# Help Amp Qestion with the Rev



## krogerssolar (Jan 8, 2009)

Hi guys i have another Question with my Rev Receivers I just order to more Rev Units for installs in my parents units that I got them. I have a question on Amps I soon will have a ABBA setup with Aristo craft Alco’s I plan some time to get 4 rev Receivers and hook them up. I plan on making three bat cars I’m still looking for the right pack I may wait and get the new Aristo NIMH packs when that comes back in stock if not I will use two 9.6 volt pack to get 19.2. What is the input amps that the Rev can handle or is there a limit on input amps I might want 19.2 volt at 10Amps/ or 15Amps or 20Amps. At the moment my track is not very level that’s a new project for next year with gravel and railroad ties but if the amps are not an issue then this might also work for my Dash 9 idea as well.





The car load with my ABBA Rio Grande units would be using the USA Trains Cars which reading online is about 11LB EA and may have 5 or 6 cars I don’t have them yet just the locos 





Any Help would be great 





Thanks Kevin


----------



## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Kevin, if you're using a receiver in each unit you should have no problem pulling the USA cars. The REVOLUTION receiver will take up to 24 volts without a problem. 

Repeating from a previous post... 

I'm running my FABBA set with one receiver in a box car and use a 14.8 volt 4400 mAh Li-ion battery. I pulled 11 of the USA passenger cars at Marty's using an 18.5 battery. The only time I got an overload message was when one of the passenger car trucks derailed. That happened twice. It ran for over an hour before the line got busy.


----------



## krogerssolar (Jan 8, 2009)

Thanks Stan the main Question is there a input amp Limit i know dont go over 24volt but what about the amps i know the peek is 8amps on ea Rev can i give it to much input amps will it care. i guess what im trying to say is if i keep the voltage down around 19.2 but add more battery's in parallel when the amps go up will there be an issue i want to be able to run for a while or all day


----------



## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

He's asking amps, not volts. 

This is a common situation. Voltage and amps work differently. 

Being able to SUPPLY amps does not mean that the circuit automatically CONSUMES all the amps available. 

Now there is a further confusion, battery packs are rated in amp-hours, not amps. The amps a battery can produce can be huge. 

Amp hours is literally the number of amps a battery can produce over an hour. 

Amp-hours translates into run time.... say your loco consumes an average of 2 amps while running, then theoretically, a 2 amp hour battery would run the loco for 1 hour (consuming 2 amps all during that time)... 

A 4 amp hour battery would let you use 4 amps in one hour, or 2 amps for 2 hours... so your loco would run 2 hours. 

This is a very simplified way of looking at it, because if you run different speeds or voltages, you may be consuming more or less current. 

The best way would be to run your train and loco on DC and have an ampmeter and voltmeter on the track and see what voltage and what amperage you use. 

Locos, track, wiring, etc. all vary, so it's impossible to be more specific. Roughly, 2 amp hours at a voltage high enough to give you the speed you want should be at least one hour of running. But don't count on this being accurate for every case! 

Regards, Greg


----------



## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

K... Don't think you'll need to worry about that. You should not be anywhere near 8 amps and probably won't exceed 5 amps with each receiver. 

If you're relating to the amp hour of the batteries, that won't make any difference either. You could run an 18.5 volt 20 amp hour battery and it will still put out 18.5 volts. That just means you would be able to run for a couple of weeks in that battery.







Only problem with that is what are you going to put it in...









Thanks, Greg... I think that's what I was trying to say in the above statement. I just checked the thread and your post came through as I was typing this one.









I run all my consists and multiple units (same thing) with one battery source. That way they all quit at the same time. I do that because, for the most part I run my trains unattended and watch them from my "office" window while I'm working on the computer, making decals or out in the garage paint cars and making a mess. That's just my way of running. 

Many folks will put a battery pack in each locomotive with the receivers, MU them and run that way. If you watch the trains continually, you certainly can tell when a battery pack is discharged and take steps to correct that. With Li-ions, when they hit the low voltage cutoff point on the PCB protector, they *STOP. Period*... That's one of the characteristics of the Li-ion's. I've worked around that situation using the one battery source. 

Marty Cozad likes to run the same way. We both find it easier that way.


----------



## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

This post is a whoops..


----------



## krogerssolar (Jan 8, 2009)

Thanks Greg and Stan this Answers my questions for both/all of my loco questions now its finding the packs i want to use and getting more Rev unit o also i know in the Rev kit with the tx it comes will all the items. what comes in the Rev unit when you buy just the Rec unit i would hope you get the aux plug wires anything else. this is my first purchase of just the Receivers so im not sure what will come with them


----------



## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Kevin.... The receiver comes with all the necessary stuff to hook it up. I don't think there's a smoke adapter with it though. The auxiliary harness does come with it.


----------



## krogerssolar (Jan 8, 2009)

ok Thanks


----------



## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

The starter set comes comes with one smoke "switch" unit. 

Otherwise you have to buy them separately. 

Regards, Greg


----------

