Kato tram "Hamburg-Hiroshima"

[kvp]

 

how may uF would work in this case? Something like 8x 100uF?

As many as you can fit. 800 uF should be enough for 200 msec or an 1/5 second gap. Add the momentum of the motor and it could go as far as 1/2 second. This would smooth it out nicely. Generally if the tram has lights and they don't flicker at any speed, the capacitance is enough. For testing, you can just temporarly add two leds back to back with a 1000 ohm resistor in series, by pinning them parallel to the filter capacitor already in there.

[cteno4]

Francesco,

 

What does the tram do when it has trouble?

 

No in the little kato tram no flywheels. Adding the capacitors to the motor gives you what is called an electrical flywheel. The capacitors store up energy (that's the uF value, how much they store) and when you loose track power for a split second to the motor the capacitors dump their power out to the motor. When power is restored the capicator quickly recharge. This is just the electrical version of the mechanical flywheel where the energy is stored in the spinning flywheel weights.

 

Might try the block of wood trick. The rubber eraser could also have left a film or spots of oil and a little rubber on the tracks and may not have taken off all the acrylic form the contact areas. The eraser folks sometimes use for track cleaning is not a regular eraser, but an ebrasive eraser (brand name bright boy) that has tiny bits of grit in it. It's always been a debate if these really work well or not, as with most track cleaning it's always a debate. I tend to try to clean the tracks with stuff less hard than the rail metal to avoid scratching it up a lot, but that's just my preference.

 

Some ear/makeup swabs and isopropyl alcohol works best for cleaning wheels and contacts.

 

If you have lots of dirt/dust then if you have a vacuum then best to hit the rails when you can. You can add a cardboard tube to the end of the vacuum and poke some holes in it to lower the suction. Put a piece of gauss or nylon stocking over the vacuum hose end before putting on the cardboard tube to catch any necessary but that might get sucked up. Get a cheap makeup brush, they are great for sweeping the rails off and just use the vacuum to suck that stuff up. Those little camera lens brushes with the squeeze bulb on the to blow some air works, but it also just blows the dirt elsewhere! Also simple cover helps on the layout when not in use!

 

These little 4 wheel trams will be the first to complain with any smutz on the track!

 

Cheers

 

Jeff

[FastFranz]

Ciao

 

I got the decision to buy a Tomix "rail cleaner" (I've been told does a good job) ... LOL! ;)

 

Francesco

Edited February 18, 2015 by FastFranz

[chinbeard]

For adding weight I have been using self adhesive lead strip, it is sold as "window leading", it is used to make plain glass look like those old fashioned leaded diamond panes, the adhesive is very strong so it sticks well and it's very flexible so it shapes easily, it can be found in most DIY stores in UK, not sure if it's common in other countries.