 Joined: 15/03/2003(UTC) Posts: 9,593 Location: Australia
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While I wait for our studio annex to be built in a couple of years, I am keeping the H0 collection in storage to explore life in the Z world.
I have tinkered with the battery powered 81522 start set and I am about to play with FD's 81951 set that includes a controller with a plug pack. My concern is that the plug pack in the set is only rated at 150mA, which seems low. What is the output rating of the plug packs included with the European sets? |
Adrian Australia flag by abFlags.com |
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 Joined: 02/10/2013(UTC) Posts: 843 Location: West Texas
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Hello. Hope all is well. Welcome to the world of Z. I may not be totally familiar with the term plug packs. This is the bottom of the controller from Marklin which is imported to the US. It has the electrical specifications  Your location may be different. So long as the voltage sent to the locomotive is between 0 and 10 volts, it should be ok. This controller is one of the newer analog units, the older blue controller might be slightly different, but both can safely be used. For older or new locomotives it is okay to use either one. Hope this is the information you were looking for. Take good care. Zme Edited by moderator 21 April 2024 12:49:18(UTC)
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Joined: 02/10/2013(UTC) Posts: 843 Location: West Texas
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Please ignore.  wish I knew what I am doing. Zme
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Joined: 15/03/2003(UTC) Posts: 9,593 Location: Australia
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Thank you Zme,
The plug pack is the thing that plugs into the controller that is in the picture in your post. Also, I am on 240 volts down here so our plug packs are completely different to your plug packs.
Even the back of your controller is different than mine. |
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 1 user liked this useful post by xxup
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 Joined: 23/07/2014(UTC) Posts: 8,475 Location: ENGLAND, Didcot
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Originally Posted by: xxup  Thank you Zme,
The plug pack is the thing that plugs into the controller that is in the picture in your post. Also, I am on 240 volts down here so our plug packs are completely different to your plug packs.
Even the back of your controller is different than mine. I think you are after the ratings of what Americans call a 'wall wart' that is a blob (commonly black) that plugs into the mains power then has a cable with a barrel connector to supply the appliance. What Zme has photographed is an alternative Z gauge controller that is mains powered, and doesn't need a wall wart. The club I attend has just been donated some Z gauge stuff, which includes a controller with a wall wart. I'll be at the club rooms on Tuesday, so will try and remember to check it out, but to me the ratings on the one you have sound about what I would expect, as the expectation of Marklin is that it would be running only one loco, with no accessory lighting or anything, I bet any points in the set will be manual ones.
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1 user liked this useful post by kiwiAlan
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Joined: 09/10/2015(UTC) Posts: 581 Location: England, Cambridge
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Originally Posted by: xxup While I wait for our studio annex to be built in a couple of years, I am keeping the H0 collection in storage to explore life in the Z world.
I have tinkered with the battery powered 81522 start set and I am about to play with FD's 81951 set that includes a controller with a plug pack. My concern is that the plug pack in the set is only rated at 150mA, which seems low. What is the output rating of the plug packs included with the European sets? The one that came with my 81870 set is rated at 12VA, so that's effectively 1A at the output. In that context, 150mA does seem a bit low unless it is referring to the input, in which case it's about right. 150mA will probably be adequate for a single locomotive, particularly if it's one with a 5 pole motor or more modern coreless (bell shaped armature) motor. I'd not be overly worried - whatever happens you won't damage you loco(s) and most modern power supplies have a safety current limit, so it will protect itself if you do start to draw too much. If you do hit problems (things cutting out if you drive your train too fast for too long) get yourself a 12V DC, 1A power supply and you'll be good to go. Hope this is of help Chris
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Joined: 09/04/2019(UTC) Posts: 565 Location: California, Bay Area
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For US 110V outlets the Rokuhan controller wall warts I have are rated at 12V 1A. Rokuhan says 1 of their locos requires about 100mAh to operate. I guess amps goes down as voltage goes up there are a few numbers at least. Edited by user 21 April 2024 22:24:57(UTC)
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Joined: 15/03/2003(UTC) Posts: 9,593 Location: Australia
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Now I understand Zme's confusion about plug packs. The back of my controller looks like this one: 
Photo source: http://www.zscalehobo.com as mine was too new looking to photograph properly.
