9V controlled by IR, how to/what do I need?

[CopMike]

Hi guys!

I need help from you with a setup I´m trying to get working.

I´d like to be able to use some IR device to control the on/off function on a train. I´d like it to have the senser between the battery and motor (of course - d´oh ), but on a modified electric cable like this - . I want to cut away one of the contacts, hook it up directly to the battery and have the sensor in between the battery/remaining contact.

So what do LEGO have to offer for good stuff? Or do I need to go to ordinary model railway shops?

Sorry for the newbie question, but I tried to find an answer through the index without succes .

CopMike

[SavaTheAggie]

I don't know alot about electronics, so cutting wires, etc. is just not I can help you with. I can tell you it won't work, to the best of my knowledge, because the IR controller REQUIRES a specific signal be sent through it, along with the power from the PF battery, to allow it to operate. So hooking an IR receiver to a 9v LEGO power source or directly to the battery simply will not work.

However, I can give you a pure 100% unaltered LEGO solution for controlling a 9v metal rail train with the IR Power Functions equipment. It's a little convoluted but so long as you can hide the wires in a building or under your train table you'll be peachy.

The original 9v train equipment uses a 9v regulator, including a wall wart and an electrical track hookup. The Regulator takes electrical power from the wall and transfers it to the rails, powering the 9v motors.

The PF batteries only put out 7.4 volts so they're probably not enough to run 9v motors through metal rails efficiently or with the same amount of power.

However, with a little trickery, in theory, you should be able to remote operate your 9v trains

Here is the setup:

1. The Wall Wart plugs into the wall and into a 9v train Regulator set to full speed.

2. The 9v train regulator is attached to a 9v/PF adapter wire (available from S@H).

3. The 9v/PF adapter wire is attached to an empty PF Battery box. This will add the necessary signal in the electrical current to allow the PF IR receiver to function.

4. The empty PF Battery Box is attached to an PF IR Receiver.

5. The PF IR Receiver is attached to a second 9v/PF adapter wire. If you had two loops you could use a third 9v/PF adapter and attach it to the other IR plug on the Receiver.

6. The second 9v/PF adapter wire is attached to the 9v track hookup.

7. The 9v track hookup is attached to your metal rails.

8. Install the 9v receiver in a building easily seen from the majority of your layout, or at least from an angle from which you usually operate your trains.

9. Use the new PF train remote to operate your trains speed from where ever you wish.

The added bonus here is that because the IR Receiver is hard mounted to the layout and not the train, things such as tunnels and tall buildings are no longer an issue.

I've not actually tried this, but in theory it should work just fine.

--Tony

[CopMike]

Thanks for your answer Sava ! I´ll see if I can do that. Just need to read through your answer again, again & again !!!

CopMike

[Buttons]

Hi,

I am not entirley sure if I am barking up the right tree here but I think this may help

[SavaTheAggie]

Forgive me, I was wrong. You can cut the wire and attach it directly to the battery, but not THAT wire. You'll have to cut a PF wire. Apparently the old 9v system uses only two wires, and it sends the power through those two wires. The PF motors run off power that is sent through those two wires, so when you hook up one to the other - it works.

However, it seems the IR receiver uses the other two wires on the PF cord to operate, which is why you need the empty battery box between the 9v regulator and the receiver in order for it to work - it simply makes contact between the one pair of wires and the other.

How you'd do it, though, is still beyond my expertise.

--Tony

[fred67]

This is a complete edit...

I see what Tony is saying now, and the theory is right. Brick Journal Volume 2, Issue 7 (September/October 2009) has an article by Rob Hendrix of lifelites.com fame, on adapting the 8866 Extension Wire.

That wire would allow you to operate 9V motors using PF battery boxes and the IR receiver, and that solves half the problem.

The conversion of that wire allows a standard PF extension wire to run from a 9V source to power a PF device. That should solve the other half.

So it goes:

1. Tradition 9V speed regulator, to

2. The converter, to

3. A PF extension wire, to

4. The IR Receiver, to

5. An unmodified 8866 extension wire, to

6. The train contacts wire, to

7. The rail.

Edited March 18, 2010 by fred67

[fred67]

Wait... I reread the OP and now I'm confused.

You're using the battery. You're using a 9V motor? Which 9V motor and which battery? There's the old 9V motor (the one that usually gets powered by the rails) and the new one that doesn't.

Basically, to avoid confusion, the motors are: 9V (the traditional rail powered one), RC (the one that LOOKS similar to the 9V one, runs on 9V, but boy, it aint 9V), and PF.

Are you trying to hook a square 9V battery to power either the 9V or RC motor and want to do it through the IR Receiver so you can control it remotely?

Or are you trying to hook up an older 9V battery pack (typically a four wide box with 6AA batteries) to either one of these motors and want the IR Receiver between them?