Those have not been made for years! I suspect that they have selenium bridge rectifier plates that leak AC as well. A 5 amp transformer that will put out about 60 watts and replacing the bridge rectifiers with some good diode based ones are the first thing to get it to work(and replace that old power cord). Even then, you have a pair of rheostats that may not be able to stop modern HO engines.
As far as ‘collectible’ - in the eyes of the right buyer maybe. You can buy ‘next to new’ MRC ‘Tech Series’ power packs on eBay for a lot less that you will spend fixing this one. These were a popular power pack back in the 50’s and early 60’s - Much older than even the MRC ‘Golden Throttle Pack’. I had a small dual cab one myself that I wound up using for powering switch machines/bldg lights.
Scintella used to be a good name in power packs, back in the 1950’s. If it still works, you can use it. Juice is juice. You can use to to run trains, or light structures or power switch machines. If it doesn’t work, try replacing the selenium rectifier stack with modern silicon diodes, or one of those full wave bridge rectifiers from Radio Shack. If the cord insulation is dried out and crumbly it ought to be replaced. Use a three wire (grounded) cord and plug, connect the case to the green ground wire. That way a short to case will blow the circuit breaket before it it bites the operator. In fact, thinking about 50 year old insulation in the transformer, I might want to put in a grounded power cord just in case, even if the old one looks OK.
I would never try to use one of these old power packs to run a locomotive with a new can motor. These supplies were notorious for having poor voltage regulation and a lot of AC pulse in their output. These can overheat and destroy a can motor in short order.
If you have locomotives with the old, open frame Pitmann motors, they are good for that.
As far as value is concerned, the bottom has fallen out of the recycled metals market - BUT, it still might be of use. I would test it - carefully - as follows:
Open the case and clean out any dust, cobwebs and debris that may have accumulated there. Check for loose and missing insulation and broken or disconnected wires. If you find loose or broken wires - STOP. Unless you are electrically qualified, it is unsafe to continue.
Use an ohmmeter as a continuity meter to check if there is continuity between the legs of the 120vac wall plug - should be some resistance, but not much.
Check for continuity between the AC accessory taps. Again, some but not much.
Check for continuity between 120vac and the other AC taps. The answer should be no continuity. WARNING! If there IS continuity - STOP! This is unsafe, and a deal breaker.
Assuming that everything is okay so far, find a circuit breaker equipped power bar and plug your Scintilla into it, with the breaker switch OFF. Se
Presently on E-bay, a single-(missing)knob Varney controller made by Scintilla. Buy now is $7.95. He probably won’t get that much as a bid. Using the same standard, you might E-bay yours with a buy-now of $20 - and be very surprised if you get enough to make it worth the time it will take.
Gee, I have a Model Rectifier Corporation Duel Pack that I have been using on my layouts since 1952. After reading this, tread, I just went up to my railroad room and pulled the plug. So much for nostalgia. Any further comments on this decision would be appreciated. Peter Smith, Memphis
Scintillas aren’t that hard to find: I have a Unipack Senior powering my test track. [swg] It has a “continuous run” feature - anything with a can motor will run until the power pack is shut off. [:P] I’ve had it since the '50s, and, for testing locomotives for electrical or running gear problems, it’s perfectly serviceable. I also use it to power a length of track in my paint booth, for painting the running gear of steam locos.
Probably a wise decision. I used to have one of the old bronze colored MRC 2 amp power packs that I got back in the 60’s. It worked very well with older locos but the newer ones would never stop moving once they got started, just continue to creep along at a scale 2-3 mph. I finally tossed it back in 89.