I have been running some of my conventional stuff from time to time on and wondered if there was a way to lower the start voltage on the variable channel , it starts at 5 volts witch is fine for the older open frame motors but to high for the can motors so they start and stop very abruptly. thanks for any input Rick
Replies sorted oldest to newest
I'm pretty sure that's in the design of the circuit.
You'd have to add something inside each engine or to the track like maybe a really big diode?
If you are using a transformer and not a brick, I believe you could just lower the voltage on the transformer. While the remote may show 5.0 volts, it is not an actual voltage measurement. It is fairly accurate if your transformer is at full throttle but proportionally less if input voltage is less than 18v-20v.
I have been using bricks but I have an old ZW that works well i could use to run a bit lower voltage for my conventional stuff. I use a DCC specialities PSX-AC solid state circuit breakers on both sections of the layout so no worries about the monster ZW killing the electronics in my modern stuff. great devices worth the $50 that can be set up to auto reset or manual and the amperage can be set to whatever you want the max to be via jumpers.
I use postwar ZWs. My variable TIU channels are set to fixed. I set the throttles at 18-20 for DCs locos. I don’t run conventional very often, but when I do, I just use the ZW throttles.
Rick Rubino posted:I have been running some of my conventional stuff from time to time on and wondered if there was a way to lower the start voltage on the variable channel , it starts at 5 volts witch is fine for the older open frame motors but to high for the can motors so they start and stop very abruptly. thanks for any input Rick
If you're running the conventional stuff using the variable channels of the TIU, you can set the channels to start at lower voltages.
- Press TR
- Press thumbwheel to select VAR1 or VAR2
- Press function S5 to scroll to next screen
- Press MIN
- Scroll to desired start voltage
- Press thumbwheel to lock new start voltage
Gunrunner has it correctly. It is what I did and works great. I can even hear Barry saying it. It is in his books!