Powering up the beast

ModelRailroadForums.com is a free Model Railroad Discussion Forum and photo gallery. We cover all scales and sizes of model railroads. Online since 2002, it's one of the oldest and largest model railroad forums on the web. Whether you're a master model railroader or just getting started, you'll find something of interest here.


DakotaLove39

DakotaLove39

Always Improvising
Tonight I'm bored, so I figure it's time to wake up the machine!

That machine being my little p2k GP38.

I'm running on DC power still. Any tips on the maiden run?
 
Just place it carefully on the tracks, block off the ends for some cheap insurance (throw cushions would be fine, with something heavy on the back side of them to keep the engine from merely shoving them along), and power up. Turn the dial up slowly and enjoy its first movements. When you run out of room, reverse per instructions and enjoy that, too.

Ideally, you would have a length of track with at least one turnout and a siding or something.

-Crandell
 
Hmmm. You might want to consider running that loco in first. I hear a oval of track and about an hour of time are useful tools. Just a suggestion.
 


Indeed, if you don't have a layout, at least put down an oval of track on the floor. Run the engine in forward for a half-hour and reverse for a half-hour. That will break in the motor and gear train and show up any hidden defects.
 
At medium speed and not full throttle, right?

Got it running on a 4x8 oval on the floor right now. Working pretty good!

Gents, this is the first time I've had an HO scale train running under its own power in maybe.. 7 years?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Steve, nice feeling, huh? :) You should break in the engine kind of like a car, varying the speed from a crawl to near full throttle of five minutes at a time in forward and reverse, for an hour total. This helps set the gears and will give you a much smoother running engine.
 
UP2CSX said:
Steve, nice feeling, huh? :) You should break in the engine kind of like a car, varying the speed from a crawl to near full throttle of five minutes at a time in forward and reverse, for an hour total. This helps set the gears and will give you a much smoother running engine.
Click to expand...

Definitely. Although now I have a question. My older plain ol' LL Gp38 was able to pull 10 cars and a dummy loco when it ran. This P2K one doesn't seem to like pulling anything more than five or six cars. Are the precision models designed and geared to mimic the power and speeds of the real thing?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
No, and that P2K model should easily be able to 20 cars on straight and level track. If yours can only pull 5 or 6 cars, something is wrong with it. If it's new and still under warranty, I'd call Walthers and ask for an exchange. I can tell you all kinds of things that might be the problem but you have a defective enigne and the best way to fix it is get another one.
 
Hm.. It's entirely possible the power supply could be on the lazy side. We'll see how it works with my other.

[Edit]

Well someone be the judge. It was having problems when I used my LL powerpack, but now I've switched to an old Tyco one and it's working like a charm.

Maybe I simply used the LL one to death. I know I used that controller way more than my tyco one.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Do you have multimeter? If so, check the voltage across the tracks with the two different power packs. Each should put out at least 12 volts at full thottle. If the old one is putting out 11 or less, toss it. Powerpacks do get bad windings after a lot of use, which reduces the amount of voltage and amps delivered to the tracks.
 


You can't be a model railroader without a good meter. :) Many of the things that seem mysterious can be exposed with a good digital meter and knowing how to use it. For example, you can measrue how many milliamps are being put out by the powerpack by putting the meter in series with one wire going to the track. Just disconnect one wire, put one probe on a terminal and the other probe on the wire you just disconnected. See how many milliamps are being put out compared to the mVa rating of the powerpack. It may still put out enough volts but not enough amps to run the engines at peak efficiency.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.




Affiliate Disclosure: We may receive a commision from some of the links and ads shown on this website (Learn More Here)

Back
Top