greetings all…I’m new here. just found an old tyco “powerpak” transformer in the attic. any idea of its age and value? can you use it? please let me know
mike
aniceplaceonthelake@hotmail.com
thanks in advance
Worth 5 bucks. It can be used, but not for too much.
David
You might run a light or two with it or one engine with today’s low current motors. But I would not bother with it.
Good for lights and accessories or a train around the Christmas tree.
I must be missing something…thia unit converts 115v ac to 13vdc and 15v ac at 2.5 AMPS. that should power a lot more than lights, etc. It was my understanding that the new stuff required less amperage than the old stuff, hence the old stuff is more powerful. all I know is the reostat in this thing is priceless in some applications. oh yeah, I am a retired auto-electric tech
If it’s one of their better ones, it was probably made for them by MRC. You may find it here: http://tycotrain.tripod.com/tycotrains/id96.html.
Even if it is an MRC, it will have more sentimental value than monetary.
scintilla rail & power works,
New York, NY
any help?
Mike;
It is not really capable of controlling modern locomotives - they will take off at near max speed - because it uses a reohstat in series with the output to control the output. The reohstat is sized for motors drawing an ampere or more, and will not control a motor that draws a ¼ ampere or less.
It is useful as a power source for a transistor throttle or for lights.
cool…thanks for the info…I’ll use it in a science project here at home…maybe a jacobs ladder…so any idea of the age?
thanks all
I tried replying to your email but my reply was returned. At any rate, after the manufacturer’s name does it list a ZIP code or a zone number? If it has a ZIP code it’s no more than 40 years old. For a brief perios, I think late 60’s/early 70’s, many consumer items had plugs that had a ring sort of arrangement on the back as a place to pull itout of the socket, supposedly to keep people from yanking on the cord. Other than that, can’t really give a date.
What the others have said is correct, it’s not particularly valuable in any way, they made those by the ton. And it won’t control modern low current HO or N scale locos because the rheostat value is too low. Using it to power lights and switch motors and so forth is your best bet, assuming the cord is in good condition and not cracked or damaged. If it is, just throw it out.
–Randy
Also those old things had a bad habit of leaking AC voltage through the DC output. I trashed a lot of them for just that reason. I am not sure, but I think I remember Scintilla was one of the worst for that because they were used to real world electronics and not model stuff.
Very few if any old DC packs were filtered, so they ALL had something otehr than a flat line voltage output. But this wasn’t enough to damage motors, in fact it gave better starting and slow speed control. Not a nice as actual pulse power, but better than filtered DC.
Looking through old issues of MR, the Scintilla packs looked to use pretty much the exact same components as other brands, big finned selenium rectifiers back before silicon rectifiers became affordable, etc. As a competitor to MRC, they probably hung on the longest whereas other brands fell by the wayside.
–Randy
I found pictures of some old Scintilla units on eBay. I wonder if these are DCC compatible? [(-D]
I seriously doubt it!
I’ll have to see if I still have a few of those old vacuum tube decoders lying around…
Ya got to love the external fuse holder. That thing looks like a house fire waiting to happen.
Yeah, but the rectifier doubles as a magazine rack!
For those interested in vintage equipment (or fishermen in need of an anchor), here are the links:
It’s actually a circuit breaker, on the low voltage side. But under a continuous short it could get a bit warm if you kept resetting it withotu clearign the short first. Pop! Push, Pop! Push, Pop! Push OUCH!
–Randy