Hi, I have a farly simple question here. What is the maximum DC voltage allowed or recommended to use on 'N' scale locomotives?? The reason I ask is this: I have a 'Kato' SD90 Mac that runs just fine from 2-10 volts, the box label states 12 volts as maximum. I recently got a new Bachmann Spectrum GE Dash 8-40CW Diesel Loco and it seems so sluggish at 10 volts and seems so noisy compared to the Kato engine. (I assumed the Spectrum line from Bachmann was a top of the line engine.) Of course the Bachmann paperwork does not say what voltage to apply and I am reluctant to have more than 12 volts to my tracks for the other engines sake. Please help here if you can.. Thanks Norm
The Bachmann Dash 8's (I have 11 of them) run slower than any of my other loco's. They are not of the quality of either Kato or Atlas, and are a lot noisier. I wouldn't recommend running any N loco over 12 Volts. HTH Bill
Don't put more than 12 volts on the track any time. You will end up with a fried engine. Some engines are just more efficent than others. In general most of the newer engines will run just fine on 10 volts, while a lot of your older engines will barely moving. Put your BACHMANN engine on one part of your track and put your KATO on the track with about 1 foot seperatng them. Open your throttle to a certain point and see which engine runs quicker than the other. If they both run about the same speed you could run them together in a train, if they don't run at the same speed, for a given voltage, you can't run them together. Put them together in a lash up and the engine that runs faster for a given voltage will pull the slower running engine. This will wear out an engine quick. If you really want to know how good your engines are running. put a VOLTMETER, and an AMPMETER on your leads from your throttle to the track. These two gauges can tell you a whole lot on how well your engines are running.
Most model railroad transformers have an output up to 14.5 volts, however voltage is not the problem it is AMPS! The formula is generally known as PIE. POWER = AMPS X VOLTS. Power being loosly defined as Watts. If your hair dryer is running on 120 volts and it is drawing 10 amps, it is called a 1200 watt hair dryer and you can feel the heat involved. If you have a N scale engine running at 14.5 volts ( maximum throttle) and it is drawing 1/2 an amp, you have a rocket on your tracks. If you have another engine running at 14.5 volts (maximum throttle) and going one third the speed of the other one, it is probably drawing three times the current (amps) and if you feel the engine you will notice that the motor is getting hot. That is how you burn out motors. The more resistance the motor shaft experiences in trying to turn, the higher the current (amps). If you continually run 100 car trains on tight running motors in engines, you will burn out the motors. Long three percent grades and long trains will also burn out motors. An ammeter installed on your transformer is a good way of determining what length of train you should be running on various engines on various grades. it is also a good way of noticing when the drive train in an engine is begining to get tight. That can develop from lack of lubrication in the engine gears or motor shaft bushings or brushes that are wearing out in the motor. A unloaded engine, Steam or diesel, should start to move slowly at anywhere up to 1/4 of the trottle of a fairly new generation of transformer. If it won't move until it hits 1/2 throttle, then something in the drive train is causing resistance. In the drive train of any powered vehicle, be it a Mercedes-Benz car or an N scale steamer, resistance causes strain, strain causes heat and heat causes burnout. If anyone wants to talk to me on this subject, send me an email and we can exchange phone numbers.
don't go beyond 12 volts. it will destroy your motors. by the way there's nothing comparable to a kato especially the sd90. currently I run 69 kato and 27 atlas all converted to dcc.
Thanks a lot for all the feedback here, I will never run them on same track at same time because the Bachmann runs at least 40-50% slower than the Kato engine. As I am just starting out in this 'N' scale I will probably stick to the Kato line in the future now that I see the difference here.. I normally run 'G' scale outside on my 436 feet of track on those nice weather days, but wanted some train inside and chose 'N' scale for those bad days. Got to keep in 'trainin' ya know! ha! Norm
