My Hudswell 040 shunter scratch build

Rhinochugger said:
Yep, as Jon and Rik have indicated, in essence there are two directions to go with battery power - NiMh and Li-po.

There are people on the forum who have experience of both of these. There is a tendency to do one or the other largely because of the very different charging regimes, and a crude summary of options goes like this.

NiMh - readily available from places like Strikealite or Vapextech in appropriate pack sizes. Strikealite will definitely make up bespoke packs. You need to use an intelligent charger designed for NiMh / NiCad battery charging. You can get LSD (low self discharge) in AA battery size rated at 2300 mAh - remember that, whatever size battery you use, in re-chargeable format each cell is 1.2v not 1.5v

Li-po - you need to buy from reputable sources. You get more bang for your buck in so much as greater power from a physically smaller pack. Charging is more technical, and if using multiple cells, you need to balance the cells in use as well as when being charged.

Whichever you choose, remember a fuse :angel:

Easiest to use now is a suitably rated polyswitch - PhilP PhilP can advise.

It only starts to get complex when you add the R/C - again, talk to PhilP PhilP or dunnyrail dunnyrail uses Fosworks
Click to expand...
All good info Rhino, I was at the start planning to use a 2s LiPo battery that I was going to remove for balance charging due the motor I
planned to use, but now with the small motor I'm hoping to charge the batteries on board.
It didn't show in the video, but I was controlling it with a Fosworks Tx3.1 RC that I got with my Roundhouse Billy, I just ordered a couple of FRX23v receivers ( which came in just 8 days to OZ ! )
and with a little help from Steve I was able to get it controlling the Hudswell.
 
Alan McLennan said:
All good info Rhino, I was at the start planning to use a 2s LiPo battery that I was going to remove for balance charging due the motor I
planned to use, but now with the small motor I'm hoping to charge the batteries on board.
It didn't show in the video, but I was controlling it with a Fosworks Tx3.1 RC that I got with my Roundhouse Billy, I just ordered a couple of FRX23v receivers ( which came in just 8 days to OZ ! )
and with a little help from Steve I was able to get it controlling the Hudswell.
Click to expand...
I am a serial user of Fosworks radio and control. Very easy to use and set up, specially if you use a wiring loom. Most of my battery RC installations are Fosworks and I have found them the easiest to set up though I do have 5 Micron, 4 Crest and 1 Piko installation as well.
 
If you plan to use li-ion then you must use a BMS protection board and a dedicated charger for li-ion. The BMS will give you "Overcharge Protection, Over Discharge Protection, Short Circuit Protection, Over Current Protection".

You can also get balance charging modules which include BMS circuitry. However, I prefer to use a dedicated charger (an iMax B6) and a BMS board as I can set the charge rate myself rather than relying on whatever the manufacturer has decided to use.

Rik
 
ge_rik said:
If you plan to use li-ion then you must use a BMS protection board and a dedicated charger for li-ion. The BMS will give you "Overcharge Protection, Over Discharge Protection, Short Circuit Protection, Over Current Protection".

You can also get balance charging modules which include BMS circuitry. However, I prefer to use a dedicated charger (an iMax B6) and a BMS board as I can set the charge rate myself rather than relying on whatever the manufacturer has decided to use.

Rik
Click to expand...
Rik I have a imax B6AC v2 charger, I thought it did all of that, and you can set the charge rate. I also have a DC powered one, cause I didn't read all of the description on ebay.
 
grizzmo said:
Jaycar sell poly switches , or ebay the voltage rating on them is a maximum rating go above it , they will fail. The current rating will be in milliamps , that is the maximum current that can flow through them before they open circuit, go above that they open , drop below they close again. For a bachmann percy i got 50V 3500mA off ebay , so the 9v i will run at is below 50v , so safe. The half to 1A the motor will pull is less than 3500mA(3.5A),so motor running will not open circut it, the cables and system should be ok to handle 3.5A . I could of gone a smaller rating , but thats what i found . Hope that helps
Click to expand...
Which of these would you say to use, RXE250 PTC Fuses for Speaker Protection | Jaycar Australia
 
Alan McLennan said:
Which of these would you say to use, RXE250 PTC Fuses for Speaker Protection | Jaycar Australia
Click to expand...
The RXE185 seems to be very similar to what I got 2.8 A 50v rating, it isn't a big motor you have gotten ? In shop here the ratings were in milliamps not watts, but they seem to be mucking up the ratings in the description, the RXE110, 160 and 250 have the same ratings in the description which isn't right , i would suspect the RXE250 would be higher current rated than 185 , but seeing the others are mucked up not sure if that RXE185 is 2.8A rated? There is a jaycar still at penrith?, you might need to contact them and ask.

or ebay
.https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/364888858118?_skw=3a+polyswitch&itmmeta=01JABTH5XY8GBM06B93Z
 
grizzmo said:
The RXE185 seems to be very similar to what I got 2.8 A 50v rating, it isn't a big motor you have gotten ? In shop here the ratings were in milliamps not watts, but they seem to be mucking up the ratings in the description, the RXE110, 160 and 250 have the same ratings in the description which isn't right , i would suspect the RXE250 would be higher current rated than 185 , but seeing the others are mucked up not sure if that RXE185 is 2.8A rated? There is a jaycar still at penrith?, you might need to contact them and ask.

or ebay
.https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/364888858118?_skw=3a+polyswitch&itmmeta=01JABTH5XY8GBM06B93Z
Click to expand...
Yeah that had me tossed as to why they were all the same, cut and paste I think!, do these fuses go before or after the main on/off switch on the + feed ?
 
Alan McLennan said:
Yeah that had me tossed as to why they were all the same, cut and paste I think!, do these fuses go before or after the main on/off switch on the + feed ?
Click to expand...
You have visited GeRiks peckforton light railway blog ? He has excellent description and wiring diagrams on there and dozens of other useful guides as well he does a much better job of explaining than i could, but be warned it is easy to lose a whole day just reading there :)

Getting started with battery power and radio control
 
ge_rik said:
You might find parts of this blog post helpful. If not, there's plenty of good advice on here (eg see Jon's post above)

riksrailway.blogspot.com

A quick introduction to batteries for model trains

Narrow gauge large scale model garden railway. Battery powered, radio controlled locomotives, some Bluetooth. Set in Cheshire UK in 1930s
riksrailway.blogspot.com riksrailway.blogspot.com


Rik
Click to expand...
Now Rik, in your 2s2p diagram you show a brownish wire going from the charge socket to the deltang rc, what is it?, the wire I mean, and would I be better to remove my XT60 plug from my battery pack
or just add another female XT60 so I can unplug the pack from the harness.
 
Alan McLennan said:
Now Rik, in your 2s2p diagram you show a brownish wire going from the charge socket to the deltang rc, what is it?, the wire I mean, and would I be better to remove my XT60 plug from my battery pack
or just add another female XT60 so I can unplug the pack from the harness.
Click to expand...
Hi Alan
The lead from the charge socket to the Rx is the negative supply. Most (but not all) DC sockets include an internal isolating switch which cuts the connection when the charge plug is inserted. It's another belt and braces safety measure I use to avoid accidentally leaving the loco switched on while you're charging. It's not essential as the two way toggle switch does this anyway so the brownish / grey lead could be connected directly to the negative supply.

What the iMax B6 doesn't do is protect the battery pack from over discharge or short circuit. Lithium cells are permanently damaged if the charge of any individual cell falls below 3v so the BMS board cuts the supply if it detects any of the cells falling below this level. However, if you are using a sealed pack of cells you won't be able to add a BMS board so you'll either need to check the pack's voltage during running sessions or, if you are using Deltang or Micron receivers, make sure the LVC (Low Voltage Cut-off) feature is enabled (it usually is by default) which will automatically cut out the supply when it detects the voltage has dropped. As others have said, you can include a poly switch or quick blow fuse to protect against short circuits.

