Trekkie99 Posted August 1, 2017 Hi everyone. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with taking a 9v battery plug and joining it with a PF wire. Just like this MiniZip. Any suggestions, tutorials, or discussion is much appreciated. Thanks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MAB Posted August 1, 2017 I've made my own just like that. Works fine. But the batteries drain very quickly (low mAh). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pirzyk Posted August 2, 2017 I wound you doing the similar but instead of a battery I connected to a wall wort. There are 4 wires in the PF connector and I connected the two right together and the two left ones. I believe the two inner wires power motors and the two outer are pass through. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Trekkie99 Posted August 2, 2017 21 hours ago, MAB said: I've made my own just like that. Works fine. But the batteries drain very quickly (low mAh). Hmm. I see. Were you using rechargeable 9v batteries? 2 minutes ago, pirzyk said: I wound you doing the similar but instead of a battery I connected to a wall wort. I was thinking about if that was an option as well. Thanks for mentioning it. It would be great for GBC. 8 minutes ago, pirzyk said: There are 4 wires in the PF connector and I connected the two right together and the two left ones. I believe the two inner wires power motors and the two outer are pass through. Okay, Gotcha. I actually saw a video on the subject where when he joined the 9v wire with the PF wire he only used the two middle wires and ignored the two outer wires. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MAB Posted August 2, 2017 3 hours ago, LegoMonorailFan said: Hmm. I see. Were you using rechargeable 9v batteries? Both, although both rechargeable and regular 9V batteries have very little capacity. I thought it might be useful due to the size. But they are rubbish if you want to drive even a small train. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Toastie Posted August 2, 2017 And even more information - presented in a brilliant way - at Philo's superb pages on every PF aspect you can think of. When you go one page up you'll get a wealth of additional valuable information on many other things. I have learned so many things from Philo's pages that I would need to repeatedly say "thank you" so many times, I wouldn't stop for hours. Good luck with your projects! Thorsten Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LEGO Train 12 Volts Posted August 2, 2017 I've done this thing for many of my locomotives without battery box but I've always used the IR receiver Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Trekkie99 Posted August 3, 2017 8 hours ago, MAB said: Both, although both rechargeable and regular 9V batteries have very little capacity. I thought it might be useful due to the size. But they are rubbish if you want to drive even a small train. I see. Well then if that's the case then there's little else I could use it for since the sole purpose that I wanted it for was to make small, compact trains and/or monorails without needing to incorporate the large 8x4x4 battery box. But I guess a wire of the sort can be used elsewhere for other things. Thanks so much for the info. 6 hours ago, Toastie said: And even more information - presented in a brilliant way - at Philo's superb pages on every PF aspect you can think of. When you go one page up you'll get a wealth of additional valuable information on many other things. I have learned so many things from Philo's pages that I would need to repeatedly say "thank you" so many times, I wouldn't stop for hours. Good luck with your projects! Thorsten Thanks! I'll look into it. I love geeky stats as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hod Carrier Posted August 3, 2017 I've used the MiniZip and a PP3 for the TRAXX for the very same reason you've mentioned. It's much more compact than the official LEGO alternatives that simply couldn't have been squeezed in. There was no other way to get any power into the model. While I can't argue that the PP3 has less capacity than the official power sources I wouldn't necessarily go along with MAB's fairly bleak assessment. It's not useless for driving small trains, but you may have to be prepared to change the battery if you're planning on a long operating session. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MAB Posted August 3, 2017 (edited) I think with rechargeables, my kids were getting about 30-40 minutes play time with a regular train (passenger train 7938 and similar). The price of more modern lipo batteries has come down significantly, and you can get some pretty small size but high capacity (2000 mAh) ones these days. Some are 11.1 / 12 V, some are (too) low voltage at 3.7 V. Obviously you need a buckbooster if you use the latter, although these are pretty small too. Alternatively if you are willing to use a non-lego motor (probably only for a small train), then you could get away with the 3.7V alone. It is worth having a look through the RC components made for drones and planes, as these tend to be light and compact. Edited August 3, 2017 by MAB Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
