Skip to main content

Gents

2 Lionel 180 watt - 10 amp power bricks

One to be used for layout purposes.

The other intended for lighting ect  However, the idea is to make the second brick AC adjustable from 18V AC to the desired voltage ie 14V AC.   Preferably as well with a meter.

I've looked on line but found all the choices confusing and I'm not sure what would be appropriate

Appreciate some guidance in this area.

Thanks

Dave

Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

Soo Line posted:

Gents

2 Lionel 180 watt - 10 amp power bricks

One to be used for layout purposes.

The other intended for lighting ect  However, the idea is to make the second brick AC adjustable from 18V AC to the desired voltage ie 14V AC.   Preferably as well with a meter.

I've looked on line but found all the choices confusing and I'm not sure what would be appropriate

Appreciate some guidance in this area.

Thanks

Dave

Well, I won't question your reason for wanting to do that, but with the (un)availability of bricks what it is today I personally would sell the brick and use the proceeds to buy a pair of Lionel LW conventional transformers or something like that. That will give you the adjustable voltage you desire with no work! 

I don't think you are going to find an economical "store bought" solution to do what you want, but if you really want to use the brick I might suggest using it to feed a couple of the MTH Z-Controllers.

 

I'm with GRJ on the cheap and easy diode drop method.  A couple bucks worth of parts would get the job done effectively.  

As for ready made solutions, a GW180 controller or ZW-C would effectively do what you want.  You could also use a pair of MTH's Z-controller's with the load split between them.   A PowerMaster could also lower the effective voltage.  None of these are particularly cost effective if you don't already have them laying around, or can't find them on the cheap.  

JGL

When you say 14V AC for "lighting, etc." do your loads really need AC?  Or can some run on DC?  

Many economical options for efficiently dropping DC rather than AC voltage (even if starting from AC as you are).

As for the brute-force diode drop method, I've posted this picture before.  About $2-3 in parts and has 8 "taps" adding up to about 5V total drop so that would lower the 18V AC to ~14V AC.  As GRJ says, to get some adjustability you could add a rotary switch to select which tap to use.  These are 8 Amp bridge rectifiers (diodes) but are readily available in other Amp ratings.

diode ac drop using bridge rectifiers

On a side note, it appears Lionel bricks are in quite the demand and might have more "trade-in" value for someone who would use the full brick voltage.  So if you are able to operate some/most accessories on DC, you can get a 90 Watt DC-output universal laptop charger for less than $10 shipped from a US seller on eBay.  That's about 10 cents per Watt which is my target price for fixed-output power (AC or DC).   Here's one that has a settable DC output voltage from 12V to 24V. 

universal laptop DC output brick

Note the side-by-side footprint comparison vs. a 100 Watt AC brick; I don't have a 180 Watt AC brick but assume it would be larger still.

ac dc brick comparison

Attachments

Images (3)
  • diode ac drop using bridge rectifiers
  • ac dc brick comparison
  • universal laptop DC output brick

Add Reply

Post

OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Ste 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
www.ogaugerr.com

×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×
×