Charger Advice

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SpudUk
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Charger Advice

Post by SpudUk » Mon Feb 20, 2017 12:08 pm

Hello Folks,

I'm finally the proud owner of an Accucraft Baguley Drewry, but the battery charging arrangement slightly confuses me. It didn't come with a charger when it arrived, but it looks like they're rechargeable AAs, and the seller used a Gamma AC/DC peak detect charger to charge it, viable a cable in the front buffer beam.

I have no idea what that means - can anyone help either source a charger or advise on a cheap change to the battery/charging arrangements?

Thanks
Chris Auckland

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markoteal
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Post by markoteal » Mon Feb 20, 2017 12:12 pm

Might be easier to pop up a photo of the socket so we can see what's involved
Where did I put that uncoupler?

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Post by SpudUk » Mon Feb 20, 2017 12:14 pm

I will endeavour to do so when I get home this evening!

Thanks
Chris Auckland

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Post by James from Devon » Mon Feb 20, 2017 12:37 pm

A picture would be great but more than likely, it's a 2.1mm DC socket, most of these locos seems to have that arrangement.

I use these chargers for all my electric locos and they work very well:

http://www.strikalite.co.uk/prodcat_typ ... rgers.html

Hope that's helpful

Jim
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Post by LNR » Mon Feb 20, 2017 12:38 pm

Peak detect, or Delta Peak Detection, to give it its full name, is just the method by which many battery chargers know when a battery is fully charged. It results from the fact that as the battery is being charged, the voltage rises until it plateau's, The Delta Peak. The voltage then drops slightly the charger detects this and either stops charging, or goes into stand by mode.
I'll leave charger suggestions to someone closer to your area, personally I reckon you can't beat the genuine IMAX B6 AC in this day and age with so many different types of rechargeable batteries available, it can charge them all.
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Post by markoteal » Mon Feb 20, 2017 1:13 pm

James from Devon:122974 wrote:A picture would be great but more than likely, it's a 2.1mm DC socket, most of these locos seems to have that arrangement.

I use these chargers for all my electric locos and they work very well:

http://www.strikalite.co.uk/prodcat_typ ... rgers.html

Hope that's helpful

Jim
Yes - mine is a similar charger - it just has a different adaptor on the end to fit into the socket (which is probably the 2.1mm one Jim describes above) on the various locos.

That's what works on the Roundhouse battery loco I have also the Deltang RC wiring & batteries I got from Peter Spoerer on the other locos at CHLR
Where did I put that uncoupler?

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Post by -steves- » Mon Feb 20, 2017 5:22 pm

By all means get a multi charger like the Imax B6, however, be prepared to buy a DC power supply for it and spend many hours scratching your head on which option to charge. It takes quite a while to work out all the options so if you know someone with one, get them to set it up for you and leave it there unless you need to change it, then get them to talk you through it. They do so many batteries these days its easy to get confused and charge it wrong, especially as li-ion are available in both 3.6v and 3.7v, then you need to work out max C rate charging for each type of battery, it can get complicated.

The best bet for many is to buy a simple product designed for the specific job, if need be, take it to a local shop and take their advise as batteries are a huge topic on their own.
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Post by LNR » Mon Feb 20, 2017 10:04 pm

Er!!! the Imax B6 "AC" has its own AC supply built in as well as DC supply input.
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Post by -steves- » Tue Feb 21, 2017 6:05 pm

LNR:122989 wrote:Er!!! the Imax B6 "AC" has its own AC supply built in as well as DC supply input.
Grant.
Not sure what the "Er!!!" is all about my youngest says stuff like that, and Dur!!!, lol, but hey ho, each to their own ;)

As I said, be prepared to buy a PSU, as it's easy to accidentally pickup the DC version as it's cheaper and it's where most people start out as they don't know what they are looking for, seen it done a number of times and then a PSU has been purchased separately. The absolute best bet is to get someone local to guide you through it all or buy a dedicated charger, as it's far easier ;)
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Post by tom_tom_go » Tue Feb 21, 2017 7:49 pm

I use this and it caters for all my needs:

http://www.componentshop.co.uk/intellig ... packs.html

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Post by -steves- » Wed Feb 22, 2017 7:46 am

tom_tom_go:122996 wrote:I use this and it caters for all my needs:

http://www.componentshop.co.uk/intellig ... packs.html
Absolutely perfect :)




.
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Post by SpudUk » Thu Feb 23, 2017 8:37 am

Morning Folks,

Sorry for the delay, hopefully this should help solve my problems!

