Garden Railway Forum

I need some help quickly. I am going hopefully to my 1st steam up since the start of COVID on Monday. So I went to check my loco to see how she was, give her a run and check her over. I filled her with water and gas, then switched everything on and went to try give a pre-check, you know the basic things before you start and I found that nothing worked, nothing. So I thought it must be the battery in the loco, so out it came and onto the charger, but now the plugs that are now on the battery is one of the smaller type, I forget what they are called. The charger I use is a Imax B6 and I have forgotten how it works now. It has now been on for 4 hours.....
What setting should it be on, this is mainly a question for Rick

If I can't get the battery charged up it will stop me from going to the steam up and I am so looking forward to it.

You need Rik's guide to the Imax B6
https://riksrailway.blogspot.com/2017/0 ... arger.html

I printed out the relevant bits and keep it with the charger, it's invaluable.

However, if the batteries are completely flat and haven't been used for 18months or so they may be beyond redemption.

Thank you Phillip.

I was struggling, I forgot that you need to hold the start button down and wait until it beeps.....

FWLR wrote: Sun Jun 27, 2021 1:33 pm I forgot that you need to ....

Yep, been there, done that, etc. Thats why I printed it out as a handy guide... With me, I keep forgetting to plug in both the charger leads AND the balance leads, with LiPo's.

Glad you seem to have got it sorted out, Rod. I've been busy all day and so only just caught up with this thread.
I hope you enjoy the steam-up

Rik

Bring it along anyway, even if it's still playing up. Many minds and tinkerers will help I'm sure.

Sorted thanks Phillip...





Been told by Anne to get some more battery packs ....

FWLR wrote: Mon Jun 28, 2021 7:52 am Been told by Anne to get some more battery packs

That sounds like a plan!

Glad you got it sorted Rod...

On the subject of battery packs, is this the correct one for my Roundhouse Billy.
It the same has the one I have now, a 4 cell with the Futaba plug. The one I have doesn't have any readable information on it unfortunately......it does have NI-CD though I think.

FWLR wrote: Tue Jun 29, 2021 5:17 pm On the subject of battery packs, is this the correct one for my Roundhouse Billy.

It the same has the one I have now, a 4 cell with the Futaba plug. The one I have doesn't have any readable information on it unfortunately......it does have NI-CD though I think.

I can't answer as to whether it is actually the correct one, but it sounds about right, but I am slightly surprised that your existing one says NiCd?.

Hi Rod,
So long as the existing batteries are AA and not AAA, that set should suit perfectly. If the old batteries are Ni-Cd (Nickel Cadmium) that would explain the lack of charge - Ni-Cd's were notorious for developing a 'memory', where just boosting the charge rather than discharging them and then recharging resulted in them 'forgetting' they have a larger capacity. Ni-Mh (Nickel Metal Hydride) don't have the same issue.

Thanks guys. I have put an order in....

FWLR wrote: Wed Jun 30, 2021 9:24 am Thanks guys. I have put an order in....

I hope you got it sorted out, Rod.

BTW (probably a bit late now, but might be useful later), there are two types of NiMh batteries, standard ones and Low Self Discharge (LSD) cells. The LSD cells keep their charge for longer when stored ( eg will still have 80% of a full charge after a year), whereas ordinary NiMh cells lose their charge quite quickly when stored.

LSD cells are also known as Instant, Ready to use or Eneloop cells

Eg
https://www.vapextech.co.uk/batteries/s ... -discharge

Rik

Hi rik,

I am sorted now thank you.

Good to know about those batteries though, I seem to always be charging them, especially the AA's and the prices seem to be getting more expensive everyday for the ones I have bought previously from other companies.

ge_rik wrote: Mon Aug 02, 2021 8:02 am

FWLR wrote: Wed Jun 30, 2021 9:24 am Thanks guys. I have put an order in....

I hope you got it sorted out, Rod.

BTW (probably a bit late now, but might be useful later), there are two types of NiMh batteries, standard ones and Low Self Discharge (LSD) cells. The LSD cells keep their charge for longer when stored ( eg will still have 80% of a full charge after a year), whereas ordinary NiMh cells lose their charge quite quickly when stored.

LSD cells are also known as Instant, Ready to use or Eneloop cells

Eg
https://www.vapextech.co.uk/batteries/s ... -discharge

Rik

A bit more on Eneloops batteries.
I was told by my local battery store there are 2 types 1 made in China and 1 made in Japan, the Japanese ones are better in both performance and quality.
I was told that the Japanese ones have a black cover and are labelled with a "Pro" tag plus have a higher capacity while the Chinese ones have a white cover.
https://www.jaycar.com.au/panasonic-ene ... k/p/SB2936