Power pickups for O Gauge model ??

[RobjUK]

Hi,

I'm trying to find some suitable power pickup wipers or plungers to run inside the wheels on an O gauge loco I'm building.

 

Does anyone know of any suitably large ones? I've found plenty of OO gauge and smaller, but not heavier stuff for this.

I can use phosphor bronze strip if needed, but purpose made ones could be better, with less wheel wear.

 

ps. I did find something in my search that may be useful for making pickups on smaller scales - clamshell style SIM sockets.

They have six or eight individual springy, plated, polished contacts in each and cost about a pound for ten from China on ebay.

(Or a pound each from UK sellers, by the look of it).

 

I may try the contacts from those myself but they seem a bit small for the scale of the bogies.

 

Rob.

 

[Dave Hunt]

Rob,

 

Try Slaters - they do plunger pickups for 7mm locos.

 

Dave

[MarcD]

I use plungers from Premier Components they are slightly bigger than the ones from slaters and have better contact on the back of the wheel. I also make my own wipers from phosphor bronze strip which work well.

 

Marc

[Junctionmad]

in my experience plungers but too much pressure on the rims and in certain cases start to interfere with the sideways movements of the axle 

 

my own solution is phosphor bronze wire , rolled to create a "spring" with a extended arm that rubs on the top of the tyre and not the flange back.  If the loco is sprung or compensated , you need a quite delicate spring effect 

 

The spring section can be threaded onto an insulated rod or soldering to a PCB type carrier

[RobjUK]

Hi all,

 

Thanks for the info and advice.

 

I've got a couple of sets of the Slaters plunger pickups for 7mm scale. They seem to perfect for the job.

The drag is quite low, the centre (floating) axle turns under its own weight without any problem.

 

I've also got some narrow phosphor bronze strip as a backup, in case they do cause any problems after running for a while.

 

Rob.

[hartleymartin]

Depending on the loco, you can use wipers acting directly on the tyres of the wheels, rather than picking up from the backs of the wheels. This is easier with side-tank locos where some of the wheel tops are hidden with the side-tanks.

[hayfield]

On 07/03/2019 at 17:46, RobjUK said:

Hi all,

 

Thanks for the info and advice.

 

I've got a couple of sets of the Slaters plunger pickups for 7mm scale. They seem to perfect for the job.

The drag is quite low, the centre (floating) axle turns under its own weight without any problem.

 

I've also got some narrow phosphor bronze strip as a backup, in case they do cause any problems after running for a while.

 

Rob.

 

 

Rob

 

I find PB wire better than strip, less drag on the wheels. Could never get on with plungers in 4 mm scale, just about to renovate a 7mm kit built loco (Ace Terrier) with Slaters plungers, as I have a Springside 14xx with them and it runs beautifully 

[JeremyC]

If using Slaters plunger pick ups this info sheet from Connoisseur Models is useful

http://www.jimmcgeown.com/print off pickups hints & tips sheet pdf.pdf

Personally  I don't really like Slater's plungers because fitting the wiring tag nuts is difficult (if not almost impossible in some cases) and the stiffness of the connecting wires can affect their working. The best plungers I've seen were ones I saw fitted to RTR 0 gauge loco some years ago where there was a piece of PCB attached to the frames onto which was soldered a phosphor bronze wire spring which pressed on the plunger. The motor wires were attached to the PCB pad so they didn't affect the spring action.

Edited April 25, 2019 by JeremyC