RailPro > Finished RailPro Installation Examples
Kato SD40-2 - Deadrail Install with Railpro
Alan:
--- Quote ---BTW, what program did you use to make the diagram?
--- End quote ---
Photoshop, started with the image from eBay.
--- Quote ---A regulator then drains the capacitor at 12V output.
--- End quote ---
You may be wondering where is the regulator on the eBay cheapie board. There isn't one. That's why it is $0.58 from China. The output voltage on the eBay unit is controlled only by the switching frequency (potentiometer setting). Temperature, load, and driven circuit capacitance and inductance are just a few variables that will cause this unit's output voltage to fluctuate somewhat. But hey, what do you expect for 50 cents? :P
The real-deal DC up converters (like Kevin's Pololu unit) do use regulators. And they cost a good bit more than fifty cents. The question is... is that level of precision needed for model trains? I don't know. I tend to think it isn't.
TwinStar:
This could change everything.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4219518/New-battery-store-charge-TEN-years.html
Alan:
Yes, that would be a game changer.
Relative to my earlier comment... 'Lithium ion batteries don't even survive 1000 complete charge/discharge cycles,' said Dr Michael Aziz, a professor of Materials and Energy Technologies at Harvard University."
KPack:
Quick testing update. MU'ing with normal track-powered Railpro units does not seem to have any negative effect. The battery-powered locomotive pulls just as well being the leader or a follower. Also, I haven't charged the locomotive for two weeks. Granted I'm only running for short periods of time, but it shows me that I don't have to always have this thing on a charger.
-Kevin
KPack:
I just read through Bruce Petrarca's column in the March 2017 issue of MRH, covering the options for going deadrail with DCC. All I can say is "wow". Nothing wrong with the article, and Bruce is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to DCC. I'm just amazed at how complicated it is in order to get deadrail with DCC. So many different components are required in order to make it work. You'll need a transmitter to plug into the existing DCC command station, a receiver on the locomotive, the DCC decoder, a battery management board, and the battery. That's a lot of equipment to stuff inside a HO locomotive. Oh, and if you want to program that locomotive like you would a traditional DCC locomotive, you'll need yet another adapter that allows commands to be sent to the locomotive and for the locomotive to read back.
With the set up I did here I used a battery, the Railpro module, and very small Polulu converter board. Done.
Give the article a read if you can. It will make you ever more grateful for Railpro, even if you don't plan on doing deadrail.
-Kevin
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