Keeping batteries charged

[MikeWilliams]

Charging the batteries of an engine isn't too big a job, but how do people manage with several locos?  Do you just diarise to take each from its box once a month, or do you have some sort of banked system, a shelf with them lined up and sockets at the front, or maybe keep them all charging all the time?  Do you charge more than one from the same charger at the same time?

Seems to me the time most likely to damage a model is handing it in and out of a box, so not having to do that so frequently would b a good move.

Mike

[cabbage]

I use 4.5Ah 6V SLAs. I have a number of them in a drawer. Once a month I take them out, line them up on the side and plug the charger leads onto each one. Any with a starting voltage of 5+ I simply charge. Any with lower, I try deep charging -if this fails they get recycled...

Yes I could bulk charge them all at once -but then I lose the knowledge of how each "brick" is feeling.

regards

ralph

[John Dunford]

My locomotives all have the batteries mounted inside and would be tricky to get out. I have a charging socket to charge up after a running session. I tend to get 2 sessions per loco so take the risk on my operating days that I may need to swop out a loco. I have roughly 20 locomotives so recording charge date and running date on a record card for each loco a must. I also note the battery configuration, make and date purchased. My batteries are al, packs some from FOSWORKS some by myself.

Others swear by a database or spreadsheet for the records, but as I would have to write the details on rough paper to transfer to the computer a record card works just as well for me.

Please note I only have 1 gauge 3 loco the other battery locomotives are all so called G scale but the same principles apply.