DCC current needed for Lionel/American Flyer S Gauge Legacy Locomotives

[Laurastom]

Congratulations! It always feels good when the new system is working. I hope you enjoy doing the conversion to Kadee couplers.

[Hud464]

I made the move to DCC.  For now, I am running the AF Legacy Pacific on 2 amps.  There seems to be plenty of power.  I purchased the Digitrax Zephr Express to get started and find out if I wanted to stay with DCC.  It has all of the functions of the Legacy system, and now allows me to grow the layout with other brands.   Now for the Kadee Conversions.   thank you to those who replied.   

[Hud464]

Thanks for your reply.

 

 

[Laurastom]

The S gauge Legacy engines run well on FasTrack. If you have time take a look at some of Check Kemper's YouTube videos. His S gauge layout is FasTrack and he operates with DCC.

[Hud464]

Thank you for the information.   Currently, I am running the Legacy Pacific.  When I started this transition from Legacy O gauge to S gauge, I did not think I would have all the questions that I have had so far.   It is truly a different animal to me, but I made a significant investment in s Fastrack, so I am trying to stick with it.   Thank you for answering my questions.   

[Laurastom]

To be more accurate, the S gauge Legacy engines made after 2013 are DCC "compatible." They do not have DCC decoders as a true DCC engine has. Lionel included a detector and translator to feed the track commands to the Legacy system in the engine.

As to power requirements, a 2A supply should run one engine, depending on which engine it is. Most of my Legacy engines draw a little less than 2A at 15V track voltage. Some, such as the BigBoy, Challenger and Y3 draw a little over 2A with a load on a 2% grade. The BigBoy and Challenger of course are not DCC compatible but the Y3's are. The latest Y3's also have two smoke units. If you want to reliably run two engines with some illuminated cars I would not use less than a 5A supply.

[Hud464]

Will a two amp DCC system produce enough current to operate S Gauge Legacy DCC equipped locomotives?   I plan to run no more than two locos at a time.  Thanks!