Old Lionel operating accesories what is the voltage range for them ?

[Anonymous]

I'm a relative Newbie to Lionel. This past week I picked up some postwar operating accesories, obviously w/o any paperwork. What is the general and optimum working voltage for items such as the Cattle Car, the Signal Shanty, Semafores etc. Thanks, Dave

[Anonymous]

http://pictures.olsenstoy.com/searchcd1.htm

[fwright]

Lionel postwar accessories were generally designed to work well at about 10-14 volts. The optimum voltage is going to vary both from accessory to accessory and from piece to piece, due to aging, condition, and a host of variables. I like to use small PW trainset transformers to provide variable power to accessories that are particularly voltage sensitive like the cattle car and ramp. Or a multi-control tranformer without whistle circuits also provides multiple variable voltages inexpensively - R, S, V, Z transformers are great for this purpose.

My rules of thumb are as follows

1) In the case of vibration driven accessories and lights, the lowest voltage that gives satisfactory operation is best. Light bulbs last longer at lower voltage. A lower voltage lowers the magnitude of the vibrations imparted; it does not change the vibration frequency. A high voltage - say 14V - to get a satisfactory vibration is often an indication that something is sticking or not moving freely. Examples of these are the barrel loading ramp and cattle ramp.

2) In the case of motor driven accessories - the 364 log loader and 397 coal loader come to mind - keeping the current draw down, not voltage, is key to longevity and the indication of a smooth-running mechanism. Voltage determines the speed of the motor, so I adjust voltage for a suitable operating speed - especially with the 397 and 97 coal loaders!

3) For solenoid-driven accessories that activate and hold - gateman, crossing gates, semaphore, etc - the ideal would be a very quick jolt of 18-24 volts that rapidly backed off to just enough to hold the solenoid. For solenoids, sustained high current burns them up - the uncoupling magnets are the best example. Since we don't have dual voltage setups for these accessories, I set mine at a voltage that is enough to reliably activate the accessory, but never more than 14 volts.

4) For momentary solenoids - uncoupling magnets, milk car, later dump cars, swtiches, etc - a high, truly momentary voltage is best. That said, 16 volts on a milk car often causes the little guy to sling the cans across the layout, not put them on the platform! For these I set the voltage as high as possible compatible with good action. Big thing is NOT to hold the button down. The one drawback to this scheme is the high voltages on the switches burn the lantern lights out. I like to run the O22 switches at least around 14 volts, but will often pu***hem to 16 to get good "snap" action.

A word of caution - why do I always have to learn things the hard way? - the KW transformer puts out close to 20 volts on the fixed voltage accessory common ground (used for O22 switches) circuit if you use the U post as common ground. If you need the full train voltages from your KW obtained by using the U post as common, do not attach common ground accessories to the accessory terminals. Use a separate transformer. Or be prepared to replace O22 switch lantern bulbs on a regular basis.

yours in accessorizing
Fred

[ChiefEagles]

fwright, very good rules and thanks for your knowledge. Helps us all.

[fwright]

I should have added that I clean and lube each accessory before installing. Then bench test to check operation, and a reasonable operating voltage. I gang accessories that need the nearly the same voltage on the same transformer or transformer taps. Unless there are a lot of light bulbs, I don't worry about the load because, except for light bulbs, I seldom have more than 1or 2 accessories operating at once.

If I note that an accessory needs more voltage after being on the layout a while, that is an indication that it is due for cleaning and lube again. Or, in worst case, something got bent or is sticking due to kids playing with it for the toy it is. In any case, by pre-testing and generally setting voltages at the lower end, I can usually determine when an item needs maintenance.

Hope this helps, accessories are why I use 3 rail O!

yours in accessorizing
Fred

[Back2Trains]

I use 2 KWs for accessory voltages only. Currently, I'm using one to power my 0-22 switches and the other for everything else. Eventually, I plan to run 4 separate accessory buses from the variable outputs of the two transformers, so I will have a selection of voltages which should satisfy the needs of everything. At this time, the one KW is only used for switches because I have 17 of them and just the load of the lantern and controller lamps is heavy enough that it gets warm after a while. One of my goals is to convert all switch lamps to LEDs and eliminate a huge constant load.
As others have mentioned, the best advice is to use the lowest voltage that gives satisfactory performance.

[Anonymous]

The need for multiple tap busses can be avoided by making a multi-tap voltage dropper out of suitable diodes or bridge rectifiers wired in series with the circuit.

As for the dual stage solenoid idea,this can be accomplished by installing an extra 24 volt DC relay in the circuit and dropping the voltage using the relay contacts wired through the voltage dropper described above. Energize the relay with 16 volts or more and install a capacitor across the bridge to slightly delay its opening. When the relay opens the voltage drops to the holding current which is provided by the voltage divider.

Dale Hz