Help with install

[Davidbross]

I did my first install today. It was a quick install to try out the system. I haven’t tackled lights, etc. just sounds and motor control.

On to the help. My install is three rail o Guage. Tonight I powered the system with a battery. No track power needed.  Does anyone have a diagram of the wiring for battery with on off switch and charging port so I don’t have to remove the shell all the time? 

I’m the alternative, does anyone have a diagram and parts list to run this off of ac power?  I run at around 18 volts ac.

[Alan]

I did my first install today. It was a quick install to try out the system. I haven’t tackled lights, etc. just sounds and motor control.

On to the help. My install is three rail o Guage. Tonight I powered the system with a battery. No track power needed.  Does anyone have a diagram of the wiring for battery with on off switch and charging port so I don’t have to remove the shell all the time? 

I’m the alternative, does anyone have a diagram and parts list to run this off of ac power?  I run at around 18 volts ac.

The on/off can be a SPST switch placed in the wire going from battery positive to LM positive. You could use a headphone jack for a charging port. Wire it in between the battery and module so that when the charging pin is inserted it breaks the connection between battery and module. Here is a schematic incorporating both.



If all of your locomotives are RP then it would be simpler to ditch the AC and power your 3 rail track with an appropriate DC power supply.

If you have a mixture of locomotives and are using a square wave AC system like Lionel then you need to do two things inside each RP equipped locomotive - 1) Full wave rectify AC to DC; 2) Reduce voltage from 18 to 14 volts. There are any number of ways to go about this. The easiest is to use diodes for both jobs. The bridge rectifier diodes change AC to DC and drop the voltage about 1.4 volts. The three series diodes further drop the voltage another 2.1 volts for a grand total of 3.5 volts. 18 - 3.5 = 14.5. Use 5 amp or greater diodes so they can handle the current.