# Onboard battery in a LGB 2155s White Pass DL535e



## Mike Toney (Feb 25, 2009)

Can a decent onboard battery/RC set up be stuffed in a LGB 2155s White Pass with factory sound? I cant having battery trailing cars, rather have everything in the locomotive. Thanks Mike


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

I've not had one apart to see what kind of room is inside, but I can't fathom a reason why you couldn't fit everything in there. It's a big loco.I've crammed battery R/C into very tight quarters. The challenge will be fitting the battery pack. A 14.8 volt, 5200 mAh pack will measure about 3" x 3" x 1.5". 

Take the shell off and see where the largest open space is. That's where I'd concentrate on fitting the batteries. (In looking at photos of the loco, I don't think there'd be quite enough room in the fuel tank.) Depending on the control system, though, you could fit the electronics in the fuel tank. It's an option, at least. 

Later,

K


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## Bill Swindell (Jan 2, 2008)

If I was going to do that engine, I would remove ALL LGB electronics. Then, you can install a battery, radio and sound card in the engine, no battery car.


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## TonyWalsham (Jan 2, 2008)

Mike, why not consider having a small on board battery for light engine running. Then have a trail car with a big battery that plugs into the loco charge jack and automatically disconnects the on board battery. Remove the trail car and the loco automatically reverts back to the on board battery.
Very easy to wire up.


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## Mike Toney (Feb 25, 2009)

I have been told, by someone that it can be done using one of the cordless renovation batteries, should have 5+ hours run time with a train length that I tend to pull. I already have the RC stuff to go in. It seems on this forum, everybody assumes each other has the wallet to just throw away perfectly good electronics and throw money at issues. No wonder some of the newbies to this site run to the other side of the street. I was expecting a better response guys. How about more qualifying questions like expected run time, what RC am I using. Way to much assumption around here. I traded gear to get the Alco, I am not going to dump the perfectly fine LGB digital sound, which is quite accurate for the DL535e. I was hoping someone here had done this, considering how many of these engines have been sold. Guess I was expecting to much from here. Mike


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

Mike Toney said:


> I have been told, by someone that it can be done using one of the cordless renovation batteries, should have 5+ hours run time with a train length that I tend to pull. I already have the RC stuff to go in. It seems on this forum, everybody assumes each other has the wallet to just throw away perfectly good electronics and throw money at issues. No wonder some of the newbies to this site run to the other side of the street. I was expecting a better response guys. How about more qualifying questions like expected run time, what RC am I using. Way to much assumption around here. I traded gear to get the Alco, I am not going to dump the perfectly fine LGB digital sound, which is quite accurate for the DL535e. I was hoping someone here had done this, considering how many of these engines have been sold. Guess I was expecting to much from here. Mike


Mike,

I don't see how you can be so upset about the suggestions given to you. Your original post at the top of this thread quote "Can a decent onboard battery/RC set up be stuffed in a LGB 2155s White Pass with factory sound? I cant having battery trailing cars, rather have everything in the locomotive. Thanks Mike" never mentioned anything about the fact you weren't flush with funds. They were great suggestions I thought and were given by fairly knowledgable people on this site. Good luck with asking for any further help considering the last line in your last post.
__________________


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## Dick413 (Jan 7, 2008)

Gary Armitstead said:


> Mike,
> 
> I don't see how you can be so upset about the suggestions given to you. Your original post at the top of this thread quote "Can a decent onboard battery/RC set up be stuffed in a LGB 2155s White Pass with factory sound? I cant having battery trailing cars, rather have everything in the locomotive. Thanks Mike" never mentioned anything about the fact you weren't flush with funds. They were great suggestions I thought and were given by fairly knowledgable people on this site. Good luck with asking for any further help considering the last line in your last post.
> __________________


yes i have to agree with Gray and no were do you say you have the RC stuff in your first post


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## Michael Glavin (Jan 2, 2009)

Space under the long of LGB's Alco with OEM sound is limited. The sound/main board runs nearly the entire length of the hood taking up about 1/2" in height mounted to the underside of the hoods roof. The speaker is mounted near the cab on the chassis facing down. Its going to be a tight fit to get all under the hood with a battery that can provide desired voltage and capacity. 

I'd suggest this engine needs 18.5V, with two motors operating under load I'd use 2 Amps to guesstimate run time. Run time will be a function of the battery capacity and voltage primarily, and subsequently based on the dynamic or live load under play. A 6000mAh battery will likely provide more than 4 hours run time.

The hood with sound board allows approximately 11" length, 2.5" width and about 1.75" height free space for battery and radio. Tough nut to crack with Li-Ion but maybe plausible with a custom 5S2P or ten 18650 cells (18.5V/4400mAh), I generally run inexpensive 5000mAh 18.5V Li-Po's, these fit the LGB ALCO.


