RailPro > RailPro Specific Help & Discussion
Go Deadrail with RailPro
William Brillinger:
Why not put the charging circuit on the rails and let the battery charge from it? Perhaps at a fuelling pad or a storage track?
Then 1 circuit could be used for multiple locos and not take up valuable space?
MidnghtOwl:
I'm Debating a ton of options so far William. - Only powering the yard, meaning I could unhook the battery tender for switching operations, (still dealing with frogs though). Running straight DC for rail charging (requires a battery management circuit board for power/recharging, but would allow you to skip the reverse/frog wiring). True Dead rail, meaning I have to figure out power for engines at all times, including switching, solo engine running and extended operations sessions. And i'm not ruling out just wiring the track from the onset, since HO battery technology isn't quite "there" yet as far as size/capacity. Every HO dead rail I've seen has been either steam engines and using the coal trailer for the battery, or a battery in a box car behind a "modern" engine.
I don't need to be on the bleeding edge of the technology, but would be nice to not be wrong in 3 years and have missed the trend on where our hobby is headed.
:-)
Decisions decisions decisions!!!
-Owl (Jared)
Shawn T Hogan:
Good Morning!
Been a while since I've been on here. Quite a fascinating discussion going on!
I have a question about going battery power with RailPro: I had contacted Ring Engineering and they did not recommend battery power for operating RailPro. Has anything changed? I believe it was primarily due to a concern for maintaining proper voltage.
I really like the RailPro system but given that I am starting over, I too, am weighing the benefits of battery power versus wiring for frogs, reverse loops, etc.
Shawn Hogan
William Brillinger:
I'll check with Tim to see where he is on the Keep Alive idea.
The keep alive would at least eliminate frog wiring.
The big issue for RailPro and batteries is having the voltage drop too low during programming, and so bricking the module.
Shawn T Hogan:
Hello Bill,
Let's see if I understand you correctly: The voltage needs to be XX for programming to be successful and not destroy the module. Once programming is complete, then one could run with a lower voltage?
I can see that working because it would be easy enough to use a test track wired up conventionally for programming but the model layout be "dead".
Shawn
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