I have a New Bright Chrismas train set, to go around the Christmas tree, having problems of the train not running at a slow speed, the transformer is 10 volts, thinking of using a Bachman 17 volt transformer, but worried that I may short everything out, just need more power, I think. Any ideas would be great. Thanks
Additional voltage is almost certainly going to be a Bad Idea. And all it would ‘get’ you is some nominally increased (and highly unprototypical, likely!) speed on the higher end. The motors likely used in these inexpensive sets will likely be straight voltage-controlled, so the ‘transformer’ you have supplies a rectified-to-DC voltage regulated via a potentiometer or similar arrangement to make the motor turn faster or slower.
Likewise increasing the ‘amp’ rating of the control isn’t going to help with this problem. At a given voltage, the motor will ‘draw’ the amperage it needs, with that likely being greater with increasing speed. Insufficient ‘ampacity’ would not produce the difficulty you’re observing, at lower speed.
What you need to be considering, imho, is something with adjustable pulse-width modulation at lower nominal ‘voltage’, this producing the 10V continuously, but turning it on and off very quickly multiple times a second. This provides higher torque at the motor when the power is ‘on’, while giving the average motor rotational speed corresponding to ‘average’ voltage over time.
What this requires in your specific case – assuming you don’t want to construct a suitable circuit from ‘power-pack’ components – is one of the older types of model-train ‘transformer’ that have pulse power, and ensuring that the peak modulated voltage of their pulse output isn’t in excess of 10 or so volts max. I would suspect that some of the later ‘refinements’ that used very high PWM frequencies would tend to cause motor overheating, so I’d think about starting with one of the types that used cheap GTO of 120pps full-wave rectified house AC first…
There are many DC-power experts on this forum who can advise you better, and in detail, now that you have some idea of what the solution might involve.
Generally, locomotives that come with all-in-one starter sets are not very good quailty. Same for their transformers.
A couple of questions:
- Is your locomotive diesel or steam?
- What scale is your train set? With 10V, I’m going to guess N or HO.
Personally, I would go on eBay and purchase a good-quality, midland locomotive. You can find some inexpensive ones and they will run better and serve you well for years to come.
Also, if the train is being run around the base of the Christmas tree on carpet, it’s possible that there are small carpet fibers and dust that the locomotive is trying to overcome before it can move. Is the locomotive hot when you pick it up after running it for a while?
Tom
In addition, how clean is the track / wheels? I remember the plastic wheelsets on my old HO Scale trains would leave “gunk” all over the track in short order (I’ve since “upgraded” to one of the Lionel trainsets for under the tree, it survives the pets better)
New Bright? They typically make G scale Christmas type train sets.
As far as your 17v from the Bachmann pack, that may be normal. Some packs will show high open ci
Well, looks like I am stuck with a crappy train set that looks cool around the tree, just will not run. Thanks for the advice
“Stuck”? nah, not by a longshot.
Might take a little work to give the thing a tuneup (if old) or a break-in (if new), but even “trainset” stuff can work pretty nicely.
Will it operate like a $2000 something-or-other that crawls at ties-per-minute? no. But who cares if all youre after is a nice “30 scale MPH” .