thinking about it for awhile 6 months is not very long so if the batteries were good when you stored them they  will probably be ok. But any battery can leak.

so what is best way to assure your lionel engines you are running are safe? 

replace the batteries with bcr's?

replace the batteries with new batteries periodically ?

Lionel system needs a charging circuit in order to use a BCR-. You only need a battery in a Lionel unit if you run only in conventional AND it bothers you when the sound cuts out as power drops below 7 volts as you turn off the power.

If you're running in command, then the Lionels need no batteries. In conventional, the sounds will cut out with each change of direction and that bothers some people, thus the batteries. 

I run in command most of the time so I have so batteries nor any worries of battery leakage.

so if I understand this, I can remove batteries from my lionel engines, run in legacy, and the sound will stay on even when it hits a dead spot. wow I just learned something new thanks to the forum members. thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No, not necessary. A lot of extra work for nothing.  Some of my MTH PS2 engines are around 10 years old now, still are fine. I have a box of 26 BCR's standing by when they do fail. I would think the subway sets would need BCR's  installed first.

The topic is about (MTH)

Yep - Lionel/MTH - 2 different types of batteries. I also have some MTH locos with batteries installed before the turn of the century (always wanted to say that). No problems.

After converting most of my engines to BPRC, I only have 2 engines left with PS2 and 4 engines with TMCC (no batteries installed).  The PS2 engines, a NW2 and a GP9, had not been run since July 2015, until about 3 weeks ago.  They both ran good for a while but then it was necessary to recharge them both.  One had a Nicad battery pack, the other a NiMh pack.  Being I had the packs I took out of my converted locos, I replaced the Nicad pack with a NiMh pack because from what I've read, Nicad acquire a memory (can't hold a charge or can't full charge) while the NiMh packs do not.  So, if anyone has locos with the Nicad packs I would recommend changing them out with NiMh packs.  Does anyone see that differently?

A. Didn't MTH ship these with the batteries in?

B. Do not some MTH locos sit on the shelves for many months or more before they are purchased?

IMO not worth the trouble. If they go dead recharge them!

Rod

Replace all of your batteries with BRC's and "forget about it"...!

My MTH engines sit in my attic train room all summer long (say 4-5 months of no use) each year since I purchased my first engine in 2003.

I have never had any problems, however I charge the engines using the MTH wall plug charger each fall at the start of the train season. (I don't leave my layout transformers "on" when I am not in the train room)

If Barry says you don't need to, that is certainly good for me, as Barry has helped me with many other issues.