LC+ Camelback Upgrade to Battery Power

I've been thinking about something similar but thought that I might make a generic boxcar full of batteries.  It could be tethered to any loco.

Want to use 18650's but they are a PITA to charge correctly in big series/parallel groups.

My other thought was to make a battery pack boxcar with track connection rollers, like on a lighted car.  Then, just let the batteries feed power to the track where the loco in front of it would pickup the power.  Thinking it might be good for my outdoor setup with the power only having to go a few feet instead of cleanly around the whole loop.

...a hybrid train!

What is the advantage of battery power if you are not running outside?  Or are you thinking about extending your yard out the back door?

I don't have any power drops yet Bob.

Perhaps an 18v cordless drill battery and remove the drills battery plug from the drill and install in a box car, baggage car or tender. Used drills on some auction sites are pretty cheap. Not sure if the amps are enough on those batteries. Just a thought........

check out some of the dead rail sites. lots of two rail O scale and On30 guys doing it. most say some of the modern batteries in the loco itself will run it for several hours. 

Rick, I'm a little past the basics, I'm looking for some specific sources for suitable batteries and chargers.

Hi John, batteries r/c system is my business. My associate Bob Buck is local in York, Pa. Give him a call. He does the Strasbourg  O scale shows. 717-309-0706.

We specialize in 11.1v, 14.8V & 18.5V lithium battery packs and chargers to match. Only for trains.

Don

RCS of New England

Don, do you guys have a web site where I can see the products?

GRJ: The batteries I have used are 12V Lectron-Pro LiPO's from Common Sense RC, a local shop. They are reliable and reasonably priced. There is one in my 2019 LionChief Plus conversion as shown.

Yes, John, forgot to add Bobs web site https://gscaleinstallations.net/

My web site is http://www.rcsofne.com

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Don, do you guys have a web site where I can see the products?

Rcsofne.com

Thanks Bob.

I looked, but they don't have 11.4 or higher voltage packs that would fit in the tender, I only have 4.5" max.

John we have over 22 sizes of packs. Only list the popular sellers. You should call Bob tomorrow.  We make custom packs to fit. Bob has a lot of brass and plastic O scale engines he has converted. 

Good to know, I'll check out the custom sizes.

GRJ....This is a topic I have hands on experience with.My other hobby is building and flying R/C airplanes. (as if I needed two hobbies) For your Camelback project LiPo is likely your only choice. They are available in many sizes and shapes and have high energy density. These cells are safe when handled properly and charged with the right charger. Many fliers use these and remove and store them in a fireproof container. MUST be reduced to a storage charge for long term storage. A club member here burned his house down with these. Not the battery's fault but he still lost his house.

NiMh  is not suitable for high drain or fast charge. I use then in most of my transmitters.

Lilon safer version of LiPoly...built in a metal tube. Some can take a reasonably fast charge.

A123 now Lithiumwerks Nanophosphate....My personal  choice for aircraft radios and servos. Not a fire hazard, fast charge,store fully charged for years no problem. LiPo4 are a poor cousin do not have the fast charge or long life.

Difference between aircraft and model train use. NO PTC or fuses are used in aircraft packs. Failure mode is a fast moving object coming down right now. Don Sweet's packs appear to be protected and possibly use a controller on board to handle charge.

Chargers are important. I use and recommend CellPro Power Lab 6. US designed and sold/supported, Asian made.Supports almost all battery types. Many people start with a cheapo and end up with a good charger like this one.

Richard

One of the reasons for looking at NiMh was not having to deal with the varieties of Lithium batteries.  I have an area about 4.5" long, as wide as the tender, and probably over an inch high.  The only thing in the tender is the speaker.  The current one is a fairly tall one, I'd replace that with a low profile speaker for this configuration.  It doesn't have to run all day on the batteries, but it does have to be trouble-free and not run the risk of creating a fire.  I'm pretty sure I can get decent run-times out of NiMh for this first experiment.

As I mentioned in other threads, I actually have experience with several types of commercial (big) Lithium batteries, and when they get out of control, the results are spectacular and destructive!  I have no desire to see that in my house!  The one that exploded in a 10x10 test chamber and put the testing back a month to repair the damage was an eye-opener!

Looking at the charger, I also don't want to spend $175 for a one-off experiment in battery power, that's a non-starter.

I too would be hesitant to put together a (custom) battery setup setup for a model train using rechargable lithium batteries at this juncture.  If the nimh ones will suffice that's what I would go with.  Cost effective and good enough would suit me just fine.   I can't wait to see how GRJ's project on this turns out.  The idea of recharging the batteries on the fly is really innovative and a great advancement, imo.

John, most of my batteries are Tenergy brand, 9.6v, 2000mah, NiMh (3.9"x1.18"x1.18" sq).  I was getting them from Tenergy but they seem to have doubled in price.  Amazon still has them for $15.99 plus there are other brands. Tenergy has 2 9.6v, 2000mah, flat battery packs plus a charger for $37.99, the battery pack is 4.09"x2.32"x0.63".  Too wide but you could always put it in at a slant.

I've found 9.6 volts to be plenty to power my engines, they go just as fast as they did under 18vac.  11.1v 2200mah LiPo batteries, from what I found, have a lower starting voltage.  I think that is because LiPo batteries have a lower internal resistance so more power is supplied initially, but I only found that necessary on 1 or 2 engines.  LiPos take a different type of charger than NiMh.  Tenergy has a good website that will show you what they have, but like I said their prices are high.  I actually got a couple off Ebay from Tenergy for less than what they were charging thru their own store.

I normally get 2+ hours of run time and it takes equally as long to recharge at 1amp/hr.