Tomix 5517PU-N-DU101-CL controller - engines move only with the lighting control knob

[Petaris]

Hello,

 

I was recently in Japan and happened to be at a BookOff with my kids and the boys took an interest in the Tomix N scale trains they had there.  We ended up getting a Tomix track set that came with a 5517PU-N-DU101-CL controller and the A+B track layout.  We also got a few used engines and cars to run.

 

What we got:

Track set:  90950 My Plan NR-PC (came with the controller mentioned above, the A+B track set, the points switch, and the required wiring - new)

 

9178 J.R. EF66o - Engine

2554 J.N.R Dining CarOSHI-24 - Car

92616 J.R. DC LTD. Express Series 181 - Engine and cars

92201 J.R. Ordinary Express Series 165 - Engine and cars

 

I suspect none of these engines or cars actually have CL however the weird thing is that they only move when the lighting control knob is used.  The throttle control doesn't seem to do anything.  Before I purchased I had looked up to make sure the newer CL controllers were compatible with the older DC engines/cars and found information indicating that they were, but now I am wondering if that is not true and I might need a non-CL controller like the N-600 to run the trains.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions or information on this?

 

Thanks!

 

[Guest]

I have one of those controllers, works fine with non-CL lighting trains (I use it with Kato train sets, I don’t believe they use CL).  DC is DC, as far as I know (from my experience the CL knob adjusts the thread hold before the motors start to engage). I can actually make the trains move using the CL knob alone (and not the throttle arm).

[Petaris]

Hi @Bob Martin,

 

Thanks for the reply.  It turns out the 9178 EF66o does have CL but the lighting control knob doesn't seem to do anything for it.

 

It also turns out that I just didn't realize how this controller works.  In retrospect it may have been better to get the track kit with the N-1001-CL controller or one of the sets with the N-600 controller instead as they would have been more intuitive for the kids.

 

For anyone else wondering, it seems you have to wait a bit after switching the throttle before it starts slowly increasing the speed/power.  Its kind of cool as I imagine its closer to how a real electric train would work but its not exactly intuitive.  If my Japanese was better I would have known from the manual earlier, but the control looked so simple that I didn't look there first.  😞

 

Thanks!

[Guest]

Haha. I forgot about its behavior, and I agree about the behavior for kids.  It was the first controller I bought, and it was NOT obvious how it ramps up (simulates full size train acceleration).  I only have one of those, and six N-1001-CL

Edited August 20, 2023 by Bob Martin

[cteno4]

Yeah it’s a real life like throttle with momentum built into it as a real train doesn’t have the torque of a n scale one. It does take some time to get the hang of, but can be fun to see if you can drive a train like a real driver! Maybe the kids will get into it with some time. I enjoy it a lot but it takes time to master stopping trains at the right point on a platform! But kids like turning something like this into a game.

 

the cl puts out fast pulsed dc (ie it flips the dc on and off very fast) that can be enough to light the leds (they actually flicker but so fast we don’t see it and a small cap can actually keep a pretty constant current to an led) but not enough to make the motor go. When the cl is set low the pulses are so fast it can’t turn a motor over (but it can make some get a bit warm), but make the leds light. If you crank the cl up high enough the pulse widths are big enough to get the motor to turn over very slowly and thus move the train slowly.
 

This is the old school pulse wave switch on older MRC transformers to get trains to run really slowly. With full dc many times the resistance of the motor is high enough to not let it turn over under full dc until a threshold voltage and then once turning it takes off so the engine jumps to a start and you can’t get it to creep at all.

 

cheers,

 

jeff

[bill937ca]

I have one of these and I consider it non-standard and "retired". Other power packs are easier to use.