BCR 's any issues, failures or other concerns ?

As with all things I guess there is a possibility of failure, but I never had a problem with mine. Before my big PS-1 and semi-scale sell-off I had 8 or 9 of them. If there's any downside, you need to wait a few seconds when first powering up to let it charge.

Gilly

I have installed them in my locos with no  problems. You have to wait a minute or before power up but thats just like the real think.

Best thing that happened to MTH trains, works good and you can shelve them for as long as you want. You just need a 1 minute charge before a new session, it will stay charged while you are playing with your trains..

Agree with Gilly, Bob and Jim.  My BCR has been in a PS-1 since they came out with zero problems.

When I used to run PS-1 and 2 , I used them on all.  Never any problems, ever.

Buy them....NOW!

TJ

Hi, I am aware of the power up time. However one thing that I have always wondered was what would result from engaging the unit before the bcr has cycled properly.

Or does it simply react like a PS3 unit and that there is just no function until the component is powered up fully ?   

As long as track voltage is under 10 volts when you push the direction button, the locomotive will just go like it should.  The low power issue is only when you are trying to program the locomotive, as in a feature in the reset state or locking direction when using.  MTH released a notice at one time saying as long as you aren't programming, a PS-1 locomotive will be just fine without a battery.

Subway,

     Never a problem.

PCRR/Dave

I have BCRs in all my Proto 1 & 2 engines. Probably over 40 of them. Never had a problem. When I buy a used engine I always put in a BCR before I power it up.

I like to see them offered in bulk, like a dozen at a time for a reduced price.

Scary to think how many I have installed BCR wise,  never a problem.    It is simply a fancy schmancy Capacitor that stores up energy to be used as needed....(Same type of capacitor,  smaller of course, that your Central AC motor uses to start up).

It really is the perfect solution for the situation,  at start up and shut down (and during change of direction states if you are going conventional),  the capacitor supplies the needed voltage to run the electronic system.

Ni-cad batteries are not a good long term solution in my experience working in the industry when I was a younger man.............

Mark

I'm in the process of removing all my BCR's as I've had 5 locos go dead with them.

Spoke to the electrical repair guy here in the UK & he said they can damage the charging circuit on the proto 1 versions.

This is what has happened to mine now.

5 Circuit boards or 5 BCR's ? so not taking any more chances,have 2 reset sets so not worried.

James

I never had a problem till recently when the BCR I installed in my Frisco Meteor 4501 4-8-4 somehow came loose and caused all sorts of very expensive catastrophes.  A good friend of mine says to stay away from BCRs and use MTH's new batteries instead.  

Lew Schneider 

You can't blame the BCR if it came loose. If the MTH charging board has a weak component it can fry the board,  I wouldn't have an MTH engine without a BCR in it.

I have received one locomotive for repair with a BCR that was defective.  I've seen lots of others that worked fine.  Two of the four caps had high leakage and wouldn't retain a charge.  I have no idea what caused the failure, or why only two caps were bad.  Any device can fail, so I didn't read much into the one failure.

It will restart with 2 dings.

Oh, Ok, Thanks. That is what I would of expected it to react like.

But with that I always wondered if it would or could possibly scramble the board as well, like it would if it had a weak or dead battery.

hi John have you run in to many bad BCR's other then  the one on your repair, what do you believe it a true track record of BCR's failures from your experience

!

Alan

My concern is that they add $25 to the price of a engine.

I have over fifty MTH engines with BCR2s and eight with BCR1s. Never had a problem and never had to remove a body shell to replace a dead battery either.

Buy them 10 mat a time and get one free = totals  $22.68 per + appx. 23¢ for a total of $22.91 ea..  Buy a new rechargeable from MTH (min. parts order $10 + shipping) or elsewhere for $8-10 bucks and you know you will need at least one – so, the BCR’s are not that expensive.  I am told they are designed to do 10,000 cycles – you gonna live that long?  It is a onetime installation and no leakage worries – storage worries, etc. etc.  SUCH A DEAL!

