We had a battery fail in our GP30... Testing the other batteries, a second may be failing as well... the existing batteries "rebuilt" installed in 2010... GP30's use 8, 8 volt batteries... 3 in one compartment, 5 in the other so we can't use the new 32 volt tray batteries.

For short term we are moving a couple of batteries over from our NW2... (out of service for at least another month for a new traction motor) which are smaller but are 8 volt and should work for now... and I have located a couple of proper sized take outs in CA to install in a couple of weeks...

Then its probably a full set of either new or rebuilt batteries... It looks like Dekka, Crown and Exide all offer this size (11x27x18)... Although Las Vegas is a good size place, It is a one railroad town, now without old style engine facilities and therefore with out obvious railroad suppliers. I am finding a shortage of industrial battery houses (serving forklifts or stationary power systems) who seem to be anything but a warehouse with a catalog from a major manufacturer... (but one can get me Crown loco batteries, and maybe Dekkas) One option is shipping batteries in from Alabama... not a cheap process for batteries which are over 400 lbs each.

Any thoughts or advice... its a significant expense (but we do have a budget for such things) as are so many other things in this profession/hobby... Just to make things more interesting, I have to work within the State of Nevada purchasing system...

I note this conversation has come up before but it has been a few years, and it seems like the options are more limited today.

Randy

You might want to give the WP museum at Portola a call or email. They found a battery manufacturer who they say makes a "bullet-proof" locomotive battery.

All of the locomotive batteries I have worked on, have replaceable individual cells. I would test each cell and if only one is bad, have the individual cell replaced rather than replace the 4 cell battery. We cut off the connection links leaving a post similar to the old style automotive batteries on the remaining good cells and cut out the sealer on the bad cell and remove it and the remaining acid (wearing appropriate PPE of course). Flush out the empty cell case and install a new cell with new sealer. Burn off the gas from the good cells and apply new connection links between the cells. Add acid and charge as necessary. If you are uncomfortable doing this work yourself, most forklift repair companies can do it for you or recommend someone who can.

Lincoln, thanks for the lead... we will call Portola

Mike, I understand the batteries you are describing, and have replaced a cell in a forklift battery in the distant past, but these batteries are not individual cells... more like a modern car battery on steroids, with four cells in one plastic case.

I am looking at local industrial battery houses, but it seems they no longer "service" batteries, instead, they seem only to replace... 25 years ago we had a great battery house in the SF Bay area... Good work, good prices, nice clean safe facility... they would wash out and rebuild old cells... then all of the staff tested high for lead exposure... OSHA got involved and things got weird... (note this was a responsible facility with protective equipment and such, not a back yard operation) I suspect the old ways of batteries and battery rebuilding are coming to an end.

One of our big issues limited local sources... so shipping is a big part of the price, so even a make due take out battery is expensive when you have to pay for trucking.

A side issue is our conditions... we are outside Las Vegas in the Mojave desert... We have just gone through 60 days of over 100 degree weather, and I have seen temperatures as high as 119... There is a local belief that the hot weather kills batteries.

Randy

Randy,

Since the NSRM is not a small operation, have you approached UP to see if you can either piggyback on their next order, or buy batteries they just swapped out of running units.

From what I have been told, most large railroads (BSNF, UPRR, CSX, NS, etc...) and some medium sized ones & industries, will usually swap out batteries based on days of service. The unknown part is if they test and rebuild themselves or just send them back as core credits against the next order.

Just an idea,
Rich C.

Not sure how well they would work on a 16cyl, but we have been using 8v marine batteries on our sw9. Deka number is 8V195. We have never had an issue starting ours and average about 5-6 years from a set of batteries. I just tried two 12v and one 8v in our 50ton with really good results. Same 8v195 with two 1231PMF equipment batteries. The 1231s have a bit more cca, but less reserve capacity. This winter will be the big test. If all works well, I may switch our sw9 to four 1231s and two 8v195s next time it needs batteries.

We have had total satisfaction with Surrette locomotive batteries:

http://rollsbattery.com/catalog/

They have no problem with small orders, and batteries can either be purchased direct from the Springhill, Nova Scotia factory or through distributors.

Steve Hunter

Randy,

You said you need to work within the State's procurement regulations? I am in a northern New Jersey county agency and we belong to many regional, statewide and country wide purchasing co-ops and collectives. This allows us to search for some pretty far out items such as signs, traffic count equipment, natural gas, snow plow parts, surveying equipment and even truck batteries for our needs. Through those co-ops we currently get our signs from Georgia and natural gas from the midwest.

Perhaps Nevada is part of a co-op that has a larger battery supply house already under contract. Especially if those batteries are in more common equipment like forklifts. This could help eliminate some of the red tape involved with a government agency purchase and may get you better prices. It sometimes take some digging to find them but may be worth it.

Just my 2 cents.

Chris

We have installed 5 8D truck batteries in one of our Alco S2's. Alco 539's are exciter cranked and draw a tremendous amount of current. These batteries are rated at 1700 cranking amps and 1300 cold cranking amps & spin it just as well as the 8 volt locomotive batteries at about 1/5 the price. I did adjust the voltage regulator down to account for the 2 cell difference (60 volts vs 64 volts). If we only get half the life out of these compared to regular locomotive batteries then we will be way ahead money wise.

A local battery manufacturer takes the standard semi-truck 4 cell battery case and cuts out 2 of the dividers and which makes it a 2 cell battery, they call it a "Tugboat Battery".

-Hudson

Different battery sizes/types have different internal resistances, which may (or may not) cause problems in charging when applied in mixed sets.

Given the expense of replacing a loco set of batteries, a float type charger permanently applied to the loco in question would be a good investment in maximizing service life.

Dave

Ditto here for Surrette Battery. We have two sets now. They are made in Nova Scotia but they shipped directly to us in Seattle. Very competitive price and they are a step up from the rebuilt batteries we purchased last time.

Check your charging, absorption and float voltages for maximum life. Surrette has a data sheet on their Web site about that. I'm sure the other manufacturers do too.

Richard Anderson
Northwest Railway Museum

I would like to know what exactly Portola uses too.

Has anyone come up with a reasonable priced float charger for locomotive batteries? Our Alco is parked next to a 120 VAC outlet. I would love to have a float charger to be able to install to keep our batteries fully charged.

On edit, I did find this model:
http://www.impactbattery.com/on-board-64-volt-20-amp-quick-charge-select-a-charge-charger-sco-6420.html#

I would imagine that this would be sufficient to maintain the set of unitized batteries on our S2. Opinions anyone?

there are many current limited voltage regulated supplies on ebay with the needed voltage. That may be one less expensive then normal option.