EZ controller

[Zene]

Hi ... the 36-501(blue UK) controller which I have is 16vdc input. The 44932 (grey) is 16vac. The power supply I was sent is 110v - 16vac which was substituted for
US use, but it measured 22vac. I need to order the right supply for the 36-501. Confusing that one is ac and the other dc.
Can someone help?
Zene

[rich1998]

It might have measured high because it was not plugged in. wall warts can measure high if not under load, that is plugged in.

Rich

[Zene]

Rich ... thx, reluctant to even plug in to see drop. Mainly concerned with the oddity of one being 16 vdc and the other 16 vac input. Zene

[rich1998]

Sorry I missed that
Wall Warts are usually 120 AC input USA or 240 AC input UK and 16 VAC or 16 DC output.
Usually on the case.
Here in the USA I see 120 to 240 input I think. They are called universal

I have never seen a wall wart with 16volt input.

Rich.

[Zene]

Rich ... would you consider me sending you pics of controllers? Cannot even upload 40kb pics. My eMail is zenegillette@gmail.com in case you do not want yours showm on forum. Zene

[rich1998]

I cannot upload a photo because I do not have a photo hosting site.
That is explained down below in the General Questions Forum.

I just looked at two wall warts and they show100 to 240 AC input and 12 vdc for one out and 5 vdc for the other out. Those are called Universal wall warts. Good for the USA and your side.
I have seen the specs on all wall warts before.

This has been discussed here in the past. Many have mentioned a wall wart unloaded measures high.

No idea what you have.

Rich

[Zene]

Let me try another way that I cannot load pics. I have the EZ 36-501 blue controller. It cleary shows 16vdc input. The wallwart sent in place of the Euro transformer is 110vac to 16 VAC. However, the US 44932 grey controller shows it's input of 16vac. To further complicate matters; it reads 22vac without load. Reluctant to plug in. Zene

[Len]

It's realatively simple to create a quick and dirty load. Find a wired bulb,similar to these, rated for at least 16V. The 18-22V bulbs used in some G-scale equipment would be ideal:


Strip the wire ends back far enough to wrap the end of one wire around the outside of the wall-wart output barrel. Wrap the end of the other wire around the pin of a meter lead. For an AC wall-wart it doesn't matter which lead. For a DC wall-wart use the lead matching the polarity of the outside of the barrel. The Bachmann DC wall-wart outside barrel is the (-) negative side, the negative lead should be used.

Touch the remaining lead to the center pin of the output barrel and you should get a better output voltage reading. Ideally, the bulb should be connected to a barrel socket, which the wall-wart plugs into, Then the reading taken in parallel across the two lamp wires. But even doing it in series using the 'quick and dirty' method is better than measuring an open circuit.

Len

[Zene]

Thanks, Len. Just what I needed.  Zene