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## Mike Toney (Feb 25, 2009)

Its not to bash everybody, but it seems every answer given, not just in this thread, goes right to dropping lots of money. Nobody really ever takes the minimal approach. Thats my complaint. Everything I do in this scale is on a shoe string budget. I use old Locolinc radio throttles, horse trade and swap to get engines and cars I need in this scale. Even a single freight car is a major expense. Just feels like if you dont have the wallet to go out and buy the best right then and there, then you dont belong in this scale. And I disagree with that. I will just figure this out on my own and with the help I got elsewhere that it can be done, with the factory electronics intact and self contained inside the engine. None of which I got from here, everybody here was rip out the factory stuff, put light engine battery onboard then bigger in a trailing car, talk about making something simple into something way more complicated than it needed to be.


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

Mike Toney said:


> Its not to bash everybody, but it seems every answer given, not just in this thread, goes right to dropping lots of money. Nobody really ever takes the minimal approach. Thats my complaint. Everything I do in this scale is on a shoe string budget. I use old Locolinc radio throttles, horse trade and swap to get engines and cars I need in this scale. Even a single freight car is a major expense. Just feels like if you dont have the wallet to go out and buy the best right then and there, then you dont belong in this scale. And I disagree with that. I will just figure this out on my own and with the help I got elsewhere that it can be done, with the factory electronics intact and self contained inside the engine. None of which I got from here, everybody here was rip out the factory stuff, put light engine battery onboard then bigger in a trailing car, talk about making something simple into something way more complicated than it needed to be.


Not to "bash" YOU, but.................That's not how you asked the question! Crap information IN, crap information back. That's how it works. If you had mentioned that you wanted to fix it "on the cheap", then say so. But don't blame everybody else for the answers you get. At least that's what it sounded like to a couple of us.


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## TonyWalsham (Jan 2, 2008)

Mike,
I definitely did not tell you to rip everything out, spend big $$$ and start again.
I am a great advocate for leaving stock items stock.
Space is a limitation in that particular loco so the easiest and least expensive way to do it is as I described. A suitable set of 14.4 volt NiMh batteries should be obtainable in the USA for under US$40 and the parts to DYI wire it up for under US$10.
If you want to know how to do it like that just ask, instead of berating all the contributors.


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Mike, only one person suggested gutting everything, which is often SOP for 3rd-party control installations, so it doesn't at all shock me that someone would suggest it. Factory sound--no matter how good--isn't always the easiest to incorporate. 

There are a few things to consider when looking to keep factory electronics in R/C installations. First, the "easiest" way to do that is simply to take the motor output of the throttle circuit and feed that to the rail inputs to the factory boards. With that, your locomotive will behave exactly as it would on track power; just taking its power from an onboard battery and throttle instead of a power supply and voltage from the rails. 

The disadvantage is that you do not get constant lighting, and the sound will not come on until the voltage reaches a certain threshold. Depending on the specific sound board, it may or may not cut out when the track voltage drops to zero. (Some stay on for a few seconds, allowing you to change direction without the sound going away.) You're also left with limited ability to trigger the sounds. At best, you'll be able to wire the throttle to trigger them as you might with track magnets. You're not going to get "real time" control of the bell or horn. 

Note: some LGB sound systems are not fond of PWM voltage, and to my knowledge, all commonly used battery R/C controllers use PWM as the means of controlling the motor. If you need a linear voltage output for your sound system to function properly, you'll need a PWM/Linear converter--one more bit of electronics. 

If you're okay with all of that, there's no harm in keeping what's there. It's certainly a straightforward installation. The drawback is that many manufacturers don't take battery conversion into consideration when designing and placing their onboard electronics, so you really limit yourself in terms of where you can place the batteries. If everything "stock" has to stay, there's a higher chance you may not be able to find room for a decent-sized battery pack. (And even more problematic if you need a converter for the motor voltage.) Again, I've never had one of these locos apart, so I don't know what's "under the hood." However, having to keep what's there is almost always a handicap, even in the most spacious of locomotives. 

Michael makes an excellent point about making sure you've got adequate battery voltage to run your trains at your desired speed. That, too, will have significant impact on whether you can fit adequate batteries in the locomotive.

In general terms, the answer to whether battery R/C can fit onboard the loco is "yes." However, the more limitations you throw on the installation, the harder it gets. Throw enough limitations, and it does become impractical. At that point, you're going to have to compromise _somewhere_ to get what you want. That may mean using a smaller battery with less voltage and lower capacity. It might mean gutting the factory electronics and saving your pennies and/or horse-trading for a suitable replacement sound system. Where you compromise depends on your priorities, but if you've only got a 5-gallon hat and 10 gallons of stuff to put in it, something's gotta give. 

Later,

K


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Next time put "for cheap" as the first requirement..

when you say i want this and that and that, you start restricting your choices... normally when you want more of something it costs more $$

also, please realize that your requirements might not (in total) be realistic... so put all the requirements up first and in priority.

I can appreciate wanting to do it inexpensively, really I do, but coming into a Mercedes dealership and asking for a 200 mph car, with great handling, and a power convertible top... then giving them a hard time when the ticket is $150k is a waste of your and their time.

drop the cash on the batteries and electronics or get a trailing car would be my advice

Regards, Greg


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