Roundhouse battery loco, pre-purchase questionnaire

Mobi said:
Ah, I see.

These 9 V batteries have typically 250 mAh capacity - nearly 10 times less than that of typical AA NiMH batteries :(
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Yes - the little 9 volt batteries are fine for running LED lights in coaches and things like that, but effectively useless for running anything with a motor in it.....

Jon.
 
Mobi said:
Did anyone use 9V battery like this? http://www.electricianslink.net.au/pics/68/68693b.jpg

2 of these should provide with 18 V which is good enough. Also, they are available as rechargeable and charger is cheap. Size is small too.
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I can confirm all said above, they don't give the best run time and seem to take forever to charge. Replacing them is on the "to do" list.
 
Zerogee said:
Yes - the little 9 volt batteries are fine for running LED lights in coaches and things like that, but effectively useless for running anything with a motor in it.....

Jon.
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Gotta agree with that one. When I first experimented with converting a loco to R/C I originally ran it with two x 9v PP9 batteries in series to give 18v. Ran slowly and run time was very limited.

Now runs with a "proper" 12v NiMH pack from Strikalite. Now get realistic running speeds and really good run time.
 
Mobi said:
Another way of running via battery. Connected rear wheels of Stainz with crocodile clips.

Also, as the front wheels are exposed, similar connection might be made.
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If you mean you're actually clipping the croc clips onto the turning wheels, I'd think that's a sure-fire way of quickly gouging some nasty grooves in your wheel flanges.... most UN-recommended!

Jon.
 
Strikealite website shows some battery cables with a white cap on them. What are those things called?

Those look quite handy compared to using terminal blocks to connect wires!

quickly gouging some nasty grooves in your wheel
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It was for testing. Wouldn't be pragmatic way to do it anyway.

I tried to open the Kof diesel. Not easy and some screws are in very awkward position at the bottom.

Feel like for first attempt, opening up the loco and fitting stuff inside is not going to be an easy task. Perhaps putting components inside a trailing wagon much easier. Then I can connect to loco via rear socket.
 
I am still confused why I need to remove track pick up. I have run the loco from battery power for 15-20 minutes couples of times and it ran fine. After that it works OK with track power too.

Why I can't leave the loco untouched so that I have options of running battery as well as track power (of course not using both at same time)?

If sending battery power "confuses" the decoder, how can it still work?
 
Track pickups (the skates) cause drag, which uses some of your precious battery power, so reduces your running time.

If you are going to run track power AND battery (even if not at the same time), then loco's should be either one or the other. NOT BOTH. - No matter how careful you are, you or someone else, WILL get it wrong. Stuffing the current a decent battery can give into the wrong-end of a Central Station, or even an analogue controller, can be a very expensive mistake.

More than anything we are trying to protect you, and your investment, from a costly error.
PLEASE, we can tell your knowledge is limited, isolate the motor and track from your battery arrangements.
 
PhilP said:
Track pickups (the skates) cause drag, which uses some of your precious battery power, so reduces your running time.

If you are going to run track power AND battery (even if not at the same time), then loco's should be either one or the other. NOT BOTH. - No matter how careful you are, you or someone else, WILL get it wrong. Stuffing the current a decent battery can give into the wrong-end of a Central Station, or even an analogue controller, can be a very expensive mistake.

More than anything we are trying to protect you, and your investment, from a costly error.
PLEASE, we can tell your knowledge is limited, isolate the motor and track from your battery arrangements.
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Yep gotta echo that.

A lot of guys on here have been doing this for a long time and some of them have learned from their mistakes. Seriously the reason you're being advised on here to disconnect the skates and pick-ups will be down to some poor sods expensive personal experience in the past.

As Phil says we're merely trying to protect you. With pickups and skates disconnected you're 100% certain that there is absolutely no possibility of track power accidentally causing issues with your battery powered loco, and vice versa.

There are some very accomplished electrical bods on here who have rigged up isolating switches and circuits to run either track power or battery in the same loco, but 99% of us just remove the skates and pickups. Even with a switch and clever circuit you can still forget to switch to the appropriate power source.

