Hi all,
First, I am a complete novice with trains, but my daughter has the Bachmann Alaska Rail set, a bunch of other track and cars, and a second set (rail chief that was 20 bucks because the locomotive was missing but all else was there).
When she sets up a large tracks, it seems that the power lessens far away from the power source. Is there a way to boost the power from the standard power supplies that come with the sets? I figure hooking two up would not be wise.
Quote from: Nappen on November 22, 2014, 01:44:32 PM
Hi all,
First, I am a complete novice with trains, but my daughter has the Bachmann Alaska Rail set, a bunch of other track and cars, and a second set (rail chief that was 20 bucks because the locomotive was missing but all else was there).
When she sets up a large tracks, it seems that the power lessens far away from the power source. Is there a way to boost the power from the standard power supplies that come with the sets? I figure hooking two up would not be wise.
I think those track sets are DC power and if they are there are a lot of variables to deal with when it comes to losing power to the rails the longer it gets. You will need to make sure that the rails are connecting well to each other and In my opinion running track leads also should be done.
I'm not sure if there are power boasters for DC power (i use DCC) but you can try to do a search for that on here and also do a search for track leads to better help you understand what you may need to do to get the proper power to each track rail or hopefully someone else here that uses DC power source can better help you :)
Rail does not conduct electricity as well as wire. If you are experiencing voltage drop (that is what it sounds like) you will need to run additional wires from your powerpack to the rails at a point farthest from your present connection point. If that doesn't do it, add additional feeders to split the distance between feeders.
There are a couple ways to do this. You could run buss wires (heavier wires) around the underside of your railroad for each rail. Lighter feeder wires would then be run from the buss wires to the track at different points. Only the buss wires themselves would need to be attached directly to your powerpack. Otherwise you could forget about the buss wires and just run additional pairs of wires from your powerpack. If you do DC, one set of feeders can later be used to feed power to electrically isolated segments. The other set can be used as a common return.
Good electrical connections are very important in either DC or DCC control. Before you start running wires, be sure the rail joints are good and tight.
Les
S1 is on the right track (har har) in that it will help you Nappy to have more than 1 set of wires feeding power to the track, positioning them at a couple of places. There are several ways to do this. How big of a set up is it right now? And, do you have any soldering skills?
(I see Les was typing a reply while I was as well-he is also on the right track (har har again). :D
I should also be sure to ask, is the track clean? And, what color is the plastic roadbed?
if I am not mistaken, the Bachmann feeder track sections have receptacles on both sides for the plug in feeder wires. thus, it is possible to power one feeder section directly from the power pack, then use a second set of feeder cable to jumper from the unused side of the feeder section, to another feeder section on the opposite side of the layout. you can do this without cutting and splicing any wires, the only thing you need to make sure of is that the polarity is correct between the two feeder sections. plug the wires in and slowly increase the power with the train on the track. if it doesn't move, assume a short circuit caused by improper polarity. unplug the jumper wire from either of the feeder sections, flip the plug over and try again. this should solve the problem.
do not under any circumstances try to use more than one power pack on your track without ensuring they are isolated from each other. doing so can cause al kinds of freaky behavior in your train as the two packs wrestle with each other for control. you may burn something out if you do this.
http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,22705.msg181740.html#msg181740
If the HO is setup the same way as the N, then fer sur, yer bang on, as they say up North.
Thanks everyone. We will be setting it back up tomorrow and will try the wires.