Garden Railway Forum

I'm currently in the process of building my first battery loco. The receiver I bought from Yatton models (RXY3v1) is based on DelTang modules and the specification lists input voltage of 4V to 16V. This has left me somewhat baffled about what batteries to source.

Having scrolled through many posts it looks like there are several options, I saw a post from another member with the same loco & receiver who used a 6V SLA battery. NiMH or Li-Ion also seem to be a possibility with the latter having more sophisticated charging requirements? I have no real fixed requirements in terms of running the loco, I'd like to add lights & sound in addition to the two motors supplied with the kit. It will be pulling smallish rakes of passenger wagons (for now!).

Any help appreciated! I have a basic understanding of electronics (GCSE level..) but I've been left a little lost at the options available.

It is a bit of a minefield George. Rik has done a pretty comprehensive roundup of most of the basic stuff in one of his Blogs. I suggest it's a good starting point.
https://riksrailway.blogspot.com/search?q=batteries

philipy wrote: ↑Sat May 01, 2021 7:13 am It is a bit of a minefield George. Rik has done a pretty comprehensive roundup of most of the basic stuff in one of his Blogs. I suggest it's a good starting point.
https://riksrailway.blogspot.com/search?q=batteries

As Philip suggests, take a look at the above link in combination with this
https://riksrailway.blogspot.com/2013/1 ... r-and.html

If you then need further advice or clarification then ask away. There's plenty of experience and expertise on here other than mine.

Rik

Brilliant, thanks both!

georgesheppard wrote: ↑Fri Apr 30, 2021 11:20 pm I'm currently in the process of building my first battery loco. The receiver I bought from Yatton models (RXY3v1) is based on DelTang modules and the specification lists input voltage of 4V to 16V. This has left me somewhat baffled about what batteries to source.

Having scrolled through many posts it looks like there are several options, I saw a post from another member with the same loco & receiver who used a 6V SLA battery. NiMH or Li-Ion also seem to be a possibility with the latter having more sophisticated charging requirements? I have no real fixed requirements in terms of running the loco, I'd like to add lights & sound in addition to the two motors supplied with the kit. It will be pulling smallish rakes of passenger wagons (for now!).

Any help appreciated! I have a basic understanding of electronics (GCSE level..) but I've been left a little lost at the options available.

I think the first thing is what size (volts) motor do you have, I run a lot of my LGB (24 volt) locos on a LiPo 3S 11.1 volts, and that is sufficient in most cases. If you motor is 12 volts 6 volts could be sufficient, depending on the weight of the loco and the load to pull. I personally like LiPo and Li-Ion batteries because of the size to output ratio. 2 Li-Ion batteries slightly larger than AAs will give 7.2 volts whereas you would need 6 NiMH batteries, so is room is at a premium Lithium, but there are hazards and they can be dangerous, but not if handled correctly.

If you want sound, and are considering a MyLocoSound card:
Then I would suggest a minimum of either 8 NiMH, or a '3S' Lithium-based battery.. - Unless the loco is a big square empty box, I would not recommend SLA.

If you decide on NiMH batteries, then for the 'how-many' calculation, use a value of 1.5V per cell.

You don't state the make/model, of loco? - Or if it uses (say) a LGB block..

Phil.P

Phil.P wrote: ↑Sat May 01, 2021 12:31 pm If you want sound, and are considering a MyLocoSound card:
Then I would suggest a minimum of either 8 NiMH, or a '3S' Lithium-based battery.. - Unless the loco is a big square empty box, I would not recommend SLA.

If you decide on NiMH batteries, then for the 'how-many' calculation, use a value of 1.5V per cell.

You don't state the make/model, of loco? - Or if it uses (say) a LGB block..

Phil.P

It's a kit build loco supplied by Yatton Models. I can't find any specification on the supplied motors, I'll need to email and ask!

I've spent some time going through Rik's blog posts which have been really helpful! I've decided on li-ion batteries but I'm now confused at all the options that presents! It seems I might need to consider balance charging, but the pre-made packs I've seen don't seem to have enough wires to support that? Just red/black.

