Garden Railway Forum

Hi folks, I've got an old Novo (Big Big) 0-4-0 chassis knocking around that I'm planning to make a little loco out of. Originally thought about doing something steam outline, but in the end, sent off for a HGLW 'Gordon' diesel body kit (excellent value by the looks of it) which'll form a quick build. Currently waiting to receive it along with a couple of their well-reviewed wagon kits.

My chassis doesn't have any battery fittings. Does anyone know what voltage the Big Big stuff ran on? I'm sure I've read 3 volt somewhere but I'm not sure.

On batteries in general. Let's say a loco has a 3v motor, which would be powered by, say, 2x AA's. What would be the effect of having 4 AA's instead, and having them wired in parallel - 2 lots of 3V? Would it make the motor more powerful, or just make the batteries last longer, or neither?

Cheers for your help everyone. I'll share photos of course!

Hi Tom

Not sure of the voltage of those, however if you wired 2 AA's in series and wired another 2 in parallel then you would increase the running time by double, it would not give it any more power though.

Cheers
Steve

If I remember correctly the Big Big chassis are originally a 2 series 2 parallel arrangement, but of the much larger D or C cells, resulting in 3V total. As Steve said above, the parallel arrangement gives about double run time versus just the 2 cells in series.

A suggestion for consideration have a look at 18650 Li ion batteries, a single cell is rated at 3.7V and can have a capacity up into the 3000mAH + range.

This is an example of what is on offer in Australia; 4x3600mAH batteries plus charger .
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/23367574247 ... 3TEALw_wcB

Used in conjunction with one of these protection boards for safety.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Round-5A-PC ... 2570098444

One battery with a high capacity for a simpler installation, the 0.7V extra voltage should not hurt the motor at all.

There will still exist the requirement to control speed and direction but if that is already fitted, then a simple battery replacement should be all that is required.

Food for thought.

metalmuncher wrote: ↑Mon Apr 19, 2021 7:44 pm If I remember correctly the Big Big chassis are originally a 2 series 2 parallel arrangement, but of the much larger D or C cells

That's right - 4 C cells I think for the 4 wheel chassis, 4 D cells for the "Blue Flyer" Hymek...

Andrew.

Cheers everyone. I'll let you know how I get on!
Photos to follow...