According to MTH my concerns of attempting to operate before the BCR is charged can scramble the board in PS1 units

>>

It is important to remember one can still scramble the PS1 software if the operator does not wait long enough for the BCR to fully charge. The capacitors in the BCR take time to charge up and go from 0 Volts to 10 volts in less than 1 minute with a minimum of 12 volts supplied to the track. If track power is interrupted when the BCR is not fully charged the PS1 locomotive may not leave neutral or worse, a software conflict or De-Select may result. When the BCR is charging and not yet fully charged, it is no different from a battery with a low charge. Users need to remember the BCR is not a battery and must be charged using at least 12 volts track power with each use. Therefore, the operator must allow time for the BCR to fully charge each time track power is first applied to their PS1 Locomotive to prevent battery-related problems from occurring.

I have had BCR's in my PS-1 locos for many years with zero issues. I would not run a PS-1 loco without a BCR installed.

I just have 8 older PS-2 engines.  All have BCRs in them and zero problems or issues.  

Save the MTH battery though when you pull it out of the engine.  I thought you need to use it to change the "personality file (sound file)" of the engine.   

Waiting to to run the trains after you start up the transformers is the biggest drawback...

If you follow the forum, you will find a few post where engine don't run on BCR, but do on batteries.

I have reset one PS-1 with a BCR because it was activated before the BCR could charge.  So they are not fail safe for PS-1, you must let it charge.

A partially charged bcr is exactly like a weak battery.  Just enough Voltage to allow the processor to try to transfer data, but not enough energy to complete the job.  So wait the 45sec to 1 minute.  Especially after sitting for a few days/weeks.   G

I have seen many BCR's in locomotives and have installed some myself.  One failure was the only one I've ever seen.

Over the years I've replaced a few MTH 9V with the BCR1's and only had one (1) defective BCR in which one of it's connectors was not fully soldered and attached.  This occurred about 10 years ago.  I called J&W and they quickly sent out a replacement and explained that they discovered that one production run was faulty and that they were in the process of fixing the remaining in stock lot.

I should start the process of replacing the remaining original batteries that I have on hand.  I do wonder why MTH and some forumites are/were not recommending the use of a BCR or homemade capacitor setup over the NiCd or NiMH.  I believe I understand the argument that dependent upon your running/activity level of the loco should determine if you should choose a NiCd over a NiMH.  But I don't understand or remember the specific details why MTH or forumites did not recommend the BCR/cap option over a battery.  I am seriously considering trying gunrunnerjohn's do it yourself cap option.

Is there something different in the new PS3 (battery free) circuit design that makes a the new PS3 capacitor option now acceptable to MTH or was this more about selling batteries until MTH had a battery free (PS3) option?

I must add that from the postings of the features/design of the new PS3 board, MTH gave this new product's component design much more forward thought than prior PS2 & PS1 setups.

Installed BCR's in MTH engines with charging circuits, no performance problems, eliminated low charge battery issue with electronic boards, BCR not an issue on stored engines and minimizes possibility of stripping plastic shell mounting posts,less disassembly. Replaced posts on two engines, not a difficult procedure but timely. Also considering applying the J&W Electronics charging systems to the Lionel TMCC equipped locomotives that I own if mounting space is available,technical support at J&W Electronics is also good.  

Oddly I have noticed that a PS3 unit that I am currently using sometimes starts up immediately without charging up. Now one could say that it had adequate power, but that is not the case since if I shut it down and start over it will have the pause to charge as it should.

Now not only do I wonder if this could cause an issue with the ps3 unit at some point. But I wonder is this could possibly occur with the bcr or  super cap set up, which will scramble the board in ps1.

 Keep in mind I now have the reset chip so it is not a huge issue, other then yet another inconvenience. But it is just another observation.