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Subject: 
Re: PF train motor
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.trains, lugnet.technic, lugnet.robotics
Date: 
Fri, 3 Apr 2009 12:21:48 GMT
Viewed: 
4044 times
  
In lugnet.trains, Eric Albrecht wrote:
In lugnet.trains, Dave Sterling wrote:
Paul

I just noticed the new PF Lithium Polymer Battery Box output is 7.4V.  Am I
missing something here?  Did they drop it from 9V since most people only run
their train controllers at the 4th or 5th 'hash mark' equating to about 7.4V
maximum?  Is this going to pose an issue with longer/heavier trains?

Just thinking...


They made it 7.4V because all lithium polymer battery cells are 3.6 - 3.8V.
Since this is a pack with 2 cells in series, you get 7.4V.  A 3 cell pack is
typically 11.2V.  As you can see, keeping the old 9V system was not really an
option if using Lithium power.  LEGO could have used Nickel Metal Hydride
(NiMH), but the batteries would have weighed a lot more and had a lot less
capacity.  1150 mAh is pretty substantial when you consider that a car battery
may only be 20x this.

Regarding the motors, I would assume that the new motors were designed to have
adequate power at 7.4V.  There's no reason they couldn't have the same power at
7.4V as the old motors did at 9V, they would simply draw more current.

Eric Albrecht

Eric:

Thanks for the awesome explanation!  I learned new stuff today...does that mean
I can go home now?  :-)  I'm excited to see how the new motor and battery box
pull.  I think the new PF trains could add a lot of functionality to existing 9V
layouts.  I'm planning to incorporate PF into my layout for BW for sure.

Thanks again for the electrical information.  I'm an electrical doofus.  ;-)

Best Regards,
Dave
ToT-LUG



Message has 1 Reply:
  Re: PF train motor
 
(...) So am I. However, I'm also into R/C aircraft so I have a long history with batteries and motors and could talk your ear off about them. I could also explain why the battery pack costs so much! (...) Yes, I give you permission to go home. You (...) (16 years ago, 3-Apr-09, to lugnet.trains, lugnet.technic, lugnet.robotics, FTX)

Message is in Reply To:
  Re: PF train motor
 
(...) They made it 7.4V because all lithium polymer battery cells are 3.6 - 3.8V. Since this is a pack with 2 cells in series, you get 7.4V. A 3 cell pack is typically 11.2V. As you can see, keeping the old 9V system was not really an option if (...) (16 years ago, 3-Apr-09, to lugnet.trains, lugnet.technic, lugnet.robotics)

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