Thanks for all your replies. I am going to start filming this very soon, just a bit of research to do first, promises to be a very interesting investigation. Stay tuned, Mike
Definitely Mike! I use a variety of H&M controllers with my modern as well as older units and locomotives (with subtle modifications) and they work great. I use a 1957 H&M Powermaster to control most of my trains as well (with a filter of course). I changed the mains lead to a modern PVC one as most of these came with VIR and cotton covered cables from new and have perished over time. These H&M controllers have become very popular in recent times and have become fairly pricey. A lot are being used in an unsafe condition unfortunately too.
@@ModelRailwaysUnlimited Indeed it was. I believe H&M made the powermaster first and then made a cheaper version in the form of the Safety Minor. 10,000 Powermasters were produced in the first year of production. Spent many hours replacing selenium rectifiers in these as well as old wax paper capacitors used for the interference suppression.
That's a yes, Mike. I've a couple of H&M controllers, and I knew nothing about them not working with coreless motors. BUT!, it would have to be very simple for me to understand!!, Lawrence
@ModelRailwaysUnlimited Mike, my eldest brother, is an electrician or was. He started off in the Navy on HMS Ark Royal and, after working for the IBA, ended up converting power stations from analogue to digital. As soon as he starts talking, I'm lost, just like the two earwigs in the cartoon, Antz!!
hello Mike. great video, for what i need i have two old Triang controllers that do the job,back in 63 i had a hornby dublo controller with a chrome handle on it. running the hornby railroad 08 today, great slow speed control,
I have 1 Hornby 2 HM 1 has 2 switch the other is the add on using the 2 pegs in the side every time I use the model railway I always prefer the HM nice to touch positive feel Runs old and new stock perfect got to be at lest 45 to 50 years old
Oh yes please Mike! Question though if you will, please. I have Duettes, and I believe they use a rheostat, not variable transformer - is that correct? If so your recap project probably has no relevance to me directly, but I would be most interested anyway.
Open her up! I still have an old Clipper that sees some use and apparently they're like a 1950s physics lesson inside. Mine continues to work well but we keep hearing frighteners about the dangers of using old controllers like these . . . not sure if I should still be using a 48 year-old unit but don't want to retire it just yet.
Yes please Mike . Although electronics is a great mystery to me , I would like to try and understand any differences between my old Duettes and the Safety Minor . Yours , Paddy Owen .
I’d be up for seeing such comparisons; I for one love H&M Duettes (if I did analogue, I’d use them!) and the like but there seems to be a niche belief that they’re not good anymore.. seem to serve my local shop and it’s customers very well?
Great video, yes it would be good to see anything by H&M I run my 3 rail with a Duette controller, I've also got a Clipper, how would these behave on modern on more modern locos? Love for all this to be explained, thanks John
Hi Mike, yes please would love to see that, I’ve got a Duette and 2 Clippers, one of which buzzes like a bee, and TBH I’ve been scared off using them on anything other than very old Triang locos by all that I’ve read online. I’d like to understand the potential issues much better.
I would like to see this, I remember seeing that type of voltage output transformer before that you mention,but I can't for the life of me remember what it was inside of.I wonder if the Duette works the same way ( my local club has one) & it works perfectly okay.
I think the ayes have it. Last time I tried a Duette, I cracked the throttle only to see a djh tank fly off a test track on to concrete floor. I've no idea why. I dont trust it anymore and shelved my other one. Went Morley then Gaugemaster. I love Gaugemaster but I love the look of the old H&M controllers. Would love to know the difference between the Duette,/Clipper and the Safety Minor.
I would be very interested; all my stock is Tri-ang and Hornby/Mainline. I have a Duette controller (which needs looking at) Basically a big yes please for this video
This isn't quite my cup of tea, but the choice is yours. There is just one slight drawback, in that something might go wrong, yet it's up to you. I'm hoping one of the controllers won't blow up on you. I'm more for playing with trains. It's good to be different.
Yes, half wave rectification is damaging for modern motors and in fact was not great for the good old XO3/4, it causes lots of heat and vibration. What it does is change the ripple current to 50hz instead of the 100hz full wave induces. There's a detailed explanation here: www.prepbytes.com/blog/digital-electronics/half-wave-rectifier-and-working/#:~:text=Disadvantages%20of%20Half%20Wave%20Rectifier,-The%20half%20wave&text=Low%20Efficiency%3A%20The%20half%20wave,rather%20a%20pulsating%20DC%20voltage.
