My nephew is really into Thomas the Tank Engine and so my brother in-law was asking me some questions about various toy trains. He had some concerns since they are electric and wondered about a shock hazard.
I told him that you should not leave metal across the rails as this will cause a short and could heat up, but that most good quality transformers (ie: not the ones in toy train sets) will cut out.
So, what are the shock hazards on those cheap train-set transformers/ controllers? My Brother in-law is still in sticker shock having gone from looking at wooden Thomas the Tank toy trains to G scale ones and also he doesn't know enough to tell quality from crap. I will probably donate my old Tech II pack to the cause for now.
If you put your fingers across the contacts or made contact with the lead wires, how bad could it shock you from either the AC or DC side? I honestly don't know as I, nor anyone I know in person, have ever had the inclination to test this.
I told him that you should not leave metal across the rails as this will cause a short and could heat up, but that most good quality transformers (ie: not the ones in toy train sets) will cut out.
So, what are the shock hazards on those cheap train-set transformers/ controllers? My Brother in-law is still in sticker shock having gone from looking at wooden Thomas the Tank toy trains to G scale ones and also he doesn't know enough to tell quality from crap. I will probably donate my old Tech II pack to the cause for now.
If you put your fingers across the contacts or made contact with the lead wires, how bad could it shock you from either the AC or DC side? I honestly don't know as I, nor anyone I know in person, have ever had the inclination to test this.
