Question about LGB track / transformer

[Giorginetto]

In a few days i will be setting up in the mountain house my 4052 train with 4 passenger wagons along a 70+metres LGB track. This will be the first time i go up to 70meters and I will be using the LGB JUMBO transformer i have with the heavie duty LGB connectors . I wonder if this transformer will suffice for 70meters of track and the question is what total length of track can it support for a unit as the 4052 


 

[Junker Jörg]

Hai!

Die Gleislänge spielt keine so große Rolle. Wichtiger ist, daß die Gleise sicher miteinander verbunden sind. Vor allem beim Aufbau im Freien würde ich auf alle Fälle neben der Strecke eine Kabelleitung verlegen und den Strom alle zwei Meter einspeisen. So kannst Du sicherstellen, daß Deine Lok wirklich überall Strom bekommt und nicht wegen eines Wackelkontaktes an einem Schienenstoß liegenbleibt.

It's less the length of track, that matters, than the connections between your tracks; make all fishplates fit properly. To be on the safe side especially with an open air layout I'd install a wire parallel to my tracks to allow several direct connections at 10 ft intervals. That should make sure your engine won't be stopped by a loose contact.

jj:

[Marco_4124]

The LGB JUMBO transformer will give all the power you need. For a better distribution of the power, make more connection points along your layout. Keep in mind that you leave the transformer INSIDE on a dry place, even though your train runs outside in the open air.

[Walts-Trains]

Remember the Playmobil locos are designed for running on 16 volts.
The LGB jumbo gives out 24 volts. If you run the Playmobil loco on this voltage you will soon burn the lights out as they will have too higher voltage to them.

[Giorginetto]

Remember the Playmobil locos are designed for running on 16 volts.
The LGB jumbo gives out 24 volts. If you run the Playmobil loco on this voltage you will soon burn the lights out as they will have too higher voltage to them.

I have run my playmo trains a number of trains with the JUMBO unit but the lights on the trains havent had any such issues as yet...

[Rasputin]

With big layouts I tend not to have a problem with how long the line is but how many engines are running at the same time. We were up to 140 feet or 43 meters and the medium sized controller could run about 4 trains w/loads. Never had a problem with getting the power around the track as long as you take everyone's advice on making good connections. If it was a more permanent layout I would add in the wires as described by junker and Marco. As Walt said be carefully of voltage the motor will wear faster with the added voltage, but it will go faster I guess.

Sounds like fun time ahead. Pictures and try go pro films where the camera is in the engineers seat etc.....

[Marco_4124]

Remember the Playmobil locos are designed for running on 16 volts.
The LGB jumbo gives out 24 volts. If you run the Playmobil loco on this voltage you will soon burn the lights out as they will have too higher voltage to them.

True, but a large layout has quite a large resistent. But if in doubt, put a voltmeter in between. That never harms.
I have rebuild quite a few Playmobil trains. The original Playmobil trains has a Mabuchi electric motor that runs on 6 to 18 Volts. The motors are made in Hong Kong and are quite solid with metal parts and brass gearings. Actually, I have never problems with them .

[Rasputin]

True, but a large layout has quite a large resistent. But if in doubt, put a voltmeter in between. That never harms.
I have rebuild quite a few Playmobil trains. The original Playmobil trains has a Mabuchi electric motor that runs on 6 to 18 Volts. The motors are made in Hong Kong and are quite solid with metal parts and brass gearings. Actually, I have never problems with them .

Really, you never burned one up yet.....they are great designs but under long runs under loads, we're are talking run times in the hours they seem to wear out with all the heat. We push the limits in our house 

[Junker Jörg]

Nachdem nun beides angesprochen wurde:

1. Die Spannung / Volt ist für die Fahrgeschwindigkeit wichtig. Je höher die Spannung, desto schnell (heller...) wird's. Wird die Spannung aber zu hoch, dann können Motoren und Lampen kaputt gehen. Die Anzahl der Loks spielt hier überhaupt keine Rolle. Die Spannung fällt, je länger die Leitung ist  und je schlechter die Verbindungen sind.

2. Die Stärke /Ampere entscheidet darüber, ob nur eine Lok oder mehrere gleichzeitig fahren können. Eine zu hohe Stärke ist aber nicht gefährlich, da jede Lok nur so viel A "nimmt", wie sie braucht.

Der Jumbo-Trafo von LGB ist v.a. wegen seiner 10A "Jumbo" (normale Trafos liefern ein oder zwei A), weil man damit mehrere auch schwere Loks fahren lassen kann. Manche LGB-Motoren brauchen einfach mehr A, weil die Loks schwerer sind als unsere Playmobilleichtgewichte; außerdem sollten dann ja vielleicht noch Lampen in den Waggons brennen, Geräuschmodule mitlaufen... Das braucht die vielen A. Ein Playmobilmotor ist mit 0,5A schon völlig zufrieden, und ein Trafo, der 16V bei 16VA liefert, reicht meiner Erfahrung nach für bis zu drei Loks, solange die Schienen ordentlich verkabelt sind.


As both's been discussed here now:
1. Voltage (V) decides how fast a motor's running / light a bulb's burning - and to much could destroy motor and bulb. But wether there's only one engine on the track or fife doesn't matter here. A long distance and bad connectors will lead to lower voltage.

2. Amperage (A) - current intensity - matters if more than one motor/bulb is to be supplied. But it's no problem to provide to many Ampere as a motor can't "take" more than is needed.

This "Jumbo Trafo" is called jumbo as it's providing 10A (usual trafos deliver one or two A only) so many trains and heavy engines can be run at the same time. That's for LGB Motors might need more A as those engines are much heavier than our Playmobil light weights; and often waggon lights or sond modules were to be supplied too. That's what LGB made that big transorfmer for. A Playmobil motor'll be completely happy at 0.5A if only all connectors/fish plates are properly fixed.

jj:

[Giorginetto]

Really, you never burned one up yet.....they are great designs but under long runs under loads, we're are talking run times in the hours they seem to wear out with all the heat. We push the limits in our house 

Thank you all for the info. Some years ago i was lucky and bought 4 MISB spare playmo engines, they are still in their bags , never used, so i have a few replacements if needed. My layout will be no less than 50metres and probably round 75-80metres if i use it all up. Last time i set it up it was around 55-60 metres and with all connection done up properly i diddnt have any issues , the 4052 was steaming away easily carrying 4 playmo passenger wagons !!! 

I will be posting pics and a video of it all when i set it up, probably in august when i spent a few days at the mountain house. BTW you can see some old plain set ups i have done  in my youtube channel ( link under my avatar)

I will also be getting the jumbo unit for a maintenance check up etc before i set it all up. Its an impressive piece of kit i think and deserves this before it runs the playmo trains again