Power supplies

S

Steveford666

Women, engineering, photography, guitar plaoing, s
At long last ( two accidents and a lot of work schedules) I have one circuit complete. All connections have been tested but now it leads to the problem of power supply.
How much amperage does a Bachmann Big Haulier loco with three coaches/wagon mixture use?

What's the best controller to buy?

I thought about a car battery ( perfect D.C) and variable or switched stepped resistors. (Switching in each one as the need for speed is reduced).
 
Not much for a Big Hauler. You would be OK with a second hand pack from a starter set. But, and its a big BUT. If you stick with this hobby, and you probably will, the starter set one will not be enough. They output about half an amp at something like 18 - 20 volts. That will run your Big Hauler but not anything much bigger. Two motors and its going to be popping its overload frequently. 5 amp is a good starting point but its going to cost rather more. There are loads of manufacturers and everyone has thier favourites.
If you just want to get going at minimal cost try ebay or just ask here for an LGB starter set pack.
 
I agree with Stockers.
However if you wish to continue with the car battery option I suggest the following.
Use two in series to give a nominal 24V volts, you'll find you'll often need a fair bit more than 12V for track power on almost anything other than Bachmann locos.
Always fit a suitable fuse in the battery wiring.
For speed control up to 5A you could build a simple circuit based on a variable voltage regulator such as an LM338.
Alternatively purchase a radio control system with a matching speed controller, just make sure it can reverse the motor as some RSCs intended for non-railway applications can't reverse.
 
I run my B.H's on 12 volt in my trailer - well over 80ft of track (divided into 9 electrical sections - both rails insulated at the joint), use a simple - as supplied by IP Engineering - speed control based on a Darlington Transistor (no pulse wave harmonic problems) with a 3 amp car fuse. Reverse is by DP change-over switch (after the speed controller) and there is a main On/Off switch.

And I can run up to 4 BH's at once on this just by isolating track sections as required (the locos tend to all have different speed characteristics!). No probs (only manual dexterity is called for. And Safe as Houses - a derailment will blow the fuse instantly (I now buy a 100 at a time at around 5p each).

I did use (and will again) a 12v car battery in the garden but the 5amp speed controller (MF/Como) produced harmonics at low speeds which worried me a little.

AND - I run my trailer set-up for 6 - 8 hours continuously.

PS. The garden line has 200ft of track and no probs on 12 volt. My Aristo Rodgers gallops around plus I always use the smoke units. However, if you wish to go for more powerful locos then it has been said what you need to do!
 
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