Remove any electrical contact between track and loco = no danger of slip-ups.
 
Why would you want to risk feeding amps through the track and having drag from pick ups when not needed? It really is trivial taking these simple engines apart. No harder than say using a forum and posting links which you can do..... :D

Sometimes you have to just get on with things and learn from doing ....

If you have issues bring it here and we will fix, or someone else will if not me. You can figure out a dc circuit with a battery and motor in it!?! Its more an issue of getting on with it than knowledge, which is why i am trying you to encourage you forward ;D
 
BTW - Just to complicate things further - have you seen this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Remote-Control-G-Scale-Garden-Steam-Engine-Locomotive-Sounds-45MM-Track-/121364022281?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item1c41dc0409

Rik
 
ge_rik said:
BTW - Just to complicate things further - have you seen this...
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The Newqida loco was discussed a few pages back, including the "enhanced version" with metal wheels etc.
 
ntpntpntp said:
The Newqida loco was discussed a few pages back, including the "enhanced version" with metal wheels etc.
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Sorry - musta missed that

Rik

PS - Fancy picking-up a couple of cheap returned locos? Might be a pig in a poke but also might be the useful basis for bashes.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121699359628
 
Mobi another option,mremember that Tender Loco I showed you in my Loco Shelf,mwell someone on here is selling one for £75 look for the Third Thread of items being sold.
JonD
 
I have not yet managed to open the loco!
However, I checked my tracks carefully and discovered one loose fishplate. I don't know if one bad fishplate can cause problem elsewhere in track, but after replacing this, both track powered locos are running fine. Yesterday I ran for 8 hours and trains didn't stall. Not that whole 8 hours I stared at train. I just let it run and do my other work [emoji3]

Battery conversion is turning out to be far more difficult than I thought it would be. In the meantime I am trying to have fun with whatever I have already.

In this exercise I observed few things. I run my Playmobil loco less often. Not that I don't like it, in fact it is my most favourite loco, but I rarely have fully charged batteries.

Secondly, I tend not to baby sit trains. If I spend too much on battery powered loco, I might have to baby sit that, which in turn means I would end up less time running train and worrying more about something bad thing might happen to my loco.

I am still interested in battery powered loco, but I realised that it should not be the case that until I grab one I wouldn't run otherwise.

I assumed battery loco as remedy for not having to clean track ever, but possibly that is not right argument.
 
There are plenty of people around who mostly use track power but have a battery loco for those occasions when they want to do a bit of running without needing any preparation. My experience over some years with NiMH is that I will generally have sufficient charge for an hour or so of running up to about two to three months after charging if the loco hasn't been used, although of course that depends on having selected a battery of the appropriate capacity in milli amp hours in the first place, and remembering to charge in the first place! I do however find it essential to keep a record of date of charge, running hours since charge, and date the handset battery was replaced for each loco.
 
Hi Mobi, sounds like you fixed your track power. If you have two gaps/breaks in continuity on a DC loop then yes you will get a dead spot. So there is probably another there some where to find although fixing one will fix the problem for now. If you think about it being a loop you therefore need to have two rail breaks to isolate it from the transformer.

The main reason I went to battery power is I do not run often enough to keep the railhead cleanish from use, and it is a reasonably large (twin track around perimeter of suburban garden) effort to clean it! If you have a smaller simple loop DC could well be the answer.

BTW, always best to keep half an eye on a train, if one gets stuck with rotating wheels it can make some nice grooves in the rail head (of course don't ask how I know :-X )
 
I have removed all the screws from the bottom of the Kof diesel loco.

Unfortunately I still can't loosen the top of loco (the black body) from the chassis (red part).

The cab part is loosened. But the middle part of body is still stuck with the chassis. I have also taken out the handrails at front/sides.

The only other screws which is visible is under the mid axle wheels (if I put the loco upside down). These in such awkward location that I can't even slot a screw driver.

Is it really that hard to take the loco apart or I have missed something?
 
A photograph might help?

Only ever taken a small 0-4-0 Kof apart, but it sounds like on this 0-6-0 model, you might have to remove those awkward screws....
 
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