So I have my 1990 NKP steamer from my first train set. It runs great, the engine does not need a lot of power to move. At these low voltages the smoke unit element does not heat up well and it barely if at all smokes. When I hook up only the smoke unit to the test leads and bring the volts up to about 10 it works great, but as mentioned before 10 volts will send the engine flying off the table. Any ideas on how to increase voltage to the smoke unit without effecting the rest of the locomotive?
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You don't say how many cars you are pulling with the locomotive. Perhaps you could add a few more cars to the train, or add some weight to any hopper, gondolas or flatcars or even a load or two inside a boxcar so the loco needs more power to pull the train around and thus the increased current will heat the smoke unit up much more. Dennis M.
i tried wiring the headlight in series with the motor so that it would take more power to the track to make the motor work there by getting the needed voltage for good smoke unit operation. only problem was that the light bulb draws so much power that the motor hardly works. Also tried wiring diodes into the motor but loose forward or reverse depending which pole they are wired to. Any ideas? Is there a device that i could wire into the smoke unit power input side that would increase the voltage to the desired amount and be independent of the rest of the locomotives?
Lionel made a 16 ohm smoke unit for these locos Part #6108736200that was wired in parallel with the motor instead of using track voltage.
No longer available but there may one out there some where.
The original was 27 ohms. If you find a 16 ohm unit wire to track voltage.
Or you could add sets of parallel back to back 1N4001 diodes in series with the motor.
Each diode set will reduce the voltage to the motor by .7 of a volt.
4 sets will reduce the motor voltage by 2.8 volts.
Carl
Carl
Carl,
Thank You for the info. Will see if the 16ohm unit is out there somewhere.
E.
Eric, the diodes have to be wired in pairs back-to-back. You can use a bridge rectifier that will replace two diode pairs, a couple of these in series will make a big difference.
To use these, you wire the + and - terminals in series with the motor, and leave the ~ terminals unconnected (insulate them or cut them off).
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