GTBob,
Wise choice, but.....if you're going to do it.....put the switch in. Then you'll have the best of both worlds and you won't have to go in there and rewire to change modes. Just my "two cents"....

RNF

Hi GTBOB,
     In answer to your questions, I suggest that you first go to a previous post....http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,14649.0.html. The responses there will tell you the benefits of wiring in series, how to perform the wiring and also how to put in a switch that will allow you to toggle back and forth between series and parallel at your whim.
     I have performed this procedure on a Williams GG-1 and a GP9 and they perform flawlessly in either mode. If you have a Lionel ZW transformer, will be pulling illuminated passenger cars and are looking for more prototypical slow starts, to me, this procedure is a no-brainer. With a ZW in parallel wiring, the engines take off like a shot and is not realistic at all.
     I have done some tests as you requested to give you some quantitative comparison. I put my GP9 in a consist of ore cars as well as a crane car and searchlight caboose (a total of 9 cars). I first ran it in parallel mode to reach a speed that bordered on going airborne (my outer loop is on a board 13 1/2 ft long with 54 inch curves). I did not want to go faster than 11V. I then switched it to series and 18V brought it to the same point. I then ran it in parallel at what I would consider normal running speed. I completed the loop in 10.65 seconds. The transformer was set at about 9.5 V.  I switched to series and to get it to do the loop in approx. the same time, it ran at 16V.
     I very rarely use the switch in the parallel mode. The engines start too fast, my illuminated cars are dim and....I've had friends over to run my trains and they've run them off the tracks . I can't let that happen anymore. More times than not, I use the switch to show people the dramatic difference in the way the engines perform. I'm considering doing this procedure to my NW-2. I love the way my PW Lionel switchers do the "6 volt crawl". The NW-2, wired in parallel and powered by a ZW, can't come close to that. And by the way, the bell and whistle functions are not effected by switching modes.

Hope this helps...

Regards,
RNF

Len,
As Joe mentioned, I've had some problems with UCS tracks and some of my Williams engines. They spontaneously uncouple when passing over that track section. Initially, I thought it was a coupler problem and replaced some couplers (always rear ones), but it didn't really help. I also replaced the UCS with an uncouple only section mainly because it accepts my custom wooden ties. However, my PW switchers don't work with that track, so I put back the UCS and again had problems with uncoupling. I finally discovered that the side of the pickup arm was contacting the extra rail and the center rail. Just enough to trigger the magnet. My solution was to put a piece of electrical tape over the extra rail and the problem resolved itself and my switchers still worked because their sliding shoe is on the other extra rail. However, when I ran the switchers in the other direction to PUSH a consist, the uncoupler wouldn't work because of the tape. I removed the tape and put a new piece on that left about an inch of that rail uncovered. Problem solved. No more spontaneous uncoupling of my Williams stuff and the switchers work in both directions. It was far less intrusive a solution than Dremeling down all of those pickup arms (and the tape is all but invisible).

RNF

Hi,
Just to let everyone reading this how the wiring went.  I used a Radio Shack 275-403 switch  for the GP-9. There is a slot in the chassis over the front truck that I used for the switch. I Gooped it in directly in front of the light socket upside down so that the toggle goes into the slot. I had to Dremel down the toggle itself so that it wouldn't hit the truck and also Dremeled the edges of the switch so the triangular front of the shell would go over it. It works like a charm (especially after using contact lube inside the slider).

As for my GG-1. There aren't any openings in the chassis for a switch. I didn't want to make holes in the chassis or fuel tank. Joe suggested that I use a switch that I could access through an open window. I thought about that for awhile and decided on a Radio Shack 275-614 mini toggle. I Gooped it to the side of the shell so the toggle sticks up inside the window. It was harder to wire than the slider because of it's smaller size and I had to put shrink tubing on all 6 solder connections so they wouldn't touch one another. I've been using a toothpick to flip the switch and it also works great.

I feel that these mods are a terrific addition to these locos and gives me power and speed on the parallel connection as well as low speed crawl and brightly illuminated passenger cars on series. And they go plenty fast on series if that's a concern.

Kudos to Joe for all the advice and encouragement he gave me with this!

-RNF

Hi Joe,
I really appreciate your advice on this and all the work you've done on it. Invaluable. Initially, I thought the switch would be internal, but I like the idea of it protruding to the outside, so I can just flick back and forth between series and parallel. Terrific.  I'll just figure out a spot for it inside the shell and cut off enough of the toggle so it doesn't contact the track.

As for the LEDs I use in my Williams engines....they are big 5 surface LEDs........
Xenon White 5 SMD 5050 360° BA9 BA9s LED Bulbs 1895 H6W  (replacments for #53 and lots of others). Bayonet mount and go right in the socket. Awesome amount of light. I use amber cellophane inside the shell lenses to "warm up" the light as these don't come in warm white. They work well in the Gp-9, but are awesome in the GG-1 as that one has a better lens.

Regards,
Roger

One other question.....if I opted to use a slider switch could I use the 275-403? I haven't decided if I want to switch protruding to the outside or have it inside. How much does the amperage rating for the switch matter?

Thanks,
Roger

Hi Joe,
Wow.....that was terrific. I was at Radio Shack trying to decide on a switch and left because I wasn't sure if it should be AC or DC compatible. You made it easy.   As I've already cut wires to do my wiring, I'll follow that path. Your directions couldn't be clearer. I'll try to wire it up tomorrow and let you know how it went.

One question.....I do not have resistors in the circuit. Are you saying that I should wire one in on the series side of the switch? I've done some mods with LEDs and have found that finding that right resistor is very hit and miss and that the results are nonlinear. I've got a tender that I put tail lights into and used resistors to dim them to my liking, but it was trial and error.

Thanks for you help. It looks great and I'm looking forward to trying it.

Roger

Hi,
Yesterday, I decided to convert 2 of my Williams diesels(GG-1 and GP-9)to series wiring. I did this for a few reasons. One...both those diesels pull a line of MTH passenger cars and they barely illuminate at the low voltages that those diesels previously ran at. 2.....I recently bought a PW Lionel NW-2 switcher and really like it's low speed crawl. My Williams engines take off like jack rabbits. So, I found Joe's directions for the wiring and went at it. The GG-1 went well and I got the performance I was hoping for. My GP-9 was not as easy. I wired it up and it didn't work. Wired it again and it didn't work. So, I compared the connections on the circuit boards of my other engines and sure enough....a blue wire should have been yellow and a yellow should have been blue. Colored wrong and connected wrong (from the factory).  I straightened it out and did the wiring and it works.

Anyway....reason for this post.....I would like to put a switch in that will enable me to switch from parallel to series and vice versa without having to unsolder and rewire. I need to know a couple of things.  I've been searching for a switch that can handle this. I figured it would have to be some type of double pole, but haven't had any luck locating something small enough. A knife switch would work, but they are large. Second....how would the wiring work connected to this switch? Any advice about this will be welcomed.

The only downside of doing this series wiring that I can see is that I will have to be very careful about not giving it too much juice (I use a ZW) which will probably blow the big, 5 surface LEDs I have in those engines.

Thanks,
RNF