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KPack:
That's good info Alan.  When I run, I typically will only run for an hour and a half or so, and it's not continuous.  I have run the locomotive over several of these sessions without charging it.  Granted, I don't run this locomotive much because I usually forget to put it on the trickle charger and I'm assuming after sitting for a month the battery will have drained some. 

Interestingly I haven't noticed much of a difference when the battery charge gets low.  Normally it just runs like normal until it's out of power and then it suddenly shuts off completely.  Of course, this may be the battery low on charge and not completely drained.  I have no way of measuring remaining charge in the battery.

Also, would those numbers change much if instead of 14.8V you are measuring 12V?  The step up regulator I use is 12V.

Alan:

--- Quote ---Also, would those numbers change much if instead of 14.8V you are measuring 12V?  The step up regulator I use is 12V.
--- End quote ---

The 14.8V is the mains reference. So yes, if you change the reference to 12V then the battery unit would appear measurement-wise to perform slightly better.

I would think running on a layout that really taxes the loco is where the battery idea gets sketchy - steep grades, long helix, long trains, etc. An HO loco under heavy load is going to drain the battery pretty fast. My Atlas 4 axle locos pull roughly 100mA @ 15V when dragging a 16 car train (all metal wheels) on flat track at normal main speeds hence why I used 100mA as reference.


--- Quote ---Interestingly I haven't noticed much of a difference when the battery charge gets low.  Normally it just runs like normal until it's out of power and then it suddenly shuts off completely.
--- End quote ---

The LM PWM magic in action. Your loco used in a conventional DC manner would make it obvious the battery is fading away.


Reminds me of a funny battery story. Recently I was working a project that required driving #12 x 4" screws into southern yellow pine. I was using a Bosch 3/8" electric drill for which I had to string 300' of cable to get to power. My buddy questioned why I wasn't using a battery (cordless) drill and started shooting his mouth off about how his DeWalt driver would run those screws all day long. I said bring it over, let's see it. The cordless drove about 30 screws and it was done. Time to swap batteries. I then (with great pleasure) showed him the box of 1000 screws and informed him I was on the second box. I didn't hear anything more from him about using battery tools.

TwinStar:

--- Quote from: Alan on August 04, 2019, 08:14:46 AM ---
Reminds me of a funny battery story. Recently I was working a project that required driving #12 x 4" screws into southern yellow pine. I was using a Bosch 3/8" electric drill for which I had to string 300' of cable to get to power. My buddy questioned why I wasn't using a battery (cordless) drill and started shooting his mouth off about how his DeWalt driver would run those screws all day long. I said bring it over, let's see it. The cordless drove about 30 screws and it was done. Time to swap batteries. I then (with great pleasure) showed him the box of 1000 screws and informed him I was on the second box. I didn't hear anything more from him about using battery tools.

--- End quote ---

When I was in corporate aviation I had access to battery shops that would rebuild my Dewalt/Milwaukee batteries for half the cost of Home Depot/Lowe's replacements. But you are correct, a cordless anything is like a printer. It's cheap until you have to start replacing batteries/ink. I have several cordless tools that have specific jobs but nothing beats 115V being run across the shop/yard.

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