Well, I wired up the Locomotive Backshop, turned on the power. It worked great for about 5 minutes....then the flames came out of the circuit board. I turned off the power and cut away the melted wires and board.
So I guess I can wire the doors, machine shop and lights seperately....but what is the correct voltage?
The sound board is fried.
I want to keep/rehab it......your suggestions are appreciated.
Replies sorted oldest to newest
Testing each motor with a variable power supply would make it kind of obvious what voltage the different things want to work at.
They would likely be 1.5vdc-5vdc, 5v most likey, maybe 12v+ though.
Start low volt, one motor at a time. First, 1.5v (use 1 good AA,AAA,C,D battery) No go or too slow, get 3v with two batteries if you can manage, or with 5vac to a bridge rectifier, the rectifier would put out 4 - 4.5vdc A 3v motor should survive a short use of 4v easy, but note speeds, if it seems fast, you stop asap and add a few diodes to drop voltage, or go to a 3v regulator chip. If too slow at 4v, raise thottle slowly to the speed you like and look at the voltage. Now read the amps. Compare rpm &/or amps @x-volt of similar items, if not close readings, a part has an issue. Add amps to estimate the minimum amps used or measure it.
Each diode added to either + or - on the BR will drop voltage about .7v more
A bridge rectifier to match a transformers ac output gets you an "AC to DC converter" to use for testing on the output from an O transformer. (5v is the smallest voltage output on Lionel power)
Wallwarts are another test/run option (note VA- volt amp is a small fraction of amps, and some output ac). Any questions on an old one kicking at your house, ask.
Have you checked for a board at Lionel? Or are you more interested in some manual controls anyhow? Do you own a multi meter?
What is your power availability? (what do have in use? anything else that's there but not used?)
I did a complete lobotomy on mine. I'll send you the diagram and details later today. I think it is posted on the forum already too.
I believe Mike Reagan had figured how to wire it up with a standard R2LC and motor driver board. You should contact him for the info.
Joe
hokie71 posted:I did a complete lobotomy on mine. I'll send you the diagram and details later today. I think it is posted on the forum already too.
Thank you very much for your response. I look forward to receiving it.
Adriatic posted:Testing each motor with a variable power supply would make it kind of obvious what voltage the different things want to work at.
They would likely be 1.5vdc-5vdc, 5v most likey, maybe 12v+ though.
Start low volt, one motor at a time. First, 1.5v (use 1 good AA,AAA,C,D battery) No go or too slow, get 3v with two batteries if you can manage, or with 5vac to a bridge rectifier, the rectifier would put out 4 - 4.5vdc A 3v motor should survive a short use of 4v easy, but note speeds, if it seems fast, you stop asap and add a few diodes to drop voltage, or go to a 3v regulator chip. If too slow at 4v, raise thottle slowly to the speed you like and look at the voltage. Now read the amps. Compare rpm &/or amps @x-volt of similar items, if not close readings, a part has an issue. Add amps to estimate the minimum amps used or measure it.
Each diode added to either + or - on the BR will drop voltage about .7v more
A bridge rectifier to match a transformers ac output gets you an "AC to DC converter" to use for testing on the output from an O transformer. (5v is the smallest voltage output on Lionel power)
Wallwarts are another test/run option (note VA- volt amp is a small fraction of amps, and some output ac). Any questions on an old one kicking at your house, ask.
Have you checked for a board at Lionel? Or are you more interested in some manual controls anyhow? Do you own a multi meter?
What is your power availability? (what do have in use? anything else that's there but not used?)
Thank you for your response. I'll certainly test everything as you suggest. I think I want to go the manual route please. I have a multi-meter and will study up. If its not obvious by now, my electrical IQ is pretty low...but that's whats great about this hobby. At 61 years old, I can still learn something new!
I appreciate your assistance.
Electrical has just gotten smaller for the most part. There is a Youtube video by Lionel for "phasing two transformers to be used together and why".
The subject is slightly off, but Ive found most folks baulk at AC power and never "get" ac wave form, but grasp dc fairly well.
Likely misperceptions exist because of batteries being considered "safe" and ac having a reputation for "danger" comming into our homes, etc..but 110vac vs our 25vac max and usually lower at 5-18vac, is a big factor. ( I think muscle twitch starts at around 40v on those phsycal therepy machines)
Mike does a great job with filling in the blanks on ac there... not too deep, not boring, "regular guy talk" mostly. A great primer/refresher for jumping in IMO. It also takes the mystery out of ossiliscope readings which are simply just a real time, moving graph of multiple multimeter readings done at the same time, kinda like a heart monitor.
Adding a capacitor to the BR would make the dc smoother if needed. If you watch, you should at least kind of understand.
If not, we try an approach learning from a different angle.
I liked the analogy of electric being like plumbing water, beginning with it always seeks the easiest path to thethe gro. The rest is pipe size, pressure and restrictions, valves, one way check valves, etc etc. 🤔
...to the ground... Spell-wrecker not spellchecker 
Jon,
Here are the threads from the past, mine is still working great:
https://ogrforum.com/...backshop-connections
This one has some thoughts and insights from authentic gurus (Stan and GRJ))
Access to this requires an OGR Forum Supporting Membership
