I am in the process of installing the airwire system in two 4-6-0 engines. I have a question about the batteries. I ordered the 12v gel cell baterries recommended in the airwire manual. I was planning on using a battery car with two 12v batteries as stated in the manual. Is 24v too much for the motors in the 4-6-0? The Bachmann Rep told me their engines need two amps and 12v would pull 4 “heavy cars” and six “light” cars. Does anyone have experience with the airwire system and the Bachmann 4-6-0? I should have asked the question prior to ordering and receiving the equipment, but then that takes the fun out of it. I will be running two trains on an approximate 220 ft flat layout out doors. Thank in advance. Spoonman
Although I don’t use the airwire system, I do use RCS and all three of my 4-6-0’s only use 14.4v and they have plenty of pulling power. The 2-8-0 only uses 16v. It’s not so much the voltage that produces your “pulling power” but the Amh rating of the batteries. Mine are all around 2000 amh.
as ken said I am using 14.4 in my Annie-NiCad with RCS…plenty of power
14.4 is the most I use with my Airwire.
And a few, I have dropped down to 12 volts.
Plenty of run time.
Plenty of power.
j
Thanks to all who responded. Looks like I’ll try a single 12v battery and see if it does the job. The batteries I have are 2900 amh. Where do I get 14.4v batteries?
7.2 x2 =14.4… I run 2 7.2 Nicad packs in my tender as supplied by Dave Goodson…aka TOC…
(http://lscdata.com/users/cale_nelson/Build%20Photos/Annie/batender.jpg)
those look like 2000mah if you can read upside down 
I’ve been pleased with the performance thus far…also runs Sierra Sound as well as directional lighting. cale
My 12V gel cell works fine. Now I am wondering if I can attach the Airwire direct to the onboard sound card or I have to cut my voltage down before I connect to the 9V battery wires?
Eric Spooner said:If you have a 12V battery, what is the 9V battery for? With no fancy work at allm the airwire can handle 18 V.
My 12V gel cell works fine. Now I am wondering if I can attach the Airwire direct to the onboard sound card or I have to cut my voltage down before I connect to the 9V battery wires?
THe limit for the Airwire system is 18 volts. Anything more and you will fry the system, letting out the dreaded “Magic Smoke.”
Let me rephrase my question. I have the 12v gel cell for my motor power, but I left the original sound card hooked to the 9v battery. Everything works fine, but I go thru the 9v batteries pretty quick. I was wondering if I could run wires from the airwire decoder to the 9v battery terminals and remove the 9v battery. Everything would be connected to the 12V gel cell.
You are trying to run the stock “sound system” from 12v? make a 9 v regulator circuit. I’m pretty sure 12 volts will kill it.
Of course you could hook up the 12v and if it stops working, it’s not a good idea, ha ha!.
Seriously, I’d not experiment.
Regards, Greg