Tag Archives: Battery Power

Porter: Li-Ion Test Run

All english posts, Model Railway, No.1 Porter,

After I finished the powerpack the next opportunity was seized to perform an extensive test run.

First the pack was connected to the charger and fully charged. To be on the safe side I placed the accu pack in a fireproof bowl and thanks to the fine weather I could move the whole setup into the garden. In case that a cell had been damaged, it would have spared me the troubles of toxic fumes in my workshop.

Test run under severe supervision.

All went well, so I could plug the powerpack into the existing R/C circuit. The results were stupefying: almost three hours of solid mileage with 40% capacity remaining. Now I’m convinced that I can get up to two hours of operations out of the powerpack without overtaxing it. Next step will be the assembly of the DelTang transmitter.

Porter: Conversion to Battery Power

All english posts, Model Railway, No.1 Porter, , , ,
Porter Lok zerlegt für Umbau

Porter loco disassembled for conversion

Now that the tender’s basic construction is finished, I wanted to achieve operational readiness. That required the porter loco to get converted from rail to battery power. The most important thing to keep in mind is to insulate the loco’s circuits from the rails in order to avoid “supplying” the rails with the battery’s current. Only then one is completely independent from other loco’s and can really enjoy the advantages of battery power. … →

New Construction Report: Porter on Battery Power

All english posts, Model Railway, No.1 Porter, , , ,

Since last September I’ve worked on a project, which I’d like to present now. It’s about a small Portor steam locomotive by LGB, which I want to switch over to battery that is accumulator power, controlled by R/C. At a later time I’d also like to adapt the looks.

Tender Mockup made of paper

Tender Mockup made of paper

This loco is supposed to make the starting point for my own garden railway, hopefully within this year. September and October were spent with some experiments to place all the necessary components within the locomotive. Alas, I had to take away too much of the lead ballast, so the loco wasn’t able to transmit its motive power to the rails. … →