Subject:
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Re: 1 speed regulator 2 trains and tracks
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.trains
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Date:
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Wed, 16 Dec 1998 06:42:00 GMT
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Viewed:
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1653 times
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1) The location you clip wires onto the regulator contains two
terminals. One of these terminals sources current to a load
(e.g., a motor). The other of these terminals provides the
return path for current (remember, an electrical circuit forms
a current loop).
2) By attaching wires and tracks to a regulator, you are simply
extending these terminals. Ironically enough, we call these
"rails". As long as you don't apply a load, such as a motor,
across these rails, you can hang as many off the regulator as
you can build.
3) As soon as you apply a load to any rail hanging off a common
regulator, current is being drawn from the regulator. The
current drawn from a regulator depends on the resistance of
the load.
4) A regulator of this nature does NOT control current, but rather
controls voltage. It allows applied loads to draw whatever
current they demand. However, note that a regulator typically
has a limit on the amount of current it can source before its
ability to regulate voltage begins to breakdown. Typically,
a regulator sourcing current at or beyond its rating will not
be able to maintain the voltage output and it will fall off
with demand.
5) I never really fully understood the characteristics of a motor.
However, you must note that they are dynamic in nature. I
believe a free running motor will continue to draw a constant
current, independent of voltage. As the voltage across a motor
increases, so doesn't its speed. The motor will draw more
current if a mechanical load is applied to it (e.g., the
friction of running on the track, the weight of the train
and its payload, and inclination).
I hope this helps--I know it is pretty intense stuff. However, you
can think of electricity flowing through a circuit like you would
think of water flowing through the plumbing of your house. Voltage
translates into pressure. Current translates into the rate at which
the water flows. A load is something like a sink. The drainage
system provides the return.
Eben Hill wrote in message ...
> Is there any danger in hooking up one regulator to two sets of track with two
> of the wires that clip to the track. I tried it out and I know that it works
> but wasn't sure if this was a "legal" thing to do or am I going to end up
> blowing up the system? How many clips can you attach to the regulator before
> the resistance start to slow down the trains? (physics wasn't my thing) Can
> you attach anything else like motors (non train ones) to the regulator? I just
> don't want to repeat anyone's bad experiments.
>
> thanks
>
> -eben
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | 1 speed regulator 2 trains and tracks
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| Is there any danger in hooking up one regulator to two sets of track with two of the wires that clip to the track. I tried it out and I know that it works but wasn't sure if this was a "legal" thing to do or am I going to end up blowing up the (...) (25 years ago, 2-Dec-98, to lugnet.trains)
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