I kind of want to get a car wash vacuum for my collection.

[amtraksebo1997]

Blackheart

I see. In that case, getting it up to my room is going to be a challenge. Maybe I could use a dolly or something to get it up the stairs. Idk.

 

[huskyvacs]

I've seen them come up for sale many times, but no way to pick them up. Usually people want a fortune for half a piece of scrap they had sitting around for decades.

They are 240V which can run on your dryer outlet or service line. There are many different brands and models. There are ones with coin op mechanisms and digital timers which might use more power.

 

[amtraksebo1997]

Huskyvacs

I'm not sure what you mean by "no way for them to be picked up". Why would they be selling them if they couldn't be claimed at all? Also, I've seen them for around 200+ used on FB Marketplace, which I think is a pretty good deal considering what they go for brand new.

240v does make sense for those machines, as I'm pretty sure that's the rating for MD Silentmasters, which use two motors. Then again, Blackhart's has two motors, and apparently it runs off of 120v, so IDK. I'm no electrician, so I couldn't tell you how any of that makes sense.

 

[tolivac]

Incorrect about running 25hp from 120/240v single phase house current-the current draw is too high. Remember those motors were made to run from commercial 3 ph power. Another alternative is to buy a surplus 3 ph gas or diesel gen set and run the motor from that.

 

[amtraksebo1997]

Tolivac

At this point why don't I just buy myself an SD40-2 to power the darn thing?

 

[centralvacs1928]

I figured you already had a couple of those around.

Can you connect a 240 or 480 volt 3 phase AC load directly to that?

Sorry, not a train expert. My HOA here would frown upon me having anything like that.

 

[amtraksebo1997]

Centralvacs1928

I totally have plenty of them. I'm basically Larry's Truck and ELectric over here. BY backyard's just full of them. It's a shame your HOA has no taste in backyard decor. Yep. Not having locomotives is the least of my problems. Here's an actual photo of my backyard for reference.