Large Scale Central

Is 24 volts too much?

Something tells me it’s a stupid question but I have access to 12v motorcycle batteries at wholesale costs…

Given that they’re actually 13.8v each, you’re talking about 27 1/2 volts.

What do you want to do with them? They might be a bit big for a battery car.

they have one that is 6ah 4-7/16" L x 2 3/4" W x 4 1/8" high
4.6 lbs. each so ball bearing wheels make the most sense.
would it be too rough on the motors? Would 1 work?
If you are coming to Ric’s this weekend, could you help me with my 1st R/C job?

I’ll be at Ric’s.

Only thing I’d worry about is a controller that can deal with 2 batteries fresh off the charger. Of course, a regulator could remedy that.

6 Ah should run a loco a long time. I get around 2 hours of steady work from my Mallet with 3.8Ah of battery, smoke and sound included.

You will have to do something about lights, most systems I have seen set up start to pop bulbs at about 18 volts continuous…

yes, maybe too much for the reasons Tom said.

Regards, Greg

It depends on the receiver’s capacity.
eg; AirWire must not exceed 18V.
Dunno about what system you are using.

Do not forget to “in line fuse” the battery!

John perused Andy’s revolution manual, and since it will work on anything from 12 to 24v, one of his motorcycle batteries will run it very nicely.

yeah, ther’re cheap but how will I cram one of those in the belly of a GP-40? I guess it’s worth making a battery car after all?

John Bouck said:
It depends on the receiver's capacity. eg; AirWire must not exceed 18V. Dunno about what system you are using.

Do not forget to “in line fuse” the battery!


John I’ve been told and I think it is in their instruction manual if you remove the jumper (shows how) you can go 24v. Check it out

correct but I am told that the 12v motorcycle batteris are actually more like 13.2 volt or something? I guess I can call the mfg on it to make sure…

They’re nominally 13.8v. Fresh off the charger more like 14 1/2.

Here is what I just received from the mfg. Yuasa national sales manager himself…
“Hi John:
The open circuit voltage on the charger while can go to 14.5, but after the battery cools down the voltage will read 12.8 to 13.2 volts.”

1 of these should be sufficient eh?

Jerry Hansen said:
John Bouck said:
It depends on the receiver's capacity. eg; AirWire must not exceed 18V. Dunno about what system you are using.

Do not forget to “in line fuse” the battery!


John I’ve been told and I think it is in their instruction manual if you remove the jumper (shows how) you can go 24v. Check it out

Jerry,
Not as true as it looks.
You still have to center tap the battery and provide the lower volts to the decoder.
Check the “high voltage” diagram.

I am banking on the new Revolution TE… the manual says 12-24v but 2 batteries charged, would be too much.

I would only worry about possible burning out some bulbs, the new TE will handle the voltage, and as soon as you put a load on them, they will come down to 24 volts total.

My experience with Aristo products is that some of the locos are set up for about 18v in regard to constant voltage to the bulbs. I run DCC with 23 volts on the rails, and have experienced this.

I would not worry otherwise, any manufacturer worth their salt that rates a system for 24 volts has to put in a safety margin.

And, reading their advertisements, they use “mil-spec” parts, so if you believe the rest of the TE advertisements, you have got to believe this.

Regards, Greg

Greg, have you had to replace the bulbs or what? How conveniant/costly is this? Won’t one 12v battery be sufficient?

Yep, replaced bulbs and put in dropping resistors. This has happened on several locos. Cost is not much, just sometimes a pain when it’s marker lights on a steamer.

Running a 12v through any remote control system will yield a couple of volts drop to the motor, so you might be topping 10v to the motor. I would think that would be too slow for almost all cases for satisfactory operation.

The bottom limit seems to be about 14v to a R/C system (yes, everyone, remember you lose some voltage through the electronics, so this is not the same as 14 volts on the rails to an unmodified loco)…

Why not find a 12v and a 6v gel cell and run on 18v?

I’m not checking the rest of the thread, I thought we got here because 12v gel cells were cheap and available.

Looking at the cost of a loco, the price of a battery seems pretty inconsequential.

Regards, Greg

“Why not find a 12v and a 6v gel cell and run on 18v?”

I did not think this was an option, wouldn’t they have to be charged seperately etc.?

probably, but you would have had to charge two 12v units separately also. You might get away with charging them in series if the amp hours were the same or close…

Regards, Greg

thanks Greg! Yes the amp hours are the same identical. 6 amp hr each! and LESS THAN $25 EACH - RETAIL is $69.95
Is there a way to keep more than 18v from the 24+ from getting to the loco? A rectifyer/regulator etc?