Hi all:

Heard from one M dealer yesterday that old transformers from the eighties (blue plastic shell) could be dangerous !!! (so M had to replace them)
IS THAT TRUE

Can't imagine why ... new laws in European Community perhaps ...
John

I have a number of transformers going back over 50 years (some in open valve radios)! Yes, they are lethal - by modern standards. They need an earth, they get warm (not hot) they have exposed windings, they have no short circuit protection, they are no hermeticaly sealed, they have metal frames, and some I have will pump out kilovolts for valves. In short, if you do something stupid with them they will bite back. However, treat them with respect and they are fine.

The modern transformers are too safe. They will cut out at the slightest sign of an overload or short, just when you need that extra bit of oommph.

The old ones are safe, BUT TREAT THEM WITH RESPECT!

It sounds like Märklin are getting worried about the possiblity of someone taking them to court because they put their transformer in the bath and it electrocuted them

No doubt about it, is far more convenient to not have a piece of eternal
machinery...........

Hi Gregor, Chris, John, Robert, Francisco

I have always heard from my dealer that the old Trafo are all safe. I have a 6511 item (16 VA) and it is well!!

Bye bye
Stefano

Hi Stefano, Dikken, all:

It's a very good feeling to be safe again ... [^][^][^][^][^]

Many thanks
John

Hi Richard:

Copper should be no problem as long as there are no rugrats around [:0][:0][:0] and your charming wife is aware of it when cleaning the layout

Regards
John

I think this one is 220 volts, John. afaik. Nicht so gut in Brooklyn.
Bruce

Bruce, many thanks for being so helpful but our house got 220 V outlets, too (mentioned that in an earlier post). Made sense for us so we can also buy European equipment - wife is French [:X]!!! ... and for me it's o.k. when selecting original M transformers (by the way that price wasn't a deal - it was a steal )

And as I can see ya speak German, too. Deshalb nochmals danke schön für Deine freundliche Besorgnis und auch für den entsprechenden Link, war sehr nett von Dir

Best Regards,
John

I have two new store-bought M transformers that have all the safety features, and I have one old blue case one. One of the new ones has already gone on-the-bum, and the other one is beginning to crash. That old blue 1980's era transformer will probably outlast me! Yes, they're SAFE!!! You're better-off with the archaic blue transformer than a whole boatload of the new ones! The new ones are junk! That's for sure! Happy posting. Sincerely: Night Train

Hi Jerry. Hope you are sending the tranformers back to the dealer. Usually very little ever goes wrong with a transformer you must be very unlucky.
David

I really don't think so unless they are plugged in all year and even after that they are probably safe (just get a little warm). I have a few that date back quite a few years and never had any problems with them. If there is ever a short they turn off immediately and reset just like the day they were new.
Karl

... still looking for PICTURES ( or web site links) on old blue transformers, please ... [:I] - Nobody ?

Many Thanks in advance
John

Hi John, just found these pics on ebay site . They are all but nice, unfortunately [:(]. There is every week such material on ebay. May be one day you will find a nice one [:p]?


Fred

Hello everybody,

this last quote is really something we have to take into consideration !!! And even the 5th floor might be dangerous ....

But: there might be some truth in the original warning way up there. When I was young, we were told in the Märklin manuals, especially in the Märklin books 0310 and 0380, not to run several transformers, as it was put, "out of phase". Does anybody who knows the proper English expressions know about it ???

I do not want to go into too detailed technical stuff, but we were told that if two transformers are working alongside each other on your layout, and you only unplug one of them, for instance because its train has derailed, then, if they are out of phase, the mains power from the second, still running transformer (110 V or 230 V) can find its way through to the cable of the unplugged transformer. A child, holding the unplugged power cable, and trying to insert it back in, is clearly in great danger.

Is it still so ??? Does any Märklin manual from the modern days make reference to this effect ?? Maybe they have changed the technical specification, and therefore a warning concerning older transformers might be ok.

Having said that, I do agree with many posts above and can tell you that my 8 old transformers (1958 to 1969) are wonderful, and the only one that ever stopped working was a transformer from 1990...

Johann

I have a (long winded) explanation of what 'out of phase' means, and why it matters. Also, how to detect the problem and fix it. Plus, why the MS might be different.

Note: I spent some time working for a company that tested power meters, so I know something about how electrical power works.

Contact me off-line and I will tell you more than you want to know.

Hi Ira , many thanks too - had thought this would be of no use for me since pics at EBAY are generally very small ...

John

Hi Steven, such are very good news.

Many Thanks
John