Given that these boards are prone to failure and given that this item is one of the most "unavailable" in parts for accessories, couldn't one just hook up the 2 wires on the small motors of the accessory and run them from track or transformer power?
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The motors are DC motors for the most part, so you'd need to at least add a diode or two. Also, typically the motor only runs on command from some other action, so it's not clear that simply running it continuously would be all that useful.
The motors are DC that I bought from amazon. I run the tire swing and nodding donkey oil pump continuously while running the trains. Where does the diode go?
If you connected a DC motor to a standard AC train transformer, I can't imagine how it's running.
A friend of mine has the swing accessory. It broke and I fixed it for him. The circuit boards in those playground accessories are simple dc converter boards with a 5 or 12 volt (i can't remember) regulator in them. I picked up a few replacement regulators from digikey for like 30 cents each. Its back up and running. As John stated, there is no way that DC motor is running directly connected to an AC transformer. Just get the board repaired. I am not an electronics expert and it was simple for me to repair.
Just to test the motors themselves, I connected them to my post-war 1033 transformer. These are 6,000 RPM motors and they seem to be spinning just fine. Before I connect them to the accessories I want to be sure I am doing it right.
Well, since I have no idea what motor you have, I can't say. I will say that a permanent magnet DC motor will not do well on an AC transformer like the 1033, and I can't imagine it'll spin at all! When I connect a PM DC motor to my pure AC transformer, it just vibrates the shaft and draws a lot of current, not what you want to see!
https://ogrforum.com/...8#183452410659440928 GRJ, these are the motors I got from Amazon
@POTRZBE posted:https://ogrforum.com/...8#183452410659440928 GRJ, these are the motors I got from Amazon
You are supposed to supply that motor ideally with regulated 3-5V DC only, not the AC output of a 1033.
These are five volt motors according to the description. How does one regulate them?
@POTRZBE posted:These are five volt motors according to the description. How does one regulate them?
The entire point of the board- convert AC to DC, then filter and regulate that DC voltage.
@POTRZBE posted:Given that these boards are prone to failure and given that this item is one of the most "unavailable" in parts for accessories, couldn't one just hook up the 2 wires on the small motors of the accessory and run them from track or transformer power?
#1 I generally would disagree that these simple DC regulator boards are failing. The fact in many cases of these accessories using the pancake motor- the MOTOR is the failure. In other cases like the earlier hobby shop- they put diodes in series with the motor for voltage drop beyond what the regulator was supplying to further reduce motor speed. These diodes can fail and then the motor is no longer getting power. https://ogrforum.com/...3#165010489428275823
#2 while the boards may not be available from Lionel- they are relatively simple and few components, and they are common off the shelf components- diodes, capacitors, and 780X voltage regulators- easily repaired.
an example of an off the shelf board