[PRCo]

[Fred Schneider]

HERE ARE TWO POSTS.  THE INTRODUCTIONS ARE IN CAPS, THE POSTS ARE IN  
UPPER/LOWER.   THE FIRST BORIS HAS ALREADY SEEN BECAUSE THE  
ORIGINATOR FORWARDED IT TO BORIS AS WELL.  IT PERTAINS TO THE ISSUE  
OF MG & BATTERY CAPACITY ON THE REBUILT PCCS IN PITTSBURGH.

THE FIRST IS FROM RUSS JACKSON, THE ENGINEER WHO DESIGNED THE  
KAWASAKI CARS AND N5 CARS FOR SEPTA.   RUSS HAS HAD A LONG CAREER IN  
THE INDUSTRY.

All - Boris is (of course) correct.  The lighting load is not
insignificant, but under normal conditions should be within the MG's
capacity.  The only time that the MG capacity might be exceeded is when
you apply full track brake.  When that occurs, then the battery will
come into play and pick up part of the load.  If you were to lose the
MG, then a full track brake application might be a bit weaker than with
the MG running.  On the Kawasaki cars, they run routine checks of the
battery by turning off the MA (now a converter) and apply the track
brake.  (only one step - full) Then you measure the voltage over time
to get an idea of how much battery capacity is remaining.  Even though
a battery has not failed, the capacity decreases over the years.  Don't
know what the original problem description was, but would appear
there's not a lot of understanding going on.

cheers,  Russ

Are you suggesting, Boris, that the MG or MA set did not have a
charging rate sufficient to cover the car's full load when in
operation at night with all lights turned on?   That perhaps they
simply used the original MG and superimposed all the additional load
on the battery?

THE SECOND POST COMES FROM DAVE HAMLEY OF PITTSBURGH, WHO WORKED FOR  
WESTINGHOUSE AND STILL WORKS FOR THEIR SUCCESSOR, BOMBARDIER.

I personally have no detailed knowledge of the 4000s electrical  
secrets.  I'll cc Jeff King, who may have some idea.

I have been told that no two 4000s were alike, so there may be  
multiple answers to your question.

Worse comes to it, we could examine 4004 to at least know what was  
going on late in the game.