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I have LC and LC+ locomotives, GW-180 power besides the 56W wall-wart that came with the PE set. Limiting speed by turning down the power on the GW-180 works great, but the boys know how to turn it up. Both engines will fly at max power. I need a way to permanently reduce the power to the motor or power to the track. The adults still use LCS and the iPad to control the switches when doing switching puzzles and we're guilty of turning the power up a tad too much and then fumbling with the remote and next thing you know there is a rocket sled on the track.

Am I missing something?

Thanks.

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You can remove the GW-180 controller and just use the brick.  Add in a few properly wired bridge rectifiers to drop the track power to 11-12 volts and you have a permanent speed limiter.  If you make a small module with the bridges in with connectors that only work one way, they can't take the protection out.

If you jumper the +/- pins and then put the ~ pins in series with the line, each bridge will drop about 1.5 volts.  To go from 18V to 12V you'll need four bridge rectifiers, probably 3A ones would be plenty.

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Last edited by gunrunnerjohn
@woodsyT posted:

10 Amp Bridge Rectifier Diodes

these might be a little stronger, but they should still get the job done and aren't expensive.

gunrunnerjohn might be suggesting something different

How did you figure the price?

Larger bridges will work fine, for the purpose I figured they probably would be overkill.  These would certainly be sufficient...

(Pack of 10 Pieces) Chanzon KBL610 Bridge Rectifier Diode 6A

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@JackO posted:

Days like this I sure miss the old Radio Shack.

Happen to have any links to what I need? My searching turned confusing results.

Thank you.

@JackO,

Radio Shack still exists, but only really online.  Maybe that's not as convenient.

The good news is that they still have bridge rectifiers in their catalog (online).

The bad news is that the ones that would fit your needs are all currently out of stock.

The component shortage continues ...

   ... stay tuned.

Mike

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