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Post by ron045 on Feb 19, 2024 13:32:31 GMT
I had a painting faux pas, again... so decided to take a break and focus a little on wiring and electronics.
I made the on/off and charge port wiring harness and installed the battery, Blunami board and some lights.
Wiring for the Blunami is simple easy.
Power in from the source (Track or Battery)
Power out to motors
Speaker out
8 lighting options out.
All screw terminals.
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Post by josef on Feb 19, 2024 13:39:47 GMT
Simple and great, What is the largest engine you have converted? What about Lash-ups?
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Post by ron045 on Feb 19, 2024 14:01:33 GMT
Simple and great, What is the largest engine you have converted? What about Lash-ups? I don't have any "Large" engines, per se. I guess technically the largest in length is an SD40 and the largest in width is a pair of F7's. Yes, width can be important when considering battery power. Here's a list... Atlas AEM-7 (BlueRail, Track Power) MTH Premier F7's (Blunami, Battery Power) MTH Premier 44 ton (Blunami, Battery Power in trailing work caboose) Atlas SW-1200 (Blunami, Battery Power) MTH Premier GP38 (Blunami, Battery Power) CURRENT PROJECT Weaver SD40 (RailPro, Battery Power) MTH Premier GP38 (RailPro, Battery Power) MTH Premier BL-2 (RailPro, Battery Power) MTH RailKing 2-8-0 (RailPro, Battery Power) Both of the RailPro and Blunami systems have provisions to lashup. Blunami calls is consisting and RailPro calls it MU. Both systems have their plusses and minuses, but I tend to lean toward Blunami because the slow speed control and feature selections are amazing.
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Post by josef on Feb 19, 2024 14:28:27 GMT
So the battery pack shown is the limiting factor on how small engine or tender it will fit in. That the only size battery in width and length available?
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Post by ron045 on Feb 19, 2024 15:06:35 GMT
So the battery pack shown is the limiting factor on how small engine or tender it will fit in. That the only size battery in width and length available? For O scale the optimum packs are 4 cells 14.8v. although I have used 3 cells 11.1 volts in my 44 tonner and SW-1200. The mah will determine the duration. More mah, the larger the battery. I have found that most 14.8 2000 mah to 3500 mah fit fairly well. You can get them in various configurations. These two work best for me.  I could not fit these in the SW-1200 but I found this great little 11.1 replacement battery for an airsoft gun. Fit great.  I only use Lithium Ion with Printed Circuit Board (PCB) protection. The PCB prevents over charging and under voltage events. The Lithium Ion also has a very simple plug and play charger called a smart charger. It allows for easy on board charging. Lithium Polymer (LiPO) batts requires a balance charger (two leads). These are popular with RC planes, cars and boats that need a lot of power quickly. An RC vehicle will run 10-20 mins depending on throttle usage. I can run trains non stop for 3 straight hours. And typically the way I run em, I can go for days without charging.
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Post by harborbelt70 on Feb 19, 2024 15:31:10 GMT
It is always helpful to see someone get at the inside or "guts" of an engine and demonstrate what can be done with it. I have not paid much attention to Blunami since I don't see it as an option for conversion of some of my favorite "heavies" i.e. die cast articulated steamers and multi-powered unit diesels. You do make me think of branching out as I already have some experience with DCC albeit of the HO variety. A sore point for me is that I already have enough repair and incomplete project 3rail O scale work to keep me going until Doomsday so I need my head examined to consider adding to the existing to do (or try) list!
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Post by atsda on Feb 19, 2024 16:30:34 GMT
Very good info Ron. Alfred
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Post by ron045 on Feb 19, 2024 16:35:51 GMT
A sore point for me is that I already have enough repair and incomplete project 3rail O scale work to keep me going until Doomsday so I need my head examined to consider adding to the existing to do (or try) list! I feel your pain. I've focused so much in the last few seasons with custom engines and freight cars that I have totally neglected the layout development. I probably have a dozen projects in my head ready to go with materials on hand.
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