Another Tortoise Question

[pastorbob]

My three deck Santