decoders and amps drawn

Hi, welcome to the forum.

I actually measured this a few years back. The Hornby Merchant Navy Class model draws 0.15 amp when rolling by itself and 0.35 amp when held stationary at the buffers. Probably over an amp if completely stalled.

The Hornby decoder has a cut-off so it shouldn't burn out if stalled. The blurb on the Hornby decoder says that it has 500mA continuous motor output current. The functions are 100mA each. It has 1 A maximum current carrying capacity of the decoder in sum (motor and functions).

So there is quite a bit of room for manoeuvre if all goes well.

QUOTE (lankyandy @ 23 Apr 2008, 23:17) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>what amps do the motors normally draw? ie do i have spare out put for ligths without having the decoder cut power al the time. thanks for any help

Most modern motors (except some Heljan) draw less than half an amp when running, so you should be OK.

Welcome to the forum.

thanks for the help. i presumed it would be fine but it always good to get it confirmed

Hornby used to include a current rating against every loco in their catalogue. Mind you, it's been a few years since I actually bought one of their catalogues! Probably when they were still called Triang-Hornby...
If they don't still do it, perhaps they should reconsider as this is now something that more people than ever will concern themselves with.