IP Jack improvement trials

[Pendo Pilot]

As I was saying in my line thread my IP jack whilst a good solid loco has always been a tad on the underpowered side. It's max on my line is about 4 wagons (accy W&L). Now this is not good enough so the Motive Power dept has begun trials on the loco.

The loco is fitted with an old RCS remote system that is no longer in production. Although the devices are still sold by another company as remote control for driveway gates & similar. By doing a bit of research it seems the units will take up to 12volts. The standard IP power pack is 6 AA cells which at 1.2v each = 7.2volts. This voltage powers the remote control, lights & motor. I felt it needed pepping up a bit. After speaking to Ivan at IP ages ago regarding issues with my Jessie he did say the motors supplied will also take up to 12volts. So trials have been started using parts sourced from my RC helicopters. Adjusting the power terminals means I have been able to use a 11.1volt Li-poly 3 cell battery rated at 1800Mah. On trail light engine the loco suddenly came alive & felt so much better, even the range of the RC had increased. Last night on load trails however it lost traction & a grinding noise was heard. Today have stripped motor out & the cause is indeed the worm gear on the motor. Refitted it today & with glue to hold it in place it was reassembled. More trials & it performed great for a lap of the line. Then the same thing happened, slipped worm gear. Being a friction fit worm gear is something that is just not up for the power. Plus the metal gearbox will not allow a grub screw worm gear to be fitted...So if this test is to continue I will need a new gearbox assembly.....Will be looking out for ideas on this one... Or I'm just going to wang a roundhouse Cricceth castle chassis under it!


Li-Po battery cell. Have not managed to test duration of this in the loco yet due to failure. In an RC helicopter it only lasts around 30 minutes. But that is with a lot of current demand running the rotors at very high RPM through a very tuned motor. Wonder what the duration will be with a crude electric motor as found in a Jack?

Worm gear in centre of gearbox showing no space to use a grub screw worm gear.

[spooner]

You could make gear box like Tony Bird dose[with maccano gears?].

[Tony Bird]

Hi,

You could make gear box like Tony Bird dose[with maccano gears?].

The plastic gears I use come from Maplins, Hobby, Squires they are very inexpensive but last very well and with an open gear box any wear can easily be seen so they are easy to replace.
Regards Tony.

[Busted Bricks]

Do you have a LVC (Low Voltage Cutoff) on the controller? If not you run the risk of draining the LiPo cells too much which will ruin them. Normally a LVC will cut the power to the motor when the voltage per cell reaches 2.9V under load.

[Pendo Pilot]

Do you have a LVC (Low Voltage Cutoff) on the controller? If not you run the risk of draining the LiPo cells too much which will ruin them. Normally a LVC will cut the power to the motor when the voltage per cell reaches 2.9V under load.

No LVC on the controller as far as I am aware, then again it was the same setup on my T-REX helicopter that the Li-Po used to power. Just used to fly that until the motor could not put out enough RPM to turn the rotors. The battery hasnt actually been used for 5 years either...About the same time that I totalled my T-rex trying to 3D it... Stuck to the Nitro powered one after that...Now the engine out of that may well feature in another diesel electric loco if I can find a generator small enough with a good output.