Basic Marklin debugging

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vascorey		#1 Posted : 05 February 2017 21:05:21(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 05/02/2017(UTC) Posts: 4 Location: Lisbon		Dear Friends, (Disclaimer: I am a newbie in train modelling and was not able to find anwers online. Please bear with me :)) I have recently inherited several Marklin parts (photos available in links below). None of it is working and I am unsure on whether the problem lies on the locomotives, the track that is connected to the Power Adapter or in the cabling itself. What I know, so far, is that the Power Adapter is seemingly working and outputting 10 to 20V AC (I was surprised that it outputs AC and not DC), which I measured with a multimeter. I would like to know how can I make a simple debugging using the tools I have - the multimeter + basic tools. My key questions are: 1) Is the Power Adapter output normal - i.e., should it be DC? is 20V an OK value? 2) How do I measure voltage when the top of track is facing up (where is ground and where is charge?) 3) Is there any way I can directly connect the Power Adapter to the locomotives to check if they are working - i.e., not through the track 4) In case I can connect the Power Adapter to the locomotives and they do not run, are there any likely easily solvable reasons for it not to work - i.e., can you recommend a basic repair guide Can any of you recommend a simple, basic tutorial to answer these questions? Regards, V The photos are available below: Power adapter: https://goo.gl/photos/ddRuKKQZtwgeS9uD7 Locomotives: https://goo.gl/photos/GpF5ygKF2UVPKDws7


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franciscohg		#2 Posted : 05 February 2017 22:03:54(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 10/07/2002(UTC) Posts: 3,273 Location: Patagonia		hello, welcome to the wonderful world of 3 rail AC Marklin (ongoing topic about that somewhere in the forum) Yes, AC is normal, on your transformer there are brown, yellow and red plugs, between yellow and brown you must have 16 VAC, is for powering lights and solenoids for turnouts, couplers, etc. Between red and brown it depends on the throtle, 0-16 vac for running trains and 24 vac to trigger the direction change. In the tracks brown goes to the rails and red to the center rail ( third rail ) There is a big number of things that must be checked if your locos are not running, first of all do a good cleaning of them, gears may be stucked with hardened old oil, dsimantle the motors and check brushes and carbon deposits on the rotors, also all the connections. here you can find all the info you need: http://www.lctm.info/Sec...lioteca/Libros/index.php if there is no major damage you will see that with a little work you can have your oldies working nice and smooth Regards
		German trains era I-II and selected III, era depends on the mood, mostly Maerklin but i can be heretic if needed XD, heresy is no longer an issue.. LOL

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vascorey		#3 Posted : 05 February 2017 22:26:05(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 05/02/2017(UTC) Posts: 4 Location: Lisbon		Thank you for your reply! I have downloaded the service manual and will try to run some tests. Regards, V

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Minok		#4 Posted : 07 February 2017 21:44:31(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 15/10/2006(UTC) Posts: 2,311 Location: Washington, Pacific Northwest		Welcome, The text at the top of the power supply (transformer or trafo) will indicate the output to be expected (image is blurry). Not the output voltage is as measured 'under load', that is, when a transformer has no real power draw connected to the outputs the voltage doesn't reflect the operational (label indicated) voltage necessarily, so you'd have to measure it with a train or something appropriate attached as a load. Testing without the loco on the tracks is tricky as one of the power pickups, the wheels, will spin when its running (as the voltage increases and decreases with the turning of the transformer knob, but you may be able to by clipping onto a non-motorized wheel with an electrical clip (alligator clip) if that non-motorized wheel also provides power connectivity to the motor. Then clip the other lead to the central pickup shoe.. and keep the wires clear of the wheels and moving bits.
		Toys of tin and wood rule! --- My Layout Thread on marklin-users.net: InterCity 1-3-4 My YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/@intercity134

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analogmike		#5 Posted : 07 February 2017 23:14:50(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 02/08/2014(UTC) Posts: 741 Location: NEW JERSEY, USA		Hello V, I can see one thing in the photo that can cause trouble. Your power track (with red and brown wires) has got quite a bit of rust. If you don't have another one, put together some clean track (no rust) and use some alligator clip jumpers from the traffo to the track. Brown to rail is ground, Red to center is hot. Try a couple different engines. Give em a wiggle by hand. You should at least get a head light to work. Good luck Mikey
		I love the smell of smoke fluid in the morning .

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vascorey		#6 Posted : 07 February 2017 23:42:53(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 05/02/2017(UTC) Posts: 4 Location: Lisbon		Thank you Mickey. I suspected the problem is in the rail. I will try a new rail and hardwire the power adapter directly to the locos to check what is working. Will let you guys know as soon as I have answers. Cheers V


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vascorey		#7 Posted : 09 February 2017 21:19:56(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 05/02/2017(UTC) Posts: 4 Location: Lisbon		Hello Friends, I have connected the traffo directly to the power using some copper wires I found and I have 2 engines running and another 3 that light up, but don't run, all the others are still, I assume due to lack of lubrication. So the tracks are not delivering power to the engines, maybe due to rust in the wires (as suggested above), maybe due to some other reason (e.g., any kind of short-circuit). I will try and run the engines with some clean tracks a friend is bringing over this weekend to check how they run. Cheers, Vasco

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