They way I read this is that the voltage is supposed to be a maximum of 11v and the current through the dial part is 1.0A and the yellow/gray pins can be 1.6 amp. Does this mean that a 12v plug pack is not appropriate. Will it damage the loco or any of the other bits like signals that I attach later? Edited by user 22 April 2024 05:57:32(UTC)
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AdrianAustralia flag by abFlags.com |
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Joined: 09/10/2015(UTC) Posts: 581 Location: England, Cambridge
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Originally Posted by: xxup Now I understand Zme's confusion about plug packs. The back of my controller looks like this one:
Photo source: http://www.zscalehobo.com as mine was too new looking to photograph properly.
They way I read this is that the voltage is supposed to be a maximum of 11v and the current through the dial part is 1.0A and the yellow/gray pins can be 1.6 amp. Does this mean that a 12v plug pack is not appropriate. Will it damage the loco or any of the other bits like signals that I attach later? The thing with these ratings labels is that they're there for legal/certification reasons, but don't necessarily give much insight as to their real life characteristics. This controller has a voltage regulator circuit built into it which limits the amount of voltage that can be applied to the track to a nominal 10V and relies upon the input voltage being a couple of volts higher for the circuit to work properly. A 12V plug pack is ideal for this and indeed this is exactly what Marklin's is rated at. Cheers Chris Edited by moderator 22 April 2024 05:57:56(UTC)
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Joined: 15/03/2003(UTC) Posts: 9,593 Location: Australia
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Thank you Chris.
That is the information I needed. I will wander down to the local Jaycar and get two 12V 1.0A plug packs.
Just waiting for some signals and a couple of relays to get the automation side of the layout going. Not as much fun as setting up a computer controlled H0 layout, but it will do.
Cheers |
AdrianAustralia flag by abFlags.com |
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Joined: 09/10/2015(UTC) Posts: 581 Location: England, Cambridge
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Originally Posted by: xxup Thank you Chris.
That is the information I needed. I will wander down to the local Jaycar and get two 12V 1.0A plug packs.
Just waiting for some signals and a couple of relays to get the automation side of the layout going. Not as much fun as setting up a computer controlled H0 layout, but it will do.
Cheers I've just finished building a controller that controls two trains on the same track to stop them colliding and by gradually slowing down or speeding up as required. For an old school electronics guy, it's much more satisfying to be building this stuff from logic gates and op-amps than programming a computer to do it for me! Cheers Chris
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2 users liked this useful post by Poor Skeleton
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 Joined: 17/05/2024(UTC) Posts: 8 Location: Ontario, Toronto
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Originally Posted by: xxup Thank you Chris.
That is the information I needed. I will wander down to the local Jaycar and get two 12V 1.0A plug packs.
Just waiting for some signals and a couple of relays to get the automation side of the layout going. Not as much fun as setting up a computer controlled H0 layout, but it will do.
Cheers Yes, the power packs are rated at 12V 1amp, so 1amp being the key. I've little success running most Marklin locomotives off a 9V battery due to the lower amp. I believe you want to ensure your custom controller limits voltage to 10V.
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Joined: 17/05/2024(UTC) Posts: 8 Location: Ontario, Toronto
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Originally Posted by: Poor Skeleton Originally Posted by: xxup Thank you Chris.
That is the information I needed. I will wander down to the local Jaycar and get two 12V 1.0A plug packs.
Just waiting for some signals and a couple of relays to get the automation side of the layout going. Not as much fun as setting up a computer controlled H0 layout, but it will do.
Cheers I've just finished building a controller that controls two trains on the same track to stop them colliding and by gradually slowing down or speeding up as required. For an old school electronics guy, it's much more satisfying to be building this stuff from logic gates and op-amps than programming a computer to do it for me! Cheers Chris In University, one of my third year science courses, we had to write assembly code for a Motorola 6800 microcontroller to control multiple trains on a single layout. So essentially what DCC makes easy to do, but using DC driver by your program controlling the power to blocks and signals to control train speed and prevent them colliding. Years later and now I'm very interested in creating similar controls without using DCC on a Z-scale layout, all by using old school logic gates and relays, without any computer assist.
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