walthers oil derrick (horsehead)

Rather than change the DC to AC, why not just run it on DC, if that was what it was designed to run on? Simply take the rectifier and wire it to your AC source (a transformer?) and then wire the horsehead to the rectifier. Run the red wire to the terminal marked (+) on the rectifier and the black wire to the terminal marked (-) on the rectifier. Your AC source is then wired to the two remaining terminals on the rectifier, probably marked either AC or (~). You will now have DC current running your derrick.

jack

thanks for the infomation jack!! i will try it!!!...........rogerw.

I use a small wall transformer ( from old corless telephone I think). I think it is 9v DC output.  Real pumping units run from 3 to 12 strokes per minute.

I also use a Christmas light corless remote to turn the transformer on and off so I didn't have to unplug it each time I ran the pumping unit.

I think I have the same pump- running at 12v DC, this thing moves faster than a triple step swing dance. Seems I run it closer to 4.5 or 6 volts- more realistic.

Hi Roger,

I have a number of them in an 'oil field'. They are DC and using a bridge rectifier works well. JC studios shows how to wire the rectifier in picture form, Dale H. put it up on that site. These rectifiers are available on most electrical supplier sites.

There was a white 4x6 card that should have come with your accessory.  It contained some 'decals' you were able to cut out and put on the fencing to indicate various warnings. it also contains info on maintenance and wiring. The max voltage is 12, but you probably want to think more in the 8-10 range to make it look sensible. Also there are mounting instructions. putting in a small hole so the vertical rod doesn't jam when the pump operates. should be about a 1/4 inch hole to prevent rubbing.

Finally, i have found that you may want to not run these all the time and adding a toggle to turn them on/off is a practical idea for me.

running them constantly at high voltage will burn it out.

ralh

thanks ralph for all of your help and suggestions! i'm using an atlas #205 switch box to turn the oil pump on and off...........roger

I checked and I was wrong on the wall transformer voltage. My wall transformer puts out 2.9 volts DC and not 12 volts. Sorry for not getting back on this sooner, I was part of the team that puts on the yearly NWA Model Train Show and did not have time to get under the layout to check on this before now.

I had one of these and I'm pretty sure I ran it on AC power without a problem.   I then read the manual and ran it through an AMC that can vary the voltage and use DC power so it would run slower.  I think it ran fine on AC though, that I use for other accessories.  

I run mine on DC from a converted PC power supply, which runs several other items including a TT motor.

At the pump unit I glued a small potentiometer in the cavity under the base where it is out of sight. Then I adjusted it until the speed was just right to my eye.

Rod