# TROUBLE! The power pack or the engines?



## jjb727 (Apr 13, 2012)

I had to post this because I need to know what is causing my engines to run slow, even though the throttle on my power packs are running at max power. I have 2 blue box power packs from life-like trains, one gray power pack from bachmann, and one MRC Tech 280 (i think its 2800 or 280, forgot  ). Anyways, I CANNOT, for the life of me, figure out why my trains are not running fast when they should be. 

The list shows the stuff I tried to fix the problem:
1. Clean the track- though a good idea, it didnt do anything, sadly, My engines still run a bit slow on the full speed setting.

2. Change out the wires that go from the power pack to the track- there was NOTHING wrong with the wires, but I tried to change them to see if doing so would change anything. 

3. Clean the wheels of my engines - this only work for a little bit. After an hour of running, I went back to the slow traveling speed even though my power pack had the throttle pointed to full speed. 

So those are the 3 things I tried and yet, nothing. The same goes on with my MRC twin throttle power packs. I bought this one thinking that the larger number definitely meant MOOOORE POWER, but for some reason, It doesn't seem to be the case. Another thing I noticed is that the locos speed up a bit when they reach the terminal re-railers that have the power pack wired to them.


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## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

if they speed up a bit when you get close to where power ties in it may just be poor connection, i have that on my layout, but most track is just loose, running some to verify curves, etc.. running extra feeders usually helps, none of mine are tied in as of yet..also some locos draw a lot of power, like old blue box athearns .. if you have a multimeter, you can check the difference between no load full voltage and loaded, there usually is quite a bit of difference, ideally around 12v full throttle loaded.. and you can also check full power current draw as well..on my old layout i had quite a few feeders, and most joints were soldered, however it makes re-use pretty tough, its mostly scrap track second time around..


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

What kind of track are you running?


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## ktcards (Sep 22, 2012)

jjb727 said:


> I had to post this because I need to know what is causing my engines to run slow, even though the throttle on my power packs are running at max power. I have 2 blue box power packs from life-like trains, one gray power pack from bachmann, and one MRC Tech 280 (i think its 2800 or 280, forgot  ). Anyways, I CANNOT, for the life of me, figure out why my trains are not running fast when they should be.
> 
> The list shows the stuff I tried to fix the problem:
> 1. Clean the track- though a good idea, it didnt do anything, sadly, My engines still run a bit slow on the full speed setting.
> ...


You don't say how many engins you are trying to run off of a single power pack. The 2 blue box power packs from life-like trains, one gray power pack from bachmann are TOY transformers rated at around 8VA. They don't have much power to do anything, barely able to run a single engine.

The Tech 200 and the Tech 280 are not much better. They are rated at 17VA, about twice the amperage of the other ones.

At present I am running a 42VA unit on my mainline.

The key is the VA rating. It means VA divided by Volts. So 17VA transformer has 1 1/2 amp of power at 12 volts, 42VA has 3 1/2 Amps of power at 12 Volts.

I was able to buy some reasonably priced transformers on the bay. The bulk of the cost is the shipping, they are very heavy.

You need to look for the VA rating. It should be over 30VA for any kind of decent performance. If it is listed as "Plenty of Power" don't believe it.

Ray


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## jjb727 (Apr 13, 2012)

wvgca said:


> if they speed up a bit when you get close to where power ties in it may just be poor connection, i have that on my layout, but most track is just loose, running some to verify curves, etc.. running extra feeders usually helps, none of mine are tied in as of yet..also some locos draw a lot of power, like old blue box athearns .. if you have a multimeter, you can check the difference between no load full voltage and loaded, there usually is quite a bit of difference, ideally around 12v full throttle loaded.. and you can also check full power current draw as well..on my old layout i had quite a few feeders, and most joints were soldered, however it makes re-use pretty tough, its mostly scrap track second time around..


i am running on power-loc track.


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## jjb727 (Apr 13, 2012)

ktcards said:


> You don't say how many engins you are trying to run off of a single power pack. The 2 blue box power packs from life-like trains, one gray power pack from bachmann are TOY transformers rated at around 8VA. They don't have much power to do anything, barely able to run a single engine.
> 
> The Tech 200 and the Tech 280 are not much better. They are rated at 17VA, about twice the amperage of the other ones.
> 
> ...


 one engine per mainline (4 engines, but 2 of them are controlled with the tech 280 and the other 2 with blue packs. I would need to see what your power packs look like.


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## ktcards (Sep 22, 2012)

jjb727 said:


> one engine per mainline (4 engines, but 2 of them are controlled with the tech 280 and the other 2 with blue packs. I would need to see what your power packs look like.


The main one is a KF Industries Powermaster Model 350 output 3 1/2 Amps. 

Here is a link to another one that is identical except it is the Model 250 output 2.5 Amps.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-KF-...959378?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item1e77bdffd2

My other one is a KF Industries Model 200 output 2 Amps but it is not a Powermaster.

I have several toy transformers and they are rated at 7VA Output which translates to 0.58 Amps.
I use them to power accessories, lighting and swwitches.

Ray


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## Pfunmo (Feb 21, 2013)

Hope I can jump in here with a bit of guessing? I think part of the answer lies in the fact that they run better when near the connection. This may be a case where a meter will be a big help or it may also just confuse the H out of a guy! We often think of connections as good or open so that current flows or doesn't. Those are easier to find. But in this case I think you may find that the connection is what I would call a high resistance joint. Current will flow across the joint and a meter may show 12Volts. This is where the meter can make you go crazy! The problem may be that the joint will carry enough current to get a meter reading but not enough to run an engine well. 

If you have a reasonable meter to read resistance, you can read across the connections and should find nearly zero. Without a meter, a good alternate is connecting a set of small clips like a jumper cable across the gaps. If the engine speeds up when the jumper is on, you've found where the high resistance lies. 
No meter, no clips? Try some liquid corrosion cleaner at the gaps. Even a drip of water may lead to a better connection but this is temporary at best. Clean the connections or solder would be my best suggestion.


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

Simple answer! 
Your outdoing the Power packs and the power loc rails are poor conductors!
You need to upgrade your power pack to a MRC tech 2, 3, 4 and eventualy replace your track with Nickel Silver track with power feeder every 3 feet or less.


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## jjb727 (Apr 13, 2012)

ktcards said:


> The main one is a KF Industries Powermaster Model 350 output 3 1/2 Amps.
> 
> Here is a link to another one that is identical except it is the Model 250 output 2.5 Amps.
> 
> ...


 it looks very old. is this product promising? im just asking, thanks!


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## jjb727 (Apr 13, 2012)

NIMT said:


> Simple answer!
> Your outdoing the Power packs and the power loc rails are poor conductors!
> You need to upgrade your power pack to a MRC tech 2, 3, 4 and eventualy replace your track with Nickel Silver track with power feeder every 3 feet or less.


isnt that a lot of work? i have zero experience and or knowledge with electricity. i hope i can find someone who can help me with wiring


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## ktcards (Sep 22, 2012)

jjb727 said:


> it looks very old. is this product promising? im just asking, thanks!


It is, I got it for a steal because one side didn't work very well... It took me 1/2 hour to take it apart and solder a wire back on to get it back into shape. It's worked flawlessly since then.

I would think they are repairable since they only have a coil and a couple of diodes inside.

Ray


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