Long story short… Last week I went to get a new protsiund battery for my MTH DL-109. I got to the store, (the nearest hobby shop/MTH Dealer is 100 miles away), I was told the protosound battery was hard to get and hard to keep. They suggested I go to Radio Shack and get a m-cad rechargible battery.
My question, what should do? Get a proto sound battery, go to Radio Shack, or any other ideas? I need some guidance.
Check out this address. One possibility.
http://jandwelectronics.com/
The BRC that rampage84 suggest is one good choice. The only drawback is having to let the engine charge it for one full minute before running it, but you will never have to replace the battery again.
I have replace all my PS1 batteries with NiMh rechargeable batteries. Here is one link for some.
http://thomas-distributing.com/ap-200-1.htm
tom
“The only drawback is having to let the engine charge it for one full minute before running it,”
Not always necessary, and only for the first time of an operating session. Your mileage may vary.
LostRoad: I have the BCR - it’s a replacement for the ‘older’ PS1 and PS2 rechargables - the 8.4V ones. Note that the newer PS2 engines are 3V.
Lost Road,
The Radio Shack Ni-Cad or Ni-MH batteries work just fine. I have equipped several PS-1 and 8.4v PS-2 locos with them. I personally prefer the Ni-Cad’s as they hold a charge longer whereas the Ni-MH batteries leak down pretty quick. So you either keep a NI-MH battery under charge all the time or you have to always recharge it for a while if the loco has been sitting on the shelf a bit. Either battery requires recharging if loco shelf life is long. Ni-Cad’s have a charging “memory” issue (i.e. one needs to run it all the way down regularly for it to maintain maimum capacity) that needs to be managed.
One caution. The RS batteries have a metal case whereas the MTH batteries have a plastic case. I recommend you wrap the RS battery in a thin layer of electrical tape before installing it. This way if it should come loose inside the loco, one does not have a metal object rattling around that could short something and cause damage to the loco’s circuitry. I recognize that it is unlikely that the battery will come loose as the MTH battery holders are extremely difficult for changing batteries in the first place.
The RS P/N for the Ni-Cad is 23-448.
You may wi***o obtain a RS wall charger for the battery also.
Regards,
Roy
Thanks guys for all of the great infomation. At least now I know what options are out there.
I just was able to replaced the battery. I went with a Radio Shack Ni-Cad. After installing it, the loco runs good now. Thank you for all of your help. Now I think I need to check my other Proto-Sound locomotives, I’m sure they also need to be replaced.
I would not trust a NiCad bettery!
They are suspected of scambling chips in certain engines!
If I were you I would serious consider going to the links that rampage84 & spankybird have given you.
The NiMH batteries on spankies link are far superior to any NiCad’s!
They last longer, charge faster, and develop no memory!
All this battery talk has convinced me to keep my post war trains plain old track control. Can you imagine keeping 50 of these PS-1or PS-2 engines in chargable batteries or worst paying for them at todays prices.
Charlie
Lost road,
“Can you imagine keeping 50 of these PS-1or PS-2 engines in chargable batteries”
That’s why the BCR is such a great device. Once you install it you never have to deal with batteries again.
Pat