Don’t get the wonderful-looking N-Scale wind turbines for your layout and expect them to actually turn – as the kit promises. It’s shipped with a 50 cycle motor which won’t run on U.S. power – even though the packaging and instructions claim it’s 60 cycles. It was Faller, now it’s owned by Model Power (#1583) – who hasn’t fixed this. Even the replacement motor (Faller 180629) claims to be 60 cycles but is only 50.
After exhaustive talks with electronics shops, they have told me flatly there is nothing they or I can do to make the motors run in the U.S. No transformers, nothing will fix it.
My model railroad store (and fix-everything gurus) also can’t make it work – and can’t get Faller or Model Power to admit there is a problem. So I’m stuck with a “wind farm” that doesn’t spin like it should for the price I paid and the lies on their packaging.
Not unusual for a small motor. I have a small Hallmark MRR ornament the plugs into a Christmas tree socket the has a small AC motor. It runs two tiny trains around the tracks. I opened up the case.
The turbine should run on 60 Hz. Did you actually try it? I have seen a few items over the years that were labeled 50 Hz and worked on 60 Hz.
A 50hz motor will run 20% faster than designed on 60hz, so the windmills SHOULD turn - unless the voltage match is wrong.
AC (house current) appliances my wife used 50 years ago ran perfectly well in Fukuoka on 60hz, and equally well in Tokyo on 50 hz. In between, they were a lot happier than I was in Austin, TX.
My old Tenshodo power pack (now eligible for Social Security) is labeled 50/60hx, and has AC accessory taps.
Marklin trains, designed for 50hz AC, run quite well on American 60hz AC.
Unless these windmills have some really unusual motors, the frequency should be a non-issue.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - just west of the 50hz/60hz divide)
If it was a clock, this would be a problem. Like Chuck elborated on, it should run OK, assuming it’s OK to run it on 110 volts. It will just be a little faster on 60 than on 50 hz.
From what I have read, there is nothing that will change the cycles. This is the frequency at which the power has been generated.
That being said, did you actually try to run the motors? Or are you fixated on the cycles and stopped there? That motor should run regardles of the cycles. Looking at the motor description on the Walthers website, it has a rating of 4/15 rpm, 12-16 volts AC, and 60 milliamps. http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/272-180629
If you go to your local hobby shop that sells RC car parts, you can ask for the smallest motor they have, they should have tiny DC motors (usually used in really small rc cars) that may fit into your windmills. I got a small one that is roughly half the size of a 9 volt from my local hobby shop thatmainly sells RC cars (for some reason Hawaii doesn’t seem to have any hobby shops that mainly sell model railroad supplies.
Yes, I did try to run them. I got a soft hum, then nothing. No movement ever. My train doctor guru at the model railroad shop also tried them and got the same thing. No movement; a soft hum at first, then no sound.
As to how it’s described on the Walther’s website, that is a lie. It is not 60 milliamps, it’s 50. And despite pointing it out to Faller, then Model Power, and even to Walthers, nobody there would listed to my store or to me.
Getting a small RC car motor is an interesting idea. The problem is the shaft the motor has to drive, which has a half circle shape. But it’s worth a try. Thank you!
Somewhere buried I have an ancient Faller kit for a water powered mill. Like, early 60’s vintage. It has a smalle AC synchronus motor inside it, I will guarantee it’s not a 60Hz motor, back then no one even though about that, they just imported the kids from Europe and that was that. At least, I think it’s Faller, pretty sure the box is around, even though this is a mostly wood and card stock kit, not styrene.
It works fine connected to the AC terminals of a US 60Hz power pack.
You could use a small 12V DC motor, but you’d need to run it on much less than 12V, or it will try to take off like an airplane. The whole reason for using the synchronus AC motor is that they already turn slowly, at full voltage. No speed control needed. As stated above multiple times, the 50Hz motor will work just fine on 60Hz, it will just be slightly faster. So it’s a windy day.
If something says 60 milliamps and only actually uses 50, well, most folks would consider that a plus. And I can see where Faller, Model Power, and Walthers would basically ignore you if that was the path you were trying to take with them.
Regardless of your opinion on the subject, I believe that most of us here think that the motor should run whether it says 50 or 60 cycles.
The path you should be taking with your local hobby store, if that is where you bought them and if they are really faulty (the motors, not the hobby store), is to get them to either replace them, find out what the problem is, or give you your money back.
If you got them through Walthers, you should take the same approach. The key here is to calmly tell them that you are having a problem, that your hobby shop can’t figure out what is wrong, and politely ask them if they can help you out. If your approach is going to be to attack them because you believe their product packaging lies, well, I wish you luck with that.
By the way…how many of these do you have? Just the one that could actually just be a faulty product, or multiple copies all of which don’t work?
I bought 3 – so I’d have a wind farm on the layout. None of the 3 motors work.
Also, when the packaging and instructions all claim the motor has 60 milliamps, and the motor itself is clearly labeled 50 – that’s a lie to me. Also, my hobby shop subsequently ordered another kit and 2 replacement motors and they all claimed to have 60 and in reality (easily visible if the manufacturer was willing to look) all have 50.
My hobby shop says that’s the problem. And since none of the 3 work, it seems unlikely I just got 3 bad motors.
But I’m going to take it to an RC car hobby store and see what kind of small motors they have that might work.
If you wish to consider those 10 excess milliamps a lie, you are free to do so. I don’t happen to agree with you because I’m pretty certain that they have nothing to do with your problem.
Rergardless, you should not have to run all over creation to find and pay for replacement motors. If the product is defective, the hobby shop should give you your money back.
Also, when the packaging and instructions all claim the motor has 60 milliamps, and the motor itself is clearly labeled 50 – that’s a lie to me.
Milliamps is a measure of current draw, not frequency. Hertz is a measure of frequency and those who have pointed out that the motor would still work are correct. Being a synchronous motor, the RPM would be faster, but it should run.
Are you sure you’re feeding 12-16 Volts AC to the motor? If you’re feeding it DC, the motor won’t work.