Wiring for Lionel 282 Crane question

[RRCharlie]

I want to put a Lionel 282 crane on a set of rails so it can move back and forth but the wires that came with the crane are stiffer than what I would like and also bulky. If I replace the wires with single starnd 24 gague telephone wires can I expect a major problem?

Mel Hazen; Jax, FL

[ADCX Rob]

24 gauge is too small for the current loads of the 282/282R.  You will want the 18-20 in superflex for your application.

Rob 

[SPFan]

Mel, If this is modern version, 24 gauge is OK. The originals used heavier wire.

Do you plan to install a drive to move the crane remotely? I did this by installing a threaded rod under the table and connecting a stiff metal bracket to one of the wheel axles and a nut mounted on the rod. The rod is turned by a DC gearmotor so it can be easily reversed. The bracket also moves the wire so stiffness is not an issue.

Pete

 

 

 

 

[lionelsoni]

As a very rough guide, 24 AWG is good for about 2.5 amperes, 22 AWG for 3.5, 20 AWG for 5.

Whatever gauge you use, you will be better off with stranded compared to solid round wire.

[rlplionel]

I didn't replace the cable in my gantry crane, but I did put it on rails. For what it's worth, I haven't had an issue with the cable getting in the way when rolling the crane along the rails.

 

[RRCharlie]

Thanks to all for the suggestions. Now all I have to do is find some 20 gaugue super flex wire. The reason I am concerned about the stiff wire is that the control for the crane will be about 4 feet from the crane and the crane will be riding a set of curved rails rather than straight in a very tight space, Will keep everyone posted as to how this whole thing progresses.

Mel Hazen; Jax, FL

[lionelsoni]

Here's a fairly radical suggestion for how to do it with no wires at all:

The original cable has 5 wires--one common, two for the motor, one for the electromagnet, and one for the clutch.  If you were to modify the motor for DC operation, you could eliminate one of the motor wires by using the DC polarity for reversing the motor.  This can be done just by powering the armature or the field (but not both) through a bridge rectifier.

Then, instead of two single rails to support the crane, you could use two complete three-rail tracks, with trucks equipped with pickups.  That would give you the necessary four connections for the modified crane.

But wait!  There's more:

The radii for O27-profile track are 12 1/2 inches for O27 proper, 15 3/4 for O34, and 20 1/4 for O42.  Notice that the average of the O27 and O42 radii is 16 3/8, only 5/8 different from the O34 radius.  So you could use those curves, with the crane on the O27 and O42 and the train on the O34.  The two outer tracks would be 7 3/4 inches apart, which is probably close enough to the width of the crane.

Then there's the possibility of making the crane mobile, by putting a motorized truck on one of the crane tracks and coupling it to one of the support trucks.  That track could be operated in the normal 3-rail manner to power the motor truck, with its outside rails providing the common for the crane.  The other track would have all three rails insulated, to provide the three additional connections for crane motor, clutch, and electromagnet.  The support trucks on that side could be modified from 3-rail trucks with pickups and plastic sideframes by splitting the axles.  This is done by drilling a hole down the axis of a short piece of plastic rod and forcing the halves of the cut-apart axle into the ends--but not touching in the middle.

[Steamr]

If your layout is command you could consider installing TMCC in the crane.  Then you would only need two wires to the crane.  In fact, you could pick up the power from one rail and the common from the other and not have any wires directly connected to the crane by powering each track and connecting the wheels as mentioned in the post above.

[SPFan]

The crane pictured below has the control wires attached to one "leg". When this picture was taken it was driven by magnets located under the table. Additional magnets are in the cross arm connecting the legs. The arm is removeable. Look at a prototype gantry and you will see most have the legs connected in this fashion. The cable is an extension cable and connectors were applied after running it through a slot along one crane rail. The crane itself was not altered in any way except for the attached control cable being stuffed into the under side.

The only reason I didn't stay with the magnets was that movment was bit jerky but they (3/8" D X 1/2" L) were plenty strong enough to move the crane. For a curved track you could mount the cable and magnets on a circular segment under the table that matched your curve and move it with something like an house antenna rotor. Just a thought.

Pete

 

 

[watermaj]

24 gauge is too small for the current the motor and solonoid draw. Might make a nice smoke unit for a minute or two