KickStart BSM Delivers Reliable Cranking Voltage Stability for a Class 1 Customer

Locomotive engine starts create significant electrical demand, often leading to sharp voltage drops across the bus. For railroads operating complex fleets with modern control electronics, these voltage dips can cause critical issues, including:

• System resets or shutdowns of control modules, event recorders, and communications equipment.
• Increased stress on batteries and electrical components.
• Failed start attempts, requiring additional intervention or re-start cycles.

At the Class 1 railroad’s operations, voltage instability during cranking was leading to intermittent system disruptions, reduced locomotive availability, and additional maintenance efforts.

The railroad needed a solution that could stabilize bus voltage during the cranking process, maintain reliable electrical supply to sensitive systems, and ultimately improve locomotive start reliability without requiring major fleet overhauls or extensive operator retraining.

KickStart BSM was installed and studied for its effectiveness.
Key features deployed included:

• Supercapacitor-assisted starting to provide immediate, high-energy power support.
• Bus Boost™ technology to stabilize bus voltage during cranking, maintaining a consistent power supply to locomotive electronics.
• Integrated battery management to optimize battery health and reduce load strain during starts.

How Bus Boost™ Enhances Voltage Stability

Bus Boost™ is a feature within KickStart BSM that ensures stable bus voltage during engine cranking by instantly delivering supplemental power from the onboard supercapacitor module.

• Before Start: The supercapacitors remain fully charged, ready to provide energy.
• During Cranking: When a start attempt is detected, Bus Boost™ rapidly discharges, supplementing battery output to maintain steady voltage across the electrical bus (around 65V).
• After Start: The supercapacitors quickly recharge, preparing for the next cranking event.

By supporting the batteries at the exact moment of peak demand, Bus Boost™ prevents voltage dips that can cause electronic resets, protects critical systems, and ensures smooth, reliable engine starts.

1. Bus Voltage Stability Achieved

Enabled KickStart BSM maintained a steady bus voltage of around 65V during engine cranking, compared to significant voltage drops observed without the KickStart BSM. This improvement protected control electronics and ensured consistent system performance across multiple cranking events.

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Highlights:

• Stable voltage throughout cranking cycles.
• Elimination of sharp voltage dips.
• Continuous power to sensitive locomotive systems, preventing resets and faults.

2. Improved Electrical System Protection

The electrical bus of the locomotive is crucial for ensuring reliability of the locomotive and extending life span of electrical components. With voltage stabilization during starts, the locomotive experienced:

• No control module resets during the pilot period.
• Improved system startup consistency, even under colder temperature conditions.
• Enhanced long-term protection for critical locomotive electronics.

3. Quantified Improvements

During commissioning, bus voltage was measured during cranking with KickStart BSM disabled. These baseline values were then compared to lifetime performance with KickStart BSM enabled and assisting.

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Key Takeaways

• KickStart BSM successfully stabilized cranking voltage for the Class 1 customer, protecting locomotive systems from power disruptions.
• Bus Boost™ technology ensured reliable starts with consistent voltage levels, even in cold ambient conditions.

Reduced system resets and voltage fluctuations contributed to increased fleet availability and reduced maintenance interventions.