can you guys recomend a small hand held tester to put on tracks to quickly test for elec power? just so I dont have to dig out my multimeter? ones Ive seen at shows had 2 flat contacts placed over tacks with A LITE to show power. Any recomendations? thanks all
A small 16 volt incandescent light bulb will work.
But, dig out that multimeter and keep it in your train room. It has many more uses in model railroading beyond what you’ve already figured out.
i put LEDs in a caboose i roll around as i wire up track to make sure its getting power and the polarity is correct
Two alligator clips with two short flexible wires (2”) soldered to a 14 volt bulb (1445 or 1815). Been using that method since the mid 1960s.
Mel
My Model Railroad
http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/
Bakersfield, California
Turned 84 in July, aging is definitely not for wimps.
luv you guys
Bachmann sells a specific tester with red amber and green indicator lights. I’ve often wondered how handy that might be.
A Bachmann car with EOT device has a winking red LED which shows track is powered.
To check DC to see if it’s the track or a locomotive a 9 v battery clipped to the rails should move the locomtive nicely. Should be enough to power up DCC sound.
One day, I will get one of these:
Simon
I use about the same as Mel describes. It’s a light that you put in a building, has the leads already attached, I just soldered on 2 alligator clips.
I think It was from Model Power, came 4 in a package.
Mike.
That’s the one Bachmann sells. It has the advantage of simplicity.
Simplicity, yes.
Functionality, not so much. The majority of “questionable” rail continuity, at least in my experience, occurs at turnouts, crossings and any location where short sections of rail come in close proximity.
That little $18 tester looks cute but I wouldn’t have any use for it in real-world track diagnosis. How would you use it to check for voltage at, say, a switch point or closure rail?
Make your own. LED 5¢, resistor 1¢, one alligator clip maybe 75¢.
I made several “quickie” testers. I like to have ONE hook-type mini clip and the other lead a probe (stiff brass wire) so I can “poke around” in narrow confines of a frog or points area.
Thank you, Ed
A tail light bulb, a locomotive you know works and can give an indication of power by lighting up or emitting sounds, or a simple $12 multimeter…they’re all great if you have them handy and can use them easily.
A soldering iron, an NMRA gauge for the scale, an optivisor, and a multimeter are musts in this hobby.
Our late, and great, friend Randy Rinker always said to look for sales, or just get the cheapest one at Harbour Freight, if I remember correctly.
I looked at one and decided the same thing.
I have a 1980’s vintage Micronta analog multimeter that will read DCC voltage as 14 or 16 v AC, same regardless of polarity of course. It reads DC (if polarity is incorrect the needle tries to read backwards and hits the end of range pin) and ohms. So that’s all I need. We also have a more modern digital multimeter which is handy because it displays actual voltage even if the polarity is reversed.
I made my own for about $8.00, and it uses the standard 1157 dual filament auomotive taillight bulb Selector suggested.
The toggle controls the test load. In the down position only the tail light filament is illuminated and it draws 0.5 Amp. In the up position both filaments illuminate and it draws 2.0 Amps.
I included test lead sockets that work with my set of industrial Fluke test leads. I plan to build a small weighted test adapter for it that I can just set on the tracks like you suggested.
-Kevin
Mines in storage. It’s an old plastic hopper car truck with metal wheels and pickup wires on each side feeding a mini 14 volt bulb. Simple and useful.
Peter.
I made a test lead with two aligator clips, a 1K ohm resistor and a Bicolor LED (two Leg).
Works on DCC and DC. Nice part is that is also will show if there is anything with track signal. For example if only the RED LED is on or only the Green LED is ont there is an issue (Unless I’m tying to run an analog loco on zero stretching).