Using 12v motor on 9v track... by using a 9v motor.

[RoTrainLover]

I don't have any images, since I don't have 9V track at the moment, but I thought of a possible way to make the 12V system compatible with 9V track. I got inspired by an Alex Nunes video talking about using copper tape to link a 9V power connector to the track. Basically, my design requires cutting the 12V power connectors, stripping the insulation of the wires and wrapping copper tape around the stripped part, then folding it around the track. This creates an active connection between the transformer and the track. I've also seen a similar design at a Lego convention in Cluj-Napoca (shoutout to you, if you are that guy), only that the person who owned the layout perma-soldered the wires directly onto the track. Again, this is purely theoretical and I doubt this will ever actually become common, due to the risk of frying the motors, but I wanted to express a cool idea for a system.

Edit: what the hell is going on I post this on another thread and now it's here. Bruh.

Edited January 22, 2024 by RoTrainLover

[RoTrainLover]

This will require use the 12v transformer, using my method from another post, but I decided to post a way to run a 12v locomotive (red and black) on 9v track. This is also a way to repurpose old/damaged/worn out 9v motors. It's as easy as removing the motor from the 9v chassis and soldering a positive and negative wire to the 9v's contacts and the 12v's contacts. So easy, even I did it!, though I don't have any 9v track or copper tape at the moment so 🤦. Idea by Almighty W. I. P. on YouTube.

Edited January 19, 2024 by RoTrainLover

[JopieK]

Thank you for joining EB and welcome to Train Tech. It is basically the same idea so I merged the two topics. The 9V montor picks up the power via the wheels. The 12V motor has those 'springed' pickups that connect in a flexible way to the additional middle track of course. See here a possible way to do it:

 

 

[CaL]

I went a different way and connected my 7740 12V-train motor to a Buwizz. The Buwizz can supply up to 12 V ;) Works perfect and no extra power pick-up car is necessary.

[zephyr1934]

Of course the transition from 12v to 9v in the early 1990's was meant to have some continuity. You could use the 12v power rails on 9v track as long as you didn't have any switches and the form factor of the 9v motor mostly matches the 12v so that you can simply swap out the motors (but at the loss of a third wheel and rods). So the "purist" solution would simply be put a 9v motor in place of the 12v motor.

[FGMatt]

2 hours ago, zephyr1934 said:

Of course the transition from 12v to 9v in the early 1990's was meant to have some continuity. You could use the 12v power rails on 9v track as long as you didn't have any switches and the form factor of the 9v motor mostly matches the 12v so that you can simply swap out the motors (but at the loss of a third wheel and rods). So the "purist" solution would simply be put a 9v motor in place of the 12v motor.

I don't think the 12V third rails fit on 9V curves.

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

17 hours ago, CaL said:

I went a different way and connected my 7740 12V-train motor to a Buwizz. The Buwizz can supply up to 12 V ;) Works perfect and no extra power pick-up car is necessary.

Wow this is an idea that I had never thought about!

I just have one question: do you have to contract the connectors under the motor to prevent them from interfering with the tracks?

[zephyr1934]

On 1/20/2024 at 2:01 PM, FGMatt said:

I don't think the 12V third rails fit on 9V curves.

I'm pretty sure the geometry of the 9v system was designed to be as backward compatible as possible. I don't have any of the 12 power rails, but I know that the curved power rails only have a few stops on the underside. Still, the switches of one form are completely incompatible with the trains of the other form. So you if they are compatible, you could only build fully compatible layouts without switches.

[RoTrainLover]

On 1/19/2024 at 7:59 PM, JopieK said:

Thank you for joining EB and welcome to Train Tech. It is basically the same idea so I merged the two topics. The 9V montor picks up the power via the wheels. The 12V motor has those 'springed' pickups that connect in a flexible way to the additional middle track of course. See here a possible way to do it:

 

 

Lmao for some reason the first one spawned here and I have no idea why. This was a completely different post I made.

2 hours ago, zephyr1934 said:

I'm pretty sure the geometry of the 9v system was designed to be as backward compatible as possible. I don't have any of the 12 power rails, but I know that the curved power rails only have a few stops on the underside. Still, the switches of one form are completely incompatible with the trains of the other form. So you if they are compatible, you could only build fully compatible layouts without switches.

Dude, I literally said nothing about the 12v third rail. I thought of a way to link the 12v power cables directly to the 9v track, without the power rail.