# Few questions about B-Mann's K-27



## paintjockey (Jan 3, 2008)

I got my new K, an I must say it's a beauty. I ran it on track power to test it, all was well, now it's in pieces on my bench. My question is, I assume the fan is necessary for that monster motor. It says it's a 12v DC fan, would it kill it to run it off 14.4 volts? I know a fully charged LiIon 14.4 (14.8) battery is actually close to 17 volts. My next question is, does the fan run all the time? I assume it wouldn't due to the fact that under track power at zero volts it wouldn't have a power source. If this is the case the fan could be connected to the motor leads with no ill effect, correct? i rarely (if ever) run my locos at full throttle so the fan "should" stay near it's proper voltage. My last idea was maybe to just give it it's own battery so when the power switch is on the fan is running. Anyone have any thoughts on this?
Thanks,
Terry


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## TonyWalsham (Jan 2, 2008)

Terry. 
If you are retaining the K-27 socket in the tender, that has a 12 volt regulator that supplies the voltage to the fan. 

Whatever you do, now that it is in bits, turn the fan over to suck air up from the motor and not blow down on it. Otherwise the smoke unit will not work very well. Reversing the fan gives copious quantities of smoke. You will need to replace the screws holding the fan. They will be too long.


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## steam5 (Jun 22, 2008)

Terry this thread may give you some help 

http://www.mylargescale.com/Communi...rumid/34/postid/70608/view/topic/Default.aspx 

You could power the fan with the batteries via a 12V regulator. 

I’m not sure if it is required, but I would like to assume Bachmann put it in there for a reason so it should probably be used.


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## paintjockey (Jan 3, 2008)

Thanks for the replies. 
Tony, I don't retain anything B-mann puts inside the loco, I start with the two motor leads and go from there. I also remove the smoke units. I really don't think they look that good, don't last that long and they eat up precious battery power. With that being said, ya think it would be ok to leave the fan as is and just regulate it off battery power? 

"I’m not sure if it is required, but I would like to assume Bachmann put it in there for a reason so it should probably be used." steam5, this may be the first and only time I agree about keeping something in a B-mann loco  I spent all last night tearing every bit of wiring and every board out of that loco. I think there was 28 feet of wire total. The slide switches and sockets will come in handy for some other projects though. 

Thanks again for the help 
Terry


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## coyote97 (Apr 5, 2009)

Posted By paintjockey on 04/16/2009 10:02 AM
Thanks for the replies. 
Tony, I don't retain anything B-mann puts inside the loco, I start with the two motor leads and go from there. I also remove the smoke units. I really don't think they look that good, don't last that long and they eat up precious battery power. With that being said, ya think it would be ok to leave the fan as is and just regulate it off battery power? 

"I’m not sure if it is required, but I would like to assume Bachmann put it in there for a reason so it should probably be used." steam5, this may be the first and only time I agree about keeping something in a B-mann loco  I spent all last night tearing every bit of wiring and every board out of that loco. I think there was 28 feet of wire total. The slide switches and sockets will come in handy for some other projects though. 

Thanks again for the help 
Terry 


YYYEEESSSSSSS!
I dont know the K27, but when a bachmann loco leaves my table, there is no more one originally wire inside.


to have a fan inside a model-loco reminds me of a real-life story in germany:
a smaller company received new, modern diesels to do hard work on a 2,5 percent grade with 2000 tons trains. the "new and THAT economical" locos should spare much money by not needing so much diesel.
after the tests, the new locos did not need ONE liter of diesel less than the older ones.
they just used smaller engines, running on 120% power the whole time....no use for that.
a motor for a model needing a fan seems to be similar. it appears to be an emergency-construction.


perhaps a motor of a BIT better performance (and 20 Cents more expensive) would have solved the problem, too.


greetings


Frank


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## paintjockey (Jan 3, 2008)

From what I have read the fan is more precautionary than anything. The motor in the K is HUGE, most have said it's a good motor just poor gearing...... 

About the regulator, where would I find one? I looked at a couple of supply sites but couldn't find one. I really don't know what I'm looking for though. 

And for the fan, is it only turned over to help the smoke out?


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## coyote97 (Apr 5, 2009)

when u operate with 12 V (just ask the dealer if 14 is ok, too), a rc-car regulator is very ok.


i have equiped my connie with a graupner-regulator, taking power from a 12 V gel-accu.
to see it running just look on youtube search for "CCRR" (i´m roadrunnerfn).
the 9-minute clip shows the connie at work in a 4 % grade.


Frank


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## TonyWalsham (Jan 2, 2008)

You don't need to turn the fan over if you are not using the smoke unit. 
The stock fan sucks the smoke down to the underneath of the loco. 
Turning the fan over helps the smoke out by blowing air up through the smoke unit.


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## paintjockey (Jan 3, 2008)

Would this work as a 12v regulator to power the fan? 
http://www.batteryspace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=2494


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## jebouck (Jan 2, 2008)

My Bach K was gutted for Batt/RC including the fan. Not a single factory component or wire was left in it.

Has been run for hours and the lack of fan hasn't affected it yet.


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## paintjockey (Jan 3, 2008)

Thanks. I was poking around the net and kinda figured that. Good to hear someone has done it though. 
Terry


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