@@ModelRailwaysUnlimited Thanks. That is a informative article. It'll be interesting to see if the safety minor has a capacitor filter circuit in it. I was unaware that half wave circuits are used for LEDs!
Hi Mike i would be very interested in anything to do with modifing H&M controllers as i am a big fan of H&M and have often wondered about what mods could be made.I enjoy all your videos So please Mike bring it on.Regards Rob.
Yes Mike please I have a twin H/M controller but don't use it it would be great to try and understand the electronics side of it cheers Patrick Quinn IRL
Thanks for all your replies. I am going to start filming this very soon, just a bit of research to do first, promises to be a very interesting investigation. Stay tuned, Mike
Id be absolutely fascinated to see and learn more! Yes please!
Brilliant thanks
Very much so!
I'm on it 💪😀
Yes Mike. I certainly would be interested.
Coming soon 😄
Yes please! I would like to see what you do with these. Brings back some memories for sure.
You got it!
Yes, please!
It's up
Definitely Mike! I use a variety of H&M controllers with my modern as well as older units and locomotives (with subtle modifications) and they work great. I use a 1957 H&M Powermaster to control most of my trains as well (with a filter of course). I changed the mains lead to a modern PVC one as most of these came with VIR and cotton covered cables from new and have perished over time. These H&M controllers have become very popular in recent times and have become fairly pricey. A lot are being used in an unsafe condition unfortunately too.
More to come! thanks
Is that the one with a slider for variable rectification?
@@ModelRailwaysUnlimited Yes, there were a few versions, with and without. I have owned all of them at some point. Never used the slider though.
Pleased to say that yours is a variable transformer just like my Safety Minor, in fact I'd guess it was the forerunner
@@ModelRailwaysUnlimited Indeed it was. I believe H&M made the powermaster first and then made a cheaper version in the form of the Safety Minor. 10,000 Powermasters were produced in the first year of production. Spent many hours replacing selenium rectifiers in these as well as old wax paper capacitors used for the interference suppression.
I would be interested in seeing this, I think it would be fascinating. All the best to you
Oh thanks very much
Wonderful work Mike I love it 0:53
Thanks
@@ModelRailwaysUnlimited You're welcome
Yes please Mike. I still use the same controller as well.
Excellent 👍
yes I would be interested as i have a lot of old locos and same style of controllers to eventually get up and running
Won't be long
Sure thing Mike sounds very interesting.
Thanks coming soon
Absolutely. Document everything or lose the knowledge!
Coming soon
Yes! That sounds really interesting.
I think so too!
Absolutely!!!!!
Coming soon
I had one very similar in the early 70s but the Clipper. I'm not sure if I still have it boxed upstairs somewhere or not.
Be interesting
As these things are usually riveted together, yes I'd love a peek.
Coming soon
I’d really like to hear about and see this 👍🏻
On it's way
Would definitely be interest Mike🙂
More to come! thanks
Potentially another really interesting video there Mike!
Look forward to the 'feature-length' version! 🙂
More to come! thanks
Yes please!
You got it
That's a yes, Mike. I've a couple of H&M controllers, and I knew nothing about them not working with coreless motors. BUT!, it would have to be very simple for me to understand!!, Lawrence
I'll do my best, it's quite basic
@ModelRailwaysUnlimited Mike, my eldest brother, is an electrician or was. He started off in the Navy on HMS Ark Royal and, after working for the IBA, ended up converting power stations from analogue to digital. As soon as he starts talking, I'm lost, just like the two earwigs in the cartoon, Antz!!
Haha lol but wow what a place to start
Yes please Mike
Will do
Yes please
Coming soon
hello Mike. great video, for what i need i have two old Triang controllers that do the job,back in 63 i had a hornby dublo controller with a chrome handle on it. running the hornby railroad 08 today, great slow speed control,
Sounds great!
I have 1 Hornby 2 HM 1 has 2 switch the other is the add on using the 2 pegs in the side every time I use the model railway I always prefer the HM nice to touch positive feel
Runs old and new stock perfect got to be at lest 45 to 50 years old
Lovely stuff
Oh yes please Mike! Question though if you will, please. I have Duettes, and I believe they use a rheostat, not variable transformer - is that correct? If so your recap project probably has no relevance to me directly, but I would be most interested anyway.
