Climax power and wiring

C

Cleve

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Hi, I am brand new to any forum so please excuse me being green as the grass. I have a small garden rail set up compared to many and running a Spectrum Shay and Climax amongst other Western style trains (the excuse is having grand kids) :) The question I wish to ask all you more expert people than myself is: I am trying to get more power than 2.4v at the under cab roof contacts as I have just replaced LED lights with the good old fashioned , and nice bright lights which require 14volts. Can anyone tell me where I can connect to within the wiring to obtain this please?
 
Be careful! The lights in some cases are controlled by transistors, which may not handle the increased current.

You need the schematic, but the only place you will find that voltage is from the track. So now you have gone from constant brightness lighting to something that won't be bright until you hit prototypical top speed...

Why not just use better LEDs?

Greg
 
Did you mean UN-prototypical top speed, Greg....?

Cleve, welcome to the forum! I'm unfamiliar with Bachmann loco wiring so can't really help with your original question - but Greg is right about the brightness vs. speed problem if you're running DC...... if you really want bulbs rather than LEDs, maybe use 5volt ones fed through a voltage regulator so that you will have more-or-less constant lighting at more sensible loco speeds?
You simply won't be able to get 14 volts from anywhere in the loco unless you have the controller cranked up pretty high and your loco going like the clappers......

Jon.
 
Jon:
Prototype would be 15 to 25 mph, and that would probably be about half track voltage, which would be about the 14 volts mentioned.

That's my line of reasoning. Both of those locos will hit way over prototype top speed at 24 volts.

My point was that he appeared to want to change to incandescent lamps to be brighter, and as far as I can see, they will only be brighter at full speed given the voltage he needs.

We seem to agree on that last point.

Cleve:
I'm not sure I can locate schematics for those locos, but the wiring diagrams are on the Bachmann site. As Jon and I have stated, you will need to pick up from the track, and then limit the voltage somehow.


Greg
 
I confess to little knowledge of US logging line practice, but I'm sure I've read somewhere that the geared locos generally operated at little more than a walking pace a lot of the time (perhaps often due to dreadful temporary track?) - I'm surprised that they would even do 15-25 mph, that's quite fast even by European NG standards on decent permanent track......

Jon.
 
Cleve said:
Hi, I am brand new to any forum so please excuse me being green as the grass. I have a small garden rail set up compared to many and running a Spectrum Shay and Climax amongst other Western style trains (the excuse is having grand kids) :) The question I wish to ask all you more expert people than myself is: I am trying to get more power than 2.4v at the under cab roof contacts as I have just replaced LED lights with the good old fashioned , and nice bright lights which require 14volts. Can anyone tell me where I can connect to within the wiring to obtain this please?
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the advice. Yes, you are right in that it is supposed to run slow compared to Big Haulers and the like. My Shay does too and it`s great to hear them going like the clappers but only seeing them `trundle along` :) . Guess I should have thought it through before messing with the lights but the LED`s were literally pathetic. I may well ,as suggested, go for much lower voltage normal bulbs as this would make sense. Thanks again.
 
Cleve, unfortunately in life, and in physics and electronics, you don't get something for nothing.

The brightness of a bulb is driven by the wattage it consumes. This is simply voltage times current in DC.

So, the bad news is that if you run a lower voltage bulb, it will draw more current.

So maybe the best thing for you would be to find 5 volt bulbs and add a 5 volt regulator to your loco... also that means they will be at full brightness at about 7 volts on the rails.

There's lots of LEDs that will produce more light at lower voltages and currents.

Do you have the newer versions with the socket? Is your shay 2 or 3 truck?

Greg
 
Greg Elmassian said:
Cleve, unfortunately in life, and in physics and electronics, you don't get something for nothing.

The brightness of a bulb is driven by the wattage it consumes. This is simply voltage times current in DC.

So, the bad news is that if you run a lower voltage bulb, it will draw more current.

So maybe the best thing for you would be to find 5 volt bulbs and add a 5 volt regulator to your loco... also that means they will be at full brightness at about 7 volts on the rails.

There's lots of LEDs that will produce more light at lower voltages and currents.

Do you have the newer versions with the socket? Is your shay 2 or 3 truck?

Greg
Click to expand...
Thanks Greg. I am okay with household electrics, but electronics is a step too far :) so wouldn`t even now what a 5 volt regulator is, let alone where or how to fit it Ha! Ha! I get your point about lower voltage bulbs though and will experiment with LED`s and regular low voltage bulbs. as for the Shay, that is `old school`, nice bright lights and sound and is the two truck version.
Not sure what you mean by the `sockets?'. The only bulb socket in the Climax is the one in the cab, the front and rear lights were bulbs soldered directly onto the wires.
 
Cleve, you will be able to go super-bright with LED's, if you so-wish?
They need a DC supply, and are polarity sensitive (they have to be connected the right way round..

Using LEDs with RCT / Deltang receivers

Will give you a 'primer' on using LED's..
PhilP.
 
PhilP said:
Cleve, you will be able to go super-bright with LED's, if you so-wish?
They need a DC supply, and are polarity sensitive (they have to be connected the right way round..

Using LEDs with RCT / Deltang receivers

Will give you a 'primer' on using LED's..
PhilP.
Click to expand...
Thanks Phil. have sorted it now. Knew about the polarity with LED`s and used `fairy lights` cut from the string. Looks great now. After more than a few days grief in cannibalising a LGB diamond smoke stack and smoke generator, which was meant for just one model of LGB loco, I have managed to get the smoke stack I wanted and the lights bright, so all good now thanks. :)
 
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