Piko BR 204 Current draw & conversion

[spoz]

My dearly beloved gave me a Piko BR 204/V100 as an anniversary present. Very nice of her, and I'm truly appreciative although I have no idea what prompted her to go for that particular prototype. However, I now have a very nice loco but a bit of a problem - I have no track power, everything is battery. I'm confident I can convert it, there seems to be plenty of space inside, but this is the first time I've had to deal with a loco with two motors. Can somebody please tell me what current the beast draws (stall current I guess, although starting current would also be useful)? I would presume that somebody on the forum has done a conversion, any traps?

Steve

 

[Zerogee]

Hi Steve,

While I don't have any actual figures, I think it's generally accepted that Piko motors draw perhaps a little more than LGB ones, but not by a huge margin. I have a Harzkamel (same body as yours but with 6-wheel bogie units rather than 4-wheel) which is fitted with a Massoth XLS decoder, so the maximum current draw can't be more than 3 amps in total under maximum load; I reckon if you assume 1 amp per motor under normal running conditions (so 2 amps total for the loco) then that will give you a pretty fair safety margin - I suspect the actual figure will be a bit less than that.

Jon.

 

[spoz]

Thanks Jon, that's a working position to start with. I think I'll size the batteries on 3 amps and use a 4 amp fuse, should cover it.

Steve