Raised on the Erie Lackawanna Mainline- Supt. of the Black River Transfer & Terminal R.R.
Jay
C-415 Build: https://imageshack.com/a/tShC/1
Other builds: https://imageshack.com/my/albums
15 AMP???? Holy Moly, what does that thing use for a motor??? A starter motor from a Ford truck?
I think you will be hard pressed to find a 15 amp wall wart anywhere!
Do you mean 15 volt?
Rotor
Jake: How often does the train go by? Elwood: So often you won't even notice ...
Capt. Grimek wrote: There's a couple in the Olympia, WA area (I think) has one? I've forgotten her and her husband's screen names. Maybe they'll see this....
You're probably thinking of Sue and Larrry (gear-jammer.) Drop by the Beer Barn thread. They usually drop by for a cold one, or a cup of coffee in the morning.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Capt,
We used a 12 volt power supply. If I remember right, they gave a range, and we had a 12 volt ps from something that we had discarded. Our TT runs great.
Sue
Anything is possible if you do not know what you are talking about.
My 90 footter runs great on a wall wart. (12VAC) I suspect it is the same motor as the 130'.
BTW it runs on AC or DC.
73
Bruce in the Peg
Rotorranch wrote: 15 AMP???? Holy Moly, what does that thing use for a motor??? A starter motor from a Ford truck? I think you will be hard pressed to find a 15 amp wall wart anywhere! Do you mean 15 volt?Rotor
If you use a starter from a Ford truck, make sure you use a post recall ignition switch. The original ones had a tendency to go up in flames.
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
A wall wart will work just fine! The motor will probably draw less the .20 amps, or 200 milliamps under normal circumstances. Certain no more than .50 amps, or 500 ma.
Just about any 9-15 volt wall wart should do just fine. The lower the voltage, the slower the turntable will move. You might experiment with different voltages to see what looks best to you.
Jacon12 (Jarrell) recently had a spotty record with his new 90'er, and he acted on the advice of the Walthers techs and purchased a 15 or 16 volt power supply. He had been using a 12v one and it was acting up....the TT I mean. Walthers said to up the voltage, and his problems are history. So I am gratified to learn that Sue's is doing marvy.
In my case, I sought help from a local electronics supply store, not one of the franchises, but a private one. He found a used 16.5v AC wall wart and offered to confirm that it was true to its stated specs. It was, including maxing at 0.5 amps, which is what Walthers states is to be the case for the built-ups. Now, over 20 months into its use, I have had zero faults.
I think Walthers may have produced one of its finest HO products in this model. Kudos to them, and richly deserved I say.
-Crandell
We originally purchased the larger power supply for $$$. Upon reading the instructions, there was a range. So we tried the 12V; it worked; and we took the larger one back.
That was about 2 years ago. This was the topic that brought us to the forum.
Sounds like everyone's efforts are all over the board. So just have fun with your new TT.
WHAT (I think) you want want is a separate variable supply for the TURNTABLE MOTOR - separate from your track power, and any extra MRC pack should do the job.
You want to control the speed of the TT, and GEARED MOTORs are available that don't require many amps - such as Tortoise or SWITCHCRAFT.(.002a)
'WALL WARTS' are not varible, and not always DC. If you buy a supply with no speed control, your TT will always turn at only top speed, assuming you don't burn it out, first.
Every motor has a voltage rating and uses power to turn. It's internal resitance selects its amperage. I think what you want is a DC supply 0-12 volts with an amp rating of 1.5a max
http://www.builders-in-scale.com/bis/sm-home.html
A direct quote from Walthers 130' TT instructions:
Your new turntable drive should bepowered from its own power pack,sold separately. Check the outputof the transformer with a voltmeterbefore making any electrical connections.The drive operates best at15 Volts AC or DC, 500mA; aminimum of 12 Volts is required,but total output must not exceed 19Volts AC (RMS) or DC.
Thanks for the plug, Jim!
And I agree -- I think the Built-Up TTs ought to come with their own powerpacks. I thought the whole point of Built Ups is that they are ready to go right on the layout!
Craig
DMW
Not in this case, Don. The instruction manual that comes with the built-up from Walthers is very specific, and states that the range of voltage that is acceptable, in either DC or AC (no, not an error there) is 12-19 volts inclusive. The internal circuitry looks after the rest. In my case I opted for the used power supply that happened to be AC, and my TT works just dandy.