Train heating trip EU7

[sf_giants15]

On my last run with the EU7 I turned on the Train heating and cab heating,

But after some time the main CB tripped because of transformer/heater overload. (4 times on a 2h trip)
before that the voltage kind of went up and down for a short time.

So why is it tripping and how do I prevent this?

[Atoka220]

Frosty overhead wires

When the wires turn white, your pantograph will spark and the voltage will jump around cause of the imperfect connection to the wire. Heating can't handle it and WILL pop your breaker open

Also fun fact. The bigger load you put on the frosty wires, the bigger the sparks will be. And heating does contribute a lot to it until your breaker pops
So whenever i see white wires above me, i instantly turn off heating in panic mode (lol)

[Gazz292]

it seems that the variable overhead line voltage feature has been enabled in SimRail with the latest update. 

Some people have reported seeing the line voltage meter's needle moving as low as 1.5Kv (normal is just over 3Kv) 
And as the voltage drops the current drawn will rise, so if you don't catch it in time and 'load shed' you will trip the breaker.

When i had this happen to me, it was the sound of the converter winding down that alerted me to the fact i'd tripped out, as i was cruising along and not accelerating so didn't expect the trip. 

*no transformer in these loco's, as they run on 3Kv DC from the overhead line, so use a 'converter' or motor generator to produce the 110 volts DC for the low voltage circuits like the controls etc.*

[Atoka220]

No, if the voltage drops, current drops too but it overloads the system as the loco is trying to pull all the needed current but the low voltage can't force it through the resistance anymore. So the low voltage protection tips it open. Ohm's law

But on the bright side it helped me maintain precise 50km/h with the swaying motor currents lol

[Fightdrug]

well that explain much 😮 interesting stuff

[Schyrsivochter]

14 hours ago, Atoka220 said:

No, if the voltage drops, current drops too but it overloads the system as the loco is trying to pull all the needed current but the low voltage can't force it through the resistance anymore. So the low voltage protection tips it open. Ohm's law

In what way does a combination of lower voltage and lower current – with an Ohmic resistive load – ‘overload’ the system?

I think what actually happens is that the carriages have electronic converters on board so that they can charge their batteries and run their heating, AC, and other electrical systems at a variety of voltages and AC frequencies. So they have a target heating power, and if the train supply line voltage drops, they’ll respond by simply pulling more current (i.e. decreasing their apparent resistance). Maybe the EP07/EP08 is simply not built for train supply current draw higher than, I dunno, 100 A or 200 A or something …

[noirceur]

On 11/25/2023 at 8:17 PM, Atoka220 said:

So whenever i see white wires above me, i instantly turn off heating in panic mode (lol)

If you don't have enough voltage for your usual level of power alongside heating, it's probably better idea to just use less power, than freezing your passengers.