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Aristo U25B LGB power supply compatibility? Recomended Sound System

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Aristo U25B LGB power supply compatibility? Recomended Sound System
Posted by Anonymous on Monday, November 22, 2004 1:29 PM
I just purchased from trainworld a Aristo U25B. I intended to use with my LGB power supply and track. Instruction say power supply(ps) is not compatible and reccomend using a converter to go between ps and track to make compatible. Does this work OK? Should I just get an aristo power pack. I rather just use the lgb pack.

Are thieir power supply workarounds. Can I run LBG locomotives with power from an Aristo Powersupply. I didn't know they were incompatible as far as power supplies go!

Also what if any is the reccomended sound system ?

Thanks for the feedback.

Eric
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Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, November 23, 2004 12:36 PM
I use a Bridgewerks 15 amp power supply to run all my locomotives . I have had no problems running eather my Aristocraft , USA , LGB , or MTH locomotives.I have had no experance with LGB power supplies but would think that if it puts out DC power and will also supply 12 volts or more it should work with everything you try to run . As far as sound systems I have Sierra Sound Systems in some Aristocraft loco's and they work fine . Hope this helps a little .
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Posted by jebouck on Tuesday, November 23, 2004 7:49 PM
Our club's 2 track modules run on two LGB 10 amp Jumbos.
We use Aristo, LGB, USA, Bachmann, you name it with Sierra, Phoenix, and other sound systems. No problems what-so-ever.
I also use an LGB Jumbo on my own layout. And I run all the brands.
A friend of mine uses two LGB Jumbos. He only owns 3 LGB locomotive, the rest are Aristo and USA. With Phoenix sound systems.
Again no problems.

Quote< Can I run LBG locomotives with power from an Aristo Powersupply. I didn't know they were incompatible as far as power supplies go!>Quote

If those LGB locos have factory sound, the answer is NO unless you set the power supply to linear.

jb
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Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, November 23, 2004 9:57 PM
I can't say for sure without looking at the details but much of this looks like marketing BS, if the volts, amps and watts are right and it is either AC or DC what could be different.

Regards Ian
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Posted by jebouck on Wednesday, November 24, 2004 9:13 AM
Ian,
If the LGB locos are equipped with factory sound and MTS decoders, they will not run (or run sporadically) with PWM.
Some that are equipped with only factory sound (before LGB added decoders at the factory) also will not operate correctly with PWM.
I just purchased a new LGB Streetcar. The first time I ran it at a friends layout, I put it on the tracks and started to move the loco with his Aristo Train Engineer. The lights came on and off, the loco jerked and stopped over and over.
I asked him to check the transmitter. He had it set for PWM.
I changed it over to linear and the loco ran perfectly.
Then I tested an LGB Forney with sound, non decodered, on another layout with the TE Transmitter set to PWM. Sound did not work correctly. I changed the transmitter to Linear and off she went, running perfectly.
You can use any LGB Power supply with any loco, however you can't (shouldn't) use a power supply with PWM on certain LGB locos.
Plain and simple.
jb

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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, November 24, 2004 9:39 AM
Thanks for all the good feedback. My LGB loco is a simple one with no sound that came with a starter set, about five years ago. The power supply is from the same set.

It was the instructions with the Aristo U25B that made me hesitate about powering it with the 'simple' LGB power supply.

I sent a email question to aristo about this but as of yet have not heard back. They will probably stick to what instruciton say. I would not mine buying an aristo power supply if i could run the aristo and lgb on that power supply. I'll probably end up buying it regardless. I think the caboose car lights etc will stay lit even at loco stop with the aristo ps, which would be cool.

I think they, aristo's ps, have a switch on back to switch back to linear dc from the 'other' type(pcc?).

Thanks again have a good holiday.
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Posted by jebouck on Wednesday, November 24, 2004 3:06 PM
You will find that the power supply from the LGB starter set isn't powerful enough for multi-motored units such as an Aristo U-boat. It will run them for a while and then shut off.
You need a little more amperage, especially if you are going to lay some more track.
jb
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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, November 29, 2004 12:26 PM
I put together my track and lgb power supply in the attic. The loco ran smooth and at a good clip. I was supprised. It may not hold up running a long time with several cars, but on its own it motored around nicely. I have the wrong radius track for it though. Its rated for 5' diameter or more. This tracks curve was about 4' in diameter. Its not possible to pull anything on these type but with this loco, but on its own the short radius didn't interfere at all.

Somewhere I read where on certain aristo locos using their powersupplies, the caboose light and smoke would stay powered up even when the speed control was reduced to stop. That would be a good reason to buy a new aristo power supply.

Trying to tell if that works with my loco and which power supply by aristo is probably too hard to determine. Although my loco was just purchased from trainworld, it hard to tell which edition mine is as far as improvements.

Aristo web site says this loco has a rather lenghthy list of improvements. Mine has a dcc board but doesn't have the on board speaker. Where I think speaker goes is a piece of lead and some styrofoam. Aristo would do well to stamp packaging and loco with a revision or serial # so that consumer/retailer will know what their buying/selling.
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Posted by jebouck on Monday, November 29, 2004 4:31 PM
QUOTE: Somewhere I read where on certain aristo locos using their powersupplies, the caboose light and smoke would stay powered up even when the speed control was reduced to stop. That would be a good reason to buy a new aristo power supply.


Eric,
I think not, unless the caboose has a built in battery. And I know Aristo's do not have a built in battery. They recieve their power from the track, thru brushes against the wheels. If the power supply is turned off, there isn't any power to the track and hence none to the caboose.
jb
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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, November 29, 2004 6:37 PM
Eric
I run a U25 B and an RS-3 back to back and i use a 10 AMP DC ultima cre5560 with a train engineer set and their is no problem . I ALSO USE IT with USA trains . ben
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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, December 1, 2004 7:57 PM
JB ;

Whats PWM, pulse Width Modulation ? and what TE?

Regards

ian
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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, December 1, 2004 8:12 PM
IAN
I can help with TE train engineer ???

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