I need to modify and old powerpack for an axiliary location. The problem is that at the lowest setting it goes too fast. Can I put some kind of a resistor in the line to give lower voltage. It does not have to go fast, but it does need to go slow. What I want to run is a small Climax on the switchback behind the mountain from the main cab location.
I have a couple of thoes old tyco powerpacks too. I don’t know if there is myuch you can do for them, you may be able to find another potentieometre(spelling), thats what controls the resistancegoing to your track. I have seen them at Radio shack and I’m sure you could get one at any other electronics store. Your other option is to have a look on Ebay, you should be able to find a good MRC powerpack starting around 20 bucks. It would be a lot less trouble.
I use a Tech 4 MRC Power pack and those heislers ran pretty nicely.
Those old tyco type power packs are inadequate except as a sort of a limited power source for little lights etc…
Long time ago we used radio shack knobs that determined how much power that went to the track fed by a 12 volt supply. Those worked really well. I dont know if they are still availible these days.
Replace it with an inexpensive MRC… Do they still make the 1400?? The problem with the tyco (and similar) power packs is they use an about 2 inch wide wiper on the variable resistor… Making the ouput, as you already know, full off or full on…
You Could try a resistor if you insist… There are 2 ways of doing it. Either a low resistance shunt (across the track terminals) or one in series (one of the terminals has to pass through it) to the track… The series is probably the safest… Without having any numbers to run, try something like a 100 ohm, 5 or 10 watt resistor… WIth the series, the higher the resistance, the less voltage your loco will see. With the shunt, the Lower the resistance, the less Current your loco will see (which would actually be the better way)… With that, I wouldn’t go less than about 10 ohm, 10 watt. Either way, I still think the inexpensive MRC is the way to go… Use the tycos to operate building and street lights.
Good luck,
Jeff
Load it down.
Put a light bulb across the output (or two or three) until the start voltage is low enough to keep them litel can motors from turning at the bottom of the scale.
Cheap test to try.
- Drop in circular file.
2.Go to your LHS. - Buy better power pack.
My advise exactly.
Not to afend you but tra***he tyco or use the AC for atlas switchs
A new MRC is not costy!!
JIM
Use your Tyco for lighting. Go to your hobbyshop & get a new MRC pack. You can’t get the kind of motor control you need out of the pld pack. The MRC packs also include goodies like momentum & braking control.
Safety is my primary concern when usin an old power pack. Don’t mess with it. The new MRC packs have transistor controls & other electrical components.
You could get a set of DC meters to check the output of your unit.
The following assumes HO.
You could add a potentiometer to replace the variable speed control on your Tyco power pack, but it’s probably not worth the effort. The quality of the result is going to depend on how closely matched the normal current draws of your locomotives are. If all have low current can motors - most modern production does - then a 100 ohm potentiometer (5-10 watts) should work. If your roster is all open frame motors that draw up to .5 amps - generally used in older production - then a 50 ohm pot (15-20 watts) is optimum. The difficulty of the potentiometer solution comes when you have a mix of motor types. With a 50 ohm pot you will not be able to run a low current can motor (0.1 amp) at slow speeds - won’t be able to get less than 7 volts on the track. With a 100 ohm pot the high current open frame motor (.4 amps) will not start until you have used over 3/4 of the rotation.
The newer quality power packs (MRC Tech 2 and later) use a different method to directly regulate the voltage to the track that is not current dependent, rather then dropping a current-dependent voltage across a variable resistor. Besides, good wire-wound potentiometers rated at 10+ watts are getting hard to find these days, especially at any kind of reasonable price. Get a new power pack and use your Tyco for fixed voltage accessories, as others have already said. You’ll be much happier with this solution.
Fred Wright
As a temporary fix I rigged an old c6 series christmas bulb across the terminals of an old reostat pack to load it down. It controls a p2k sw8 fairly well. The best bet is a voltage controling pack.
TYCO PAK’s were so cheap they aren’t worth fixing. Start over.
Hello Art,
Understandably you may be on a tight budget but with today’s more efficicient electrical accessories would be much better off purchasing an MRC Tech Series Powerpack. You can find the older Tech 2s on ebay at pretty good prices.
Since your intent is for auxilary use, another option is the newer, small Bachmann powerpacks that come in their train sets. I have 2 that I got free at a swap meet. They’re pretty cheap and much more efficient than the Tyco pack.
I have one of those old tyco power packs and all it’s for is building lighting power…go ahead and bite the bullet and get a good MRC pack…you can’t go wrong with MRC…(you can’t even make a decient flower planter with an old tyco power pack)…chuck