Lionel 264 Operating Forklift

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Pete

Thanks Pete, I was making it harder than it is!

Dave -

A good way to drop voltage to a specific accessory is a bridge rectifier.  Here's the one I inserted to the direct accessory connection for my UCS track in order to slow the action of my Milk and Dump cars.  Still works the uncoupler properly.

Tie the DC outputs (+ and -) together and insert the ac in series to the accessory.  This connection gives a 1.2v voltage drop.

Took me a minute to post, I had to go take the pic.  Sorry for the delay. 

Pete

Pete, I'm not sure the rectifier solution will work for this accessory, as it uses a "vibrator motor", which if I'm not mistaken requires AC to operate. A simple high power low ohm resistor should do the job. If I remember correctly, in the past, I used to use one or two ohm at a watt or more to perform this function.

If this is the older Post War fork lift which is AC, the easiest solution is to pick up a small old AC power supply so you can adjust the best operating voltage instead. Use the fixed 14 V output on your transformer for lights or something else.

Like Elliot said, DC won't work. A adjustable 10 ohm, 25 watt resistor will do the job. Or another solution is get a common #95 prewar rheostat.

I'm a long ways from being an electricity expert but I believe that connecting a bridge rectifier like I showed just drops the AC voltage without converting it to DC.  My milk and dump cars buzz same as usual, just work a little slower.

Pete

He has the + and - outputs tied together, so the bridge rectifier drops the AC about 1 volt and pulses the AC a bit.

The same thing could be done with 4 diodes also.

Each diode drops the voltage about .6 volts.

I have one of these newer version 264's on my layout; also wired to operate off the 14 volt accessory post of my Z4000.  My response is going to differ from the others.

The action on your platform reminds me of my 264 when I mistakenly used a small amount of wax on the metal over which the forklift travels.  This causes the forklift to speed up and toss the pieces of wood.  

Run your finger across the metal base of your 264 to see if it has a smooth waxy feel.  If so, clean the metal and the forklift tires using an ammonia based cleaner like Windex.  On mine, this slowed the forklift down enough to get it to quit tossing the wood.

Another quirk I have noticed with mine occurs when it gets a bit of a dust buildup on the tires of the forklift.  This can cause the forklift to travel in a jerky manner across the metal.  Cleaning the dust off the tires smooths the movement of the forklift across the platform.

Curt

Why not use the variable voltage of your transformer, if it has more than one throttle, like a ZW or KW.  I've done this in the past and simply adjust the voltage to suit the accessory being operated.  

Thanks for the answers, think I will try the resistor one first.  It is a postwar version from the 50's. Does not work on DC, ask me how I know!  I am running it through the AIU so I can use the DCS remote to control it and I don't want to setup yet another transformer on my carpet central.  

Anybody notice how I cut down the RealTrax roadbed so it fit in the channel?  Use a dremel tool, you also have to cut a bit of the next attaching piece, in this case the short strip before the bumper.  

The postwar Lionel 264 uses Lionel's infamous string motor. If yours is working properly, but fast, I'd address it by using a variable voltage power source. It is A.C. only. If you want to experiment with resistors or diodes / rectifiers as Texas Pete showed above, it couldn't hurt to try.
A small postwar Lionel transformer from a starter set would probably cost around $5.00 in my area.

It might be possible to raise the operating voltage requirements by adjusting the string length, but I strongly advise against trying to retune a working piece. Those motors can be tricky to adjust.

Here are the service manual pages, provided by Olsens.

You can adjust the voltage a bit and it will work but only until the armature member doesn't vibrate with enough length to generate the needed force and pull.  Unfortunately the Lionel vibrotor accessories where manufactured at a time when Lionel's profits were declining and cuts in cost and product quality resulted.  Those vibrating mechanisms are temperamental, difficult to repair and adjust.  Its a shame as accessories that used this drive method like the Newsstand, Forklift and Saw Mill were cleverly thought out and very nice.

Well I know I am not quick to get things done but I installed a resistor, 10ohm 10W and it reduced the current from 13.8V to 11.2.  The first picture is of the 'test' rig.   Fortunately I have a friend who is a EE guy and he helped me and even gave me the resistors to try.  Note how now the motion is more normal in the video and the operator is not 'throwing' the lumber around!! The resistor does warm up a bit but not much, even if running the accessory through the entire load of lumber.  Ignore the 5 finger 'switching' but notice the difference in speed between the first video I posted and the new one.  

Thanks Chuck for the resistor recommendation.  

Good job! No more caber tosses!

  If the heat build is scary, move to a higher watt resistor, or just put two equal low watt ones side by side (in parallel) so they share the load.

 The diode/BR trick as shown would give you whats called "half rectification". Still "lumpy power" on an O-scope, and would likely work on some better units fine and dandy ("better" by chance), but could fail to work just as easily.