spy1101001 Posted August 6, 2017 Some info on what I have been using: Arduino Nano or Digispark (onboard train controller) -> about $1.50 to $2.00 433Mhz Transmitter and Reciever modules to use with Arduinos -> about 50c ! (I got 10 pairs for 5 bucks off Aliexpress!) Haven't found a viable battery alternative, but do you guys and gals think about those long skinny long USB charging thingys? (About the size of a lighter, maybe a bit bigger) 10000Mah? As far as control for the trains, I use an Arduino Mega to control all the switches, traffic lights and control the trains! (I am making my own control panel with buttons when I want to control it manually) and also I am working on a GUI control panel using Visual Studio!! What do you guys think? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tcm0 Posted August 6, 2017 17 hours ago, spy1101001 said: Some info on what I have been using: Arduino Nano or Digispark (onboard train controller) -> about $1.50 to $2.00 433Mhz Transmitter and Reciever modules to use with Arduinos -> about 50c ! (I got 10 pairs for 5 bucks off Aliexpress!) Haven't found a viable battery alternative, but do you guys and gals think about those long skinny long USB charging thingys? (About the size of a lighter, maybe a bit bigger) 10000Mah? Do you have a prototype or something? I'd love to see how you fit the parts into the train etc. I'm working on something similar: an ATTINY85 (the microcontroller that gets used in the digispark) which gets controlled from the track via light (possibly infrared in the future). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MAB Posted August 7, 2017 On 06/08/2017 at 2:42 AM, spy1101001 said: Haven't found a viable battery alternative, but do you guys and gals think about those long skinny long USB charging thingys? (About the size of a lighter, maybe a bit bigger) 10000Mah? 1 I don't think the lighter sized ones are 10000 mAh, usually more like 2500 mAh. Also these are actually just a battery inside (normally an 18650), along with a charging board. The battery itself is 3.7V nominal, and through the board outputs at about 5V (USB voltage). So you need to buckboost the voltage for the motor, or use a non-official motor. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
spy1101001 Posted August 11, 2017 On 8/7/2017 at 5:36 AM, Tcm0 said: Do you have a prototype or something? I'd love to see how you fit the parts into the train etc. I'm working on something similar: an ATTINY85 (the microcontroller that gets used in the digispark) which gets controlled from the track via light (possibly infrared in the future). I'm gonna try either an Arduino Nano or a Digispark board and solder it all together so that it's as compact as possible! i want it to fit ALL my trains if I can!! I will probably post a YouTube video and post a link to this site when I finish the first stage! Still waiting on parts to come! sPy from Oz Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DeannaNash Posted October 30, 2019 (edited) Hi...depending on the battery type, a direct short using a wire can cause the wire to light up and poof like a fuse. Worse, enough current might cause to the battery itself to overheat and leak or explode. smt pcb assembly Edited November 29, 2019 by DeannaNash Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Toastie Posted October 30, 2019 1 hour ago, DeannaNash said: overheat and leak or explode Oh, that is true. However - you know, many things in the real world surrounding us can be turned into somethings nasty upon bad usage. Fire places in wooden homes operated with natural gas - using DIY sets from HomeDepot are one example (Well, I had great fun in setting it up! No explosions ...) For the battery explosion, you need to use LiPo's or LiIon's or the like. Plain vanilla 9V Alkalines will get hot - that's it. Leaking wise I don't know ... maybe when they overheat and build up pressure but again you'll need some nifty battery types to generate internal gas - as far as I know. Electrical shorts are always bad. Put a wire into any of the 110 V AC outlets on your home and it makes boom as well, depending on your safety measures. >Just don't do it<. In other words I would not be so concerned - pay attention, look twice, measure the resistance and - when nothing happens when you turn on the power: TURN it off. And have a good look. That way there will be no explosions. For sure. Just play around and learn how to wire-up correctly. It really is great fun. All the best, Thorsten Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
