issues with williams engine

[Joe Satnik]

Dear Nitro,

Hey, you're welcome.

Fantastic. 

Have you tested it in reverse?  (This will tell you if you have a bad solder joint in any of the diode pairs.)

To answer previous questions, (sorry about the delay),

Yes, the 10 Amp diodes would be safe, but you would still need the same number of them as the 6 Amp diodes for the same voltage drop effect. 

The downside is that you would need more room for the larger diodes.

This setup should work with Lionel postwar universal (will run on AC or DC, hence "universal") motors as well, however,

I don't know what the stall current is for the old motors, which are much less efficient. 

You would want diodes with at least as much forward current as the motor's stall current. 

Since the universal motors are less efficient, you will not need as many diode pairs in series.     

There is a possibility that the diodes on a universal motor might increase radio frequency interference (RFI),

and small capacitors might have to be added somewhere if your radio is noisy or your TV starts acting up while you are running your trains.

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik     

[Joe Satnik]

Dear Nitro,

How warm are the diodes getting?

Run the loco with a bunch of cars behind for a few minutes and see how warm the diodes get.

Thanks.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

[the nitro man]

i ran it last night with 10 cars behind it for about 5-10 minutes & they just got warm. reverse works fine.

[Joe Satnik]

Dear Nitro,

I kind of expected a little warm.   Good. 

Is your top speed under load still fast enough?

Joe

[the nitro man]

yes, top speed it still very good. it will still run off the tracks if i opened it all the way up. now pulling ten cars, i can turn it up to 12 on the zw & it's flying. it runs good on 8-9.

the diodes do get a little warm, but not hot. i had to put two pair on each of the wires. four pairs was to long to fit anywhere without smooshing wires.

i did put the smoke unit back the way it was, because it spit a little bit of smoke fluid out & i just don't like that oil getting on the purty pink paint. i would rather it not smoke than to make a mess. I've heard this is normal for this kind of smoke unit.