You are correct however there will be lots of common points made
Yes Please Mike , and could you modify my H&M Clipper ?
Thanks, won't be long
Open her up! I still have an old Clipper that sees some use and apparently they're like a 1950s physics lesson inside. Mine continues to work well but we keep hearing frighteners about the dangers of using old controllers like these . . . not sure if I should still be using a 48 year-old unit but don't want to retire it just yet.
I'll explain all I know
Yes please Mike . Although electronics is a great mystery to me , I would like to try and understand any differences between my old Duettes and the Safety Minor . Yours , Paddy Owen .
Cheers Paddy
Me too please. I have three redundant Duettes now that I've changed over Gaugemaster controllers.....
Coming soon
I’d be up for seeing such comparisons; I for one love H&M Duettes (if I did analogue, I’d use them!) and the like but there seems to be a niche belief that they’re not good anymore.. seem to serve my local shop and it’s customers very well?
They are fine with care, coming soon
Great video, yes it would be good to see anything by H&M I run my 3 rail with a Duette controller, I've also got a Clipper, how would these behave on modern on more modern locos? Love for all this to be explained, thanks John
Cheers John, yours are variable resistance controllers, if you stay away from half wave and use high resistance they should be fine on new motors
Yes please Mike, I use the clippers. Carl.
Coming soon
Hi Mike, yes please would love to see that, I’ve got a Duette and 2 Clippers, one of which buzzes like a bee, and TBH I’ve been scared off using them on anything other than very old Triang locos by all that I’ve read online. I’d like to understand the potential issues much better.
I'll keep that in mind, but I can say on high resistance they are safer than any of the dreadful Hornby trainset controllers
I would like to see this, I remember seeing that type of voltage output transformer before that you mention,but I can't for the life of me remember what it was inside of.I wonder if the Duette works the same way ( my local club has one) & it works perfectly okay.
Thanks, Duettet is resistance mat but otherwise the same
I think the ayes have it. Last time I tried a Duette, I cracked the throttle only to see a djh tank fly off a test track on to concrete floor. I've no idea why. I dont trust it anymore and shelved my other one. Went Morley then Gaugemaster. I love Gaugemaster but I love the look of the old H&M controllers. Would love to know the difference between the Duette,/Clipper and the Safety Minor.
Thanks, Safety Minor uses a variable transformer to change the voltage while the others use a wirewound resistance to do it.
I would be very interested; all my stock is Tri-ang and Hornby/Mainline. I have a Duette controller (which needs looking at) Basically a big yes please for this video
Coming soon
This isn't quite my cup of tea, but the choice is yours. There is just one slight drawback, in that something might go wrong, yet it's up to you. I'm hoping one of the controllers won't blow up on you. I'm more for playing with trains. It's good to be different.
No worries I'm qualified 🙂
I wondered about your comment that 'half wave is no longer needed", can you clarify, please? Other than that minor point, I'd be very interested.
Yes, half wave rectification is damaging for modern motors and in fact was not great for the good old XO3/4, it causes lots of heat and vibration. What it does is change the ripple current to 50hz instead of the 100hz full wave induces. There's a detailed explanation here: www.prepbytes.com/blog/digital-electronics/half-wave-rectifier-and-working/#:~:text=Disadvantages%20of%20Half%20Wave%20Rectifier,-The%20half%20wave&text=Low%20Efficiency%3A%20The%20half%20wave,rather%20a%20pulsating%20DC%20voltage.
@@ModelRailwaysUnlimited Thanks. That is a informative article. It'll be interesting to see if the safety minor has a capacitor filter circuit in it. I was unaware that half wave circuits are used for LEDs!
Glad it was interesting. There is no filter as built but I'll be suggesting one during the video
Hi Mike i would be very interested in anything to do with modifing H&M controllers as i am a big fan of H&M and have often wondered about what mods could be made.I enjoy all your videos So please Mike bring it on.Regards Rob.
Thanks coming soon
Yes Mike please I have a twin H/M controller but don't use it it would be great to try and understand the electronics side of it cheers Patrick Quinn IRL
Great thanks
Yes please
Thanks, coming soon