The following items were discussed at the Signal Class on October 25, 2003:
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Continuation of Battery Class
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Ni-Cad batteries are primarily used at the museum for 3 reasons:
1.) We have lots of them.
2.) They tend to respond better to our need for a battery on "float"
charge where it is always charged and not used until there is a power outage.
3.) It's better to use only one type of battery so that tools don't cause
cross contamination between different types of chemistry.
Be careful when cleaning or neutralizing with vineager as even a single
drop in a battery can degrade or kill the battery.
Battery Chargers are designed to run the "load" while also charging the battery.
The old "puny" (sp?) chargers were not able to charge a battery from "close to dead"
and would shut down and remove all power to the system. These have all been replaced
(except one where steering diodes and a limiting resistor insure
the puny charger is never overloaded).
Crossings have AC + battery backup and all signals are AC only.
In a power outage, all of the electric trains stop running and
any diesels will follow "dark signal" rules.
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