Id like to quiet down the operation of my Lionel Switch Tower by adding a full wave bridge rectifier (4 amps, 50 volts). Im using an isolated control rail section. The tower, however, has three terminals: one for power, one for the control wire and one for the light. How do I make the connections to the rectifier in this situation?
Bob
You will need to isolate the coil and the lamp from each other. Right now they share a common return through the frame of the accessory. (If this proves to be not so simple, you might consider abandoning the original lamp socket and finding a place to install another with insulated terminals, like this one: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062369 .)
Power the lamp directly from whatever accessory supply you are using. Power the coil through the bridge rectifier, that is, with + and - connected to the coil and ~ connected where you used to have terminals 2 and 3.