I'm working on getting back to my trains (again) and decided to start with cleaning the rails, So I got the Tomix cleaning car I bought about a year or so out, and it keeps shutting down after a short run. After being with out power a bit it will re start and does the same. So I'm suspecting there's some kind on thermal shutdown happening. It did not do this when I first got it, but I was using a NCE Powercab (sold it basically because I didn't like the design) then, and now have switched back to my Atlas Commander with matched power supply. If memory serves, (yeah sure, stop laughing) the Commander puts out a bit higher voltage them most systems. Just wondering if anybody else has had this issue? i do not have a decoder in the cleaning car, seems to work fine with out one (well it use to) I suspect it has a rectifier bridge in it since it always runs the right way and not effected be changed direction or speed to loco 0 on the command station. ok, that my dum question for now..
Have you tried running it on analog DC to see if it repeats the problem? These things were designed for DC operation.
Mine has done that for years. First thing to do is make sure that the metal contacts from the wheels are in the right position and they are supplying power to the motor. I have thought about installing a 9V battery to the top of the car, so that I don't have to worry about the electrical pick up problem. Another thing I have found is that the black spinning vacuum part is in the metal case so tight that sometimes the motor will not be able to spin it and I will have to remove the part and put it back in, I probably should try to file off some of the part so that it can spin freely.
Nope, but I should try that. I don't have a train DC power supply, but I could do something with one of my ham radio power supplies. The more I think about it, I'm suspecting it's the higher voltage of the Commander, I found a schematic on Atlas' website to lower the track voltage, so I'll give that a go..
I'm running one of these in DC - same problem in the past, with a little rest allowing it to come back to life. As of last Sunday, it's failed to come back this time though. Donald Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk
Sorry to hear that.. At this point I think I'm going to open mine up and see what it has for electronics, if any, inside, and maybe add a voltage regulator (7812) to protect it..
Just finished reassembling the Tomix cleaning car.. As I suspected, it has a full wave bridge rectifier in it which is allowing it to run on DCC tracks using the full track voltage. And there is thermal protection in the for of a reset-able polly fuse. but construction is so tight there's no easy way to install a voltage regulator, except maybe put it in the dust bin. as for mr magnolia's dead Tomix car, the poly switch probably gave up completely and need to be replaced, it's a LP60 025
I finally got around to working on the Tomix car again today, by chance, I had a left over 250ma PolyFuse left over from an unrelated project some time ago, so I replaced the one in the cleaning car and gave the track a good cleaning. No unexpected shut offs what so ever. While I had the car apart it put my amp meter on the motor, with no load it draws about 100ma, and goes up to 200ma when I held my finger against the shaft a bit. My guess is the combined normal load and the higher voltage it was at before adding the bridge rectifiers to get the track voltage down caused the first few shut offs, then the polyfuse got weaker and easier to trip, they are apparently known to do that after repeated tripping, just like a breaker in your home. So I hope this helps anybody that has this problem too. As for me, I'm going to go order some spare polyfuses later.
I have had the Tomix track cleaning car for several years and immediately installed a decoder. When I first got it, it ran fine. Now I am experiencing the same problems as mentioned above. Zug - could you please be a little more specific about what electronic parts are needed to upgrade the car? Digikey part numbers would be ideal. Thanks, John
The part I replaced is called a polyswitch fuse. Looks like an epoxy covered ceramic disc capacitor. it's rated for 250mA. The photo is of the one that cam out of my Tomix car. If you already have a decoder I think you'd be ok just by passing it and not bother replacing it. this seems to be the closest to it I can find on DigiKey https://www.digikey.ca/short/3hwdbf in full disclosure, the one I put in mine did not come from DigiKey, it was part of a bulk order I made wholesale from overseas. I've got ten coming so I spares for the future. I've been using them in small electroinc projects for a bit of added safety. But the one I gave the link to should be ok, it's the trip current that matters and that it's rated to handle a volt greats then with will be going though it.