In terms of power requirements, I'd like to include:

2x motors
8 LEDs - 4 x forward, 4x reverse, so only 4 on at a time. There is scope for another 2 x LEDS in each direction, but not sure if that will be overkill.
Soundboard


I have a Yatton Models receiver, which provides 3V 20 mA pins for the forward / reverse LEDs and can accept input voltage for 4-18V. I was thinking maybe this pack from RS? https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/recharge ... ks/1449414


To save myself a little effort soldering I thought about ordering the Basic loco wiring loom from rctrains.co.uk. As for sound, MyLocoSound looks good but I've not had chance to do much research as of yet!

That battery pack looks like good value, George. It works out at less than £8 a cell which isn't bad and you don't have the problem of having to wire it up yourself. Also, if anything does go wrong you have the RS guarantee. It also includes battery protection, so something else you don't need to worry about.

Rik

Rik is balance charging something I’d need to consider with this pack? Still a bit confused on that front.

It doesn't look like it. The protection device they've included in the pack probably includes circuitry to monitor the balance charging of the cells.

Rik

georgesheppard wrote: ↑Sun May 02, 2021 8:57 pm Rik is balance charging something I’d need to consider with this pack? Still a bit confused on that front.

I think Rik is right. Normally with Li-ion battery packs, you would have a balance charging lead which has 1 more wire than the number of cells in series. ie. 1 to negative and one more to each of the cell-to-cell junctions - so for 2 cells in series you have 3 leads, for three in series you have 4 leads and so on. This allows the balance charger to monitor the charge to each individual cell and balance the charge so they all come out equal.
This RS battery pack only has two leads for 6 cells, so as Rik says presumably there must be internal circuitry to do the balancing, which is handy because, again presumably, it means that you can use any charger of suitable capacity without needing a dedicated balance charger.

Thanks both!

I don't know if this will help. I have one of these B6 chargers that Rik told me about. I find them excellent, because you can have various types of batteries and I use mine a lot.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yosoo-Health-G ... 31&sr=8-26

It might not be that name I have, but they are all pretty much the same.....

philipy wrote: ↑Mon May 03, 2021 7:22 am
I think Rik is right. Normally with Li-ion battery packs, you would have a balance charging lead which has 1 more wire than the number of cells in series. ie. 1 to negative and one more to each of the cell-to-cell junctions - so for 2 cells in series you have 3 leads, for three in series you have 4 leads and so on. This allows the balance charger to monitor the charge to each individual cell and balance the charge so they all come out equal.
This RS battery pack only has two leads for 6 cells, so as Rik says presumably there must be internal circuitry to do the balancing, which is handy because, again presumably, it means that you can use any charger of suitable capacity without needing a dedicated balance charger.

Although I agree about the internal balancer, don't totally agree with "use any charger of suitable capacity", I think that should be "use any suitable lithium charger of suitable capacity"

FWLR wrote: ↑Mon May 03, 2021 8:38 am I don't know if this will help. I have one of these B6 chargers that Rik told me about. I find them excellent, because you can have various types of batteries and I use mine a lot.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yosoo-Health-G ... 31&sr=8-26

It might not be that name I have, but they are all pretty much the same.....

This looks like a good choice.

I echo what Jim says. Even if the pack does contain circuitry for balance charging as we suspect, it's essential a dedicated lithium charger is used. I can thoroughly recommend the iMax B6, but there are other less complicated chargers out there.

Rik

Jimmyb wrote: ↑Mon May 03, 2021 8:50 am
Although I agree about the internal balancer, don't totally agree with "use any charger of suitable capacity", I think that should be "use any suitable lithium charger of suitable capacity"

Ok hands up, I was sloppy with my wording! I kind of assumed that would be obvious but, I know, "never assume"!

I've got an iMax B6 on order

georgesheppard wrote: ↑Mon May 03, 2021 2:48 pm I've got an iMax B6 on order

Good all round charger that, I used them a lot some years ago