So, this is the plug on the buffer beam:

Image

and this is the back of it on the chassis:

Image

This is the cable I was given with the loco:

Image

and this is the batteries inside:

Image

Does that help?

There is also a slight mystery on the inside I discovered whilst tinkering about. On the outside of the loco there are two switches, one one/off/charging and one for the sound. But I found another one inside, which I couldn't appear to see did anything:

Image

It seemed to connecting into this box:

Image

Just curious as to what it is...
Chris Auckland

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Post by tom_tom_go » Thu Feb 23, 2017 9:38 am

So it is fitted with a 1/4" jack by the looks of it, not sure why it needed to be so large as 2.1mm is sufficient!

How many batteries are installed in the loco as this determined the charger you need so it can cope with x amount of cells.

As for the box I cannot make it out in the photos, can you take a clearer shot?

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Post by SpudUk » Thu Feb 23, 2017 9:52 am

tom_tom_go:123032 wrote:How many batteries are installed in the loco as this determined the charger you need so it can cope with x amount of cells.
I think there are only 6 Tom - to be fair I didn't manage to get a good look.
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Post by tom_tom_go » Thu Feb 23, 2017 11:56 am

So that is 7.2v then providing the batteries are healthy.

The charger I recommended will work but you will need to change the jack to 2.1mm or use chocblock, etc.

Have you tried the loco out as 7.2v is quite low for a loco that size?

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Post by SpudUk » Thu Feb 23, 2017 11:59 am

tom_tom_go:123034 wrote:So that is 7.2v then providing the batteries are healthy.

The charger I recommended will work but you will need to change the jack to 2.1mm or use chocblock, etc.

Have you tried the loco out as 7.2v is quite low for a loco that size?
No not yet - waiting on a new transmitter to arrive
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Post by Chris Cairns » Thu Feb 23, 2017 2:27 pm

SpudUk wrote:But I found another one inside, which I couldn't appear to see did anything

It seemed to connecting into this box
The black switch is the power on/off switch connected to the Mtroniks speed controller (looks like one of the Viper range). So this power switch needs to be in the on position in order for the Run switch on the buffer beam to work properly.

If you do not have them, you should be able to download the instructions for the Mtroniks Viper ESC here (enter the appropriate Viper model in the search box) - http://www.mtroniks.net/

Looks like there are only 5 cells which does seem low voltage for this loco, particularly with a sound module as well.

Chris Cairns

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Post by SpudUk » Fri Feb 24, 2017 10:06 am

Chris Cairns:123038 wrote:Looks like there are only 5 cells which does seem low voltage for this loco, particularly with a sound module as well.
Took it apart today again and realised there are another 5 behind - sorry!
Chris Auckland

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Post by James from Devon » Fri Feb 24, 2017 9:45 pm

Much healthier voltage for that loco!

The 1/4 inch jack plug is an audio plug, although it can carry voltage I would change that for a standard 2.1mm DC plug. The advantage being that you can likely use the same charger for more than one loco.

Hope you enjoy the loco, they are great, I have one that will pull the side of the house down.

Cheers

Jim
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Post by James from Devon » Fri Feb 24, 2017 9:47 pm

Sorry for the second post. I thought this may be handy..

https://www.rapidonline.com/truconnect- ... mm-20-1094

I buy all my electronics from Rapid....they are cheap but there is a postage charge but they do sell things like glues, tools and thinners which are also cheap, it can make the postage charge worth it.

Hope its useful

Jim
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