Rik
 
ge_rik said:
Hi Alan
The lead from the charge socket to the Rx is the negative supply. Most (but not all) DC sockets include an internal isolating switch which cuts the connection when the charge plug is inserted. It's another belt and braces safety measure I use to avoid accidentally leaving the loco switched on while you're charging. It's not essential as the two way toggle switch does this anyway so the brownish / grey lead could be connected directly to the negative supply.

What the iMax B6 doesn't do is protect the battery pack from over discharge or short circuit. Lithium cells are permanently damaged if the charge of any individual cell falls below 3v so the BMS board cuts the supply if it detects any of the cells falling below this level. However, if you are using a sealed pack of cells you won't be able to add a BMS board so you'll either need to check the pack's voltage during running sessions or, if you are using Deltang or Micron receivers, make sure the LVC (Low Voltage Cut-off) feature is enabled (it usually is by default) which will automatically cut out the supply when it detects the voltage has dropped. As others have said, you can include a poly switch or quick blow fuse to protect against short circuits.

Rik
Click to expand...
Hi Rik, at the moment I am planning to use a Quikrun 1060 ESC that has a low voltage cut-off that goes into limp mode at 6.5 volts and cuts off completely below 6 volts.
The whole wiring is switched off via the on/off switch on the ESC, but would like to have a switch between the power and the ESC itself ( no power to ESC when off ),
where is the right place to put the fuse in this case.
 
Alan McLennan said:
Hi Rik, at the moment I am planning to use a Quikrun 1060 ESC that has a low voltage cut-off that goes into limp mode at 6.5 volts and cuts off completely below 6 volts.
The whole wiring is switched off via the on/off switch on the ESC, but would like to have a switch between the power and the ESC itself ( no power to ESC when off ),
where is the right place to put the fuse in this case.
Click to expand...
Fuses should always go as close to the power source as you can get it, no matter what electrical power you are using.
 
PhilP said:
Historical, think positive earth..

Only reason my looms have the fuse in the negative, is to balance out the wiring lengths.

It is more important to have the protection, than which leg of the supply it is in.

PhilP
Click to expand...
On very old household supplies, both the live and neutral were fused. If a fuse blew it quite often on the neutral side, which was obviously lethal to any unsuspecting person who tried to replace it. And to anyone who pulled the wrong one when changing a meter without following the checks properly.
 
Paul M said:
On very old household supplies, both the live and neutral were fused. If a fuse blew it quite often on the neutral side, which was obviously lethal to any unsuspecting person who tried to replace it. And to anyone who pulled the wrong one when changing a meter without following the checks properly.
Click to expand...
Phwoar -one could take a fence at the implication ....................... very old :wasntme::wasntme::wasntme:
 
grizzmo said:
The RXE185 seems to be very similar to what I got 2.8 A 50v rating, it isn't a big motor you have gotten ? In shop here the ratings were in milliamps not watts, but they seem to be mucking up the ratings in the description, the RXE110, 160 and 250 have the same ratings in the description which isn't right , i would suspect the RXE250 would be higher current rated than 185 , but seeing the others are mucked up not sure if that RXE185 is 2.8A rated? There is a jaycar still at penrith?, you might need to contact them and ask.

or ebay
.https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/364888858118?_skw=3a+polyswitch&itmmeta=01JABTH5XY8GBM06B93Z
Click to expand...
Stewie, would a 5A auto reset fuse be too high for a 2S LiPo battery in my Hudswell, lowest Jaycar have..
 
Alan McLennan said:
Stewie, would a 5A auto reset fuse be too high for a 2S LiPo battery in my Hudswell, lowest Jaycar have..
Click to expand...
I think it should be ok, the battery would be protected in a wiring short circuit fine , as long as the other bits in the circuit can handle 5A flowing? As said by Jimmy and Ge Rik , fit it close as you can to the battery (the lead from the battery to the fuse is unprotected) so the shorter it is the better.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top