Lego City: Powered Up battery life

[Davie]

Not sure where best to ask, but mods feel free to delete in due course, hopefully after some input!

Santa, the hard working unappreciated soul that he is, brought my boy a Lego City train... the green fast one... however Santa dropped the ball and forgot batteries.

But, we found some... 6 x AAA in the battery pack and 3 x AAA in the controller. Said train destroyed them in under 10mins. So today, we set off to find more and put new ones in the train and about 10 mins playing, it destroyed those too.

Have now blown my mind by downloading the Lego Powered Up app, now using my phone to control the train but it wheezed half a lap whilst flashing orange on the battery pack. So pretty sure it's eaten them.

Seems "excessive" but struggling to establish if this in normal? Damn thing's cost be nigh on a tenner in 24hrs in batteries! They were mid range, but loathed to shell out more for posh ones as I'll be nigh on £20 a day then way he's going!

Read somewhere that rechargeables don't work at they peak at 7V and not the 9v the train needs? Seems crazy that it's not a rechargeable pack, ie mini USB or similar but such is life...

Any thoughts / pointers?

[Nemophilist]

Oh no!
I’ve bought the same train set for my son but we’ve not built it yet.
I only stocked up on enough batteries to fill it so thanks for the warning.
10minutes lifespan is disappointing

[fourstardan]

I've bought the set too and my boys thrashed it around for at least two hours solid with the lights on. Not tried the app yet, does it show you how much juice is in the batteries?

I'm secretly getting what I didn't have in my boyhood with the set, the options for other trains seem expensive!

Used interail looking one got discontinued it looks but a few are flogging it on Ebay used for a stomachable price.

Other objective is going to need to be a table build so he can play with it and I may start another post on that.

[DoubleSix]

Bought for my boy on his birthday a few days before Christmas.

Hasn’t stopped playing with it since. Still on the first set of batteries.

Suggest OP reacquaints himself with instructions, paying particular attention to the bit on how to turn it off.

[Davie]

Aye ok, but unnecessary but appreciate we're maybe a bit tired and grouchy however yes, I did read the instructions... twice... and we've sussed how to switch it off. It was off overnight and today I replaced the batteries (I'll concede, first batch were pinched from two wee torches Santa also brought) but the second set were new and it ran about 15mins tops until it started displaying low battery on the train.

I'll try a set of branded batteries tomorrow, maybe just been unlucky with an iffy batch though there's a few posts suggesting run time can be pretty low... also posts suggesting firmware updates but as said, just downloaded the app (if not else, to eliminate the controller) but whilst we got it connected and functioning, it was dead half a lap latter. Will try some Carlos Fandango branded batteries tomorrow.

Aside for that, really impressed with it - he had the train and carriages built in no time and has been busy all day building bridges and level crossings so definitely a good choice this year! I paid £90 in a pre-christmas deal in Argos then bought a non branded track extension pack for about £12 off Amazon and it all fits together great. Could do with more curves though so that's my next purchase. Works best on solid flooring but on carpet, you can join the track sections in the middle using a four piece square tile, helps keep it from coming apart.

The app doesn't show battery life remaining, though possibly missed it but nothing obvious.

[fourstardan]

I have made the son aware to turn it off too, I'd had thought it could go into standby but dosnt appear too.

Also I noticed the app updated the firmware.

[DoubleSix]

I’ll be sticking to the ol skool controller. Kids have enough screen and ‘app’ exposure.

This is a blessed departure from all that.

[Murph7355]

We've had a couple of these sets for a few years.

Energiser Lithium batteries are your friend IMO. And definitely turn the thing on/off carefully and in easy range of the controllers.

The best set, IMO, is the cargo train one. Fun play set.

Make the most of playing with it with him. They grow up fast

[The teacher]

Not sure if it's the same as the WeDo 2.0, but they flash a different colour if cheap batteries are used but are fine on more expensive ones.

[Davie]

DoubleSix said:

I’ll be sticking to the ol skool controller. Kids have enough screen and ‘app’ exposure.

This is a blessed departure from all that.

Thanks. The app is quite good, very basic, in essence just the same functionality as the controller albeit on a screen but adds a couple more functions like a horn sound. My kids have very limited screen time but equally, at 7yrs old he's also very interested in how tech works and in these times and as we head towards the future, I think it's important they understand. I'm not tech / IT savvy and in some ways, it holds me back - I struggle with basic excel spreadsheet functions! Spending two hours building Lego at 7yrs old then using a basic app, understanding how it works and controlling a toy train with it is fine by me.

Murph7355 said:

We've had a couple of these sets for a few years.

Energiser Lithium batteries are your friend IMO. And definitely turn the thing on/off carefully and in easy range of the controllers.

The best set, IMO, is the cargo train one. Fun play set.

Make the most of playing with it with him. They grow up fast

The teacher said:

Not sure if it's the same as the WeDo 2.0, but they flash a different colour if cheap batteries are used but are fine on more expensive ones.

Cheers, will pick up some decent quality batteries today and give it a go - hopefully that's all it's been. He's built a couple of other sets whilst the train has been out of action, the Speed Champions Camaro and McLaren F1 car were dispatched pretty quickly though he's not looking so confident about the Technic Koenigsegg Jesko that's next in line. I've been lined up to help later - I admire his optimism!

[TheRainMaker]

Quite a bit more outlay, but will probably work out cheaper in the long run.



https://www.batterystation.co.uk/panasonic-eneloop...

[Davie]

I found myself getting quite sweaty at the £27 price tag for 8 AAA batteries however then realised they're rechargeable. I'm still a bit surprised Lego don't utilise a rechargeable battery pack for stuff like this, simple USB charger set up would make more sense - maybe there's rules around that sort of thing in kids toys, who knows.

[Simpo Two]

fourstardan said:

I have made the son aware to turn it off too, I'd had thought it could go into standby but dosnt appear too.

Also I noticed the app updated the firmware.

I just can't believe that a toy train needs an app and firmware

[DoubleSix]

It doesn’t.

[Davie]

Simpo Two said:

I just can't believe that a toy train needs an app and firmware

Yup, not compulsory as it comes with its own basic hand held pushy button remote however the little app is quite neat and my inquisitive 7yr old was quite interested in how it works / the tech behind Bluetooth / wi-fi etc. I'm no expert but I think once you get into the realms of complex Technic kits, you can use Lego app to control some quite involved operations. So, as part of me thinks it's potentially unnecessary at this level, it's also a good stepping stone towards more complex builds and I'm fine with that. Sooner that than have him sat on a games console all day having a paddy fit as we won't let him play Grand Theft Auto or something!

[Nemophilist]

Just finished building this and I’m so impressed.
It’s keeping the kids (and me) entertained

[fourstardan]

Nemophilist said:

Just finished building this and I’m so impressed.
It’s keeping the kids (and me) entertained

Did you start on xmas day as it felt like it would take that long to build it!

I like the fact it's likely to be holding value and resellable when my son loses interest in it!

[Nemophilist]

fourstardan said:

Nemophilist said:

Just finished building this and I’m so impressed.
It’s keeping the kids (and me) entertained

Did you start on xmas day as it felt like it would take that long to build it!

I like the fact it's likely to be holding value and resellable when my son loses interest in it!

Started it mid morning 27th.
The track and station are quick to put together and then it’s just 3 train sections.
Two of us completed it in similar time to smaller lego technic sets

[fourstardan]

This is a good page/YT channel for some customised train ideas.

https://eggybricks.com/collections/trains

They've just cost me 20 quid on the sensor as well to play about with...I mean I mean show to my son so he can learn.