RH Little John - battery will not charge - Problem solved!

[KjellAn]

The battery in my Roundhouse Little John is maybe dead. The engine has also a sound module from Locoworks installed.
Probably the engine was not stored with the mainswitch turned to "off".
When connected to the original charger the charger flashes 4 times: red - green - red - green. And then no more ...

Has someone here any good advises about the issue?

[philipy]

Kjell, I don't know for sure but I wonder if the battery volts have dropped too low and the soundcard is causing a problem? I don't know which soundcard Locoworks install but I do know that MyLocoSound sound cards require 7v minimum and the 6 x1.2v NiMh battery pack wouldn't leave much leeway.
Is it possible to disconnect the soundcard temporarily to see if that makes a difference, then reconnect it again once the charge has been restored?

If you need a new battery pack, Strikalite do one specifically for the Little John.

[KjellAn]

I have disconnected the wires to the soundcard but there is no response in flashing lights on the charger.
Looks like I would have to buy a new battery pack.

Then there will be an other issue: Locoworks told me that the hood on the Little John is so tight over cables inside the hood that disassembly and reassembly of the hood could harm the cables and soundspeaker. Service and replacing battery are best done by Locoworks.

Anyone who have tried to open the Little John - with Locoworks Sound Module? And have replaced the battery pack.
I live in Norway and I would try to do the change of battery pack by myself.

[tom_tom_go]

You need to take a step back and start with the basics.

Disconnect the battery from all wiring connected to the loco and try and charge the battery with the charger separately.

[tom_tom_go]

Andrew also has problems with his Little John:

https://gardenrails.org/forum/viewtopic ... 29&t=12634

[KjellAn]

You need to take a step back and start with the basics.
Disconnect the battery from all wiring connected to the loco and try and charge the battery with the charger separately.

I have sent an email to Locoworks about the issue. As mentioned above there is a little challenge about remove the body from chassis caused by small space for wiring. After some advises from Locoworks how to - then I will try to charge directly to the battery pack. Hopefully I do not need to replace the battery pack.

[tom_tom_go]

It sounds a tad extreme that you need to send the loco back to the UK because of the wiring!

If the loco is out of warranty then I would just get stuck in...

[philipy]

If space is so tight, you could change the battery type:
6 x 1.2v NiMh = 7.2v
2 x 3.7v 14500 Li batteries = 7.4v but in only 1/3 of the space!

[KjellAn]

Little John is now working well. Problem solved.

Notice to all:
Make sure that main switch is turned off when you put your locomotive in the box after running session.
If battery is complet flatt the charger will not be able to start charging these ni-ch batteries.

After some carefull handling I did get the body disconnected from the chassis. I did cut the wires to the battery pack and connected the charge plug direct to the battery. With no other electronic parts connected the battery started charging.

There are no option to change to a smaller battery pack because Roundhouse have a metal box on top of the chassis for the battery pack.