I am getting ready to build a layout after about 20 years of inactivity in the hobby. I am looking at going DCC. I understand the basics, but I have one question that I have not been able to get an accurate answer for from my LHS.
If you start out with a 5 amp booster/ controller initially, & decide to add another booster of say 5 amps, do they need to be isolated from each other and feed different parts of the layout, or do they just get hooked up in parallel and feed the entire layout combined? If the parallel hook up is the case, does that then increase the capacity of the system to 10 amps?
They should be completely isolated from each other in regards to track power.
Essentially, the booster is acting as repeater for the DCC "brain" for DCC commands while also acting as a source for more power. If you have a layout with only the brain and you want to add a booster, you must cut & insulate the track and DCC power bus at some point, probably around the halfway point of your layout. Then each half of the layout is seperately powered. You do, of course, have to connect the throttle bus from the "brain" to the booster (usually TelCo. wire) and possibly a synchronizing ground wire, but other than that, no other connections should be made between the booster and the brain.
At my club, we're running 8 boosters plus the brain, and they are all isolated from each other.
Paul A. Cutler III************Weather Or No Go New Haven************
dbduck wrote:SNIP If the parallel hook up is the case, does that then increase the capacity of the system to 10 amps?
If the parallel hook up is the case, does that then increase the capacity of the system to 10 amps?
Duck,
Yes and no. You cannot run a single locomotive that requires more than 5 amps on your layout, but you could run two as long as they were not on the same part (Power block) of the layout at the same time, which of couse is rather nearly impossible. The intent of the booster is not to raise the current drain but to isolate. Meaning that if you have a short in the track powered by booster A (Power block A), booster B (Power block B) continues to function.
On my u shaped layout, the draw on either leg is about ~1.25 amps. The overall draw is ~2.5 amps as measured by my trusty RRamp meter. When I add the second booster, I can certainly drive each section to ~4.5 amps, but I cannot move some or all of that load to the other side without removing something. Both sides have to remain under 5 amps at all times or you will have an over current situation and power will turn off.
This is typically not a problem assuming you can rather balance the new blocks. DCC locomotives are typically under 1/2 amp, more likely under 1/3 amp each. But a string of lighted passenger cars can draw as much as an amp by itself.