Hi,I need help Please can you teach me how to convert this DC locos to AC? They already have central contact, so only the engine needs to be modified Do you know if there is any book that teaches this and how to build model locomotives by hand?
Interesting request. The motors would have to be swapped out for AC motors. Can the polarity of your power supply be reversed? Do you need them to go both ways?
Hi, I live in Italy, we have a voltage of 230 v and 50 HZ so Lionel or Mth power supplies are useless. I use a Marklin 66471 power supply which only allows me to make the train go forward or backward and to illuminate the layout. Here it is difficult to find AC motors because in Italy there are no more producers of this scale (Lima and Rivarossi) and in the rest of Europe the trains in O scale are 90% DC. I have to manage to convert what we have also because ordering from the USA has become very expensive.
You're right. 230V won't make U.S. transformers happy at all. But yours would drive Lionel motors just fine, or anything compatible with them. It puts out up to 16V, Lionel motors are 18V max. Unfortunately, I think you'll have to pay the ridiculous shipping or find something more local that likes that power range. The commutators of AC and DC motors are very different, and not easily modified or interchanged.
it is not only the shipping which is minimum 50 $, I also have to pay the import taxes which are 22%on trains +shipping !!! I cannot understand why Lionel and Mth do not have official dealers in continental Europe, we have a lot of people interested
Good question. I also wonder why your government bothers. Surely Italy's economy wouldn't collapse if the local model train industry wasn't protected. It is possible to get a DC power supply, and switch the tracks over from one to the other before running a different train.
You are right! and since in Italy there are no longer O scale train industries , there is no competition and nothing to protect! Let's forget about my government ... Are you sure that DC trains can travel on my Lionel fastrack tracks by changing power supplies? I mean, usually with the Dc, one track is + and the other is -, while with Ac 3 rails the voltage travels on the central track and comes back from the 2 sides, or am I wrong?
There's such a thing as three rail DC, and that seems to be what you have there. Those brass wipers in the middle of each truck are showing signs of having rubbed center rail. Are you sure they aren't AC? But no, if you have anything that lacks a third rail pickup, it won't work at all. Connecting the power supply to the two outside rails will short it out. So, you're right about two rail equipment, which is usually or always DC. But whether DC or AC, that looks like three rail rolling stock. The outside rails are always the same in three rail. That's the point--it makes signal detection a breeze, and reverse loops a no-brainer. Sorry. I should probably speak English, not slang. It makes those things very simple. And makes possible the switches which refuse to derail equipment that comes at them from the wrong direction. Speaking of which, don't power your rail with DC unless all switches and other accessories are either powered by a separate wire (those plugs in the sides of Lionel switch machines, for example) or disabled. Detection systems will still work, as a wire or rail can handle two circuits at once. But anything that runs on track power and is more complicated than a light bulb could be damaged trying to run on DC.
Thank you! Yes I'm sure they are DC three-rail, I don't know why but in eastern Europe,mostly in the Czech Republic they use this crazy system whose main producer is Merkur factory http://www.modellbahn-ammon.de/pages/merkur.html Thank you very much!
Three rail has its advantages, as I mentioned. Especially when it comes to loops and wyes; it eliminates all the usual problems. But these days, there are many more motors, accessories and circuits for DC than AC, and they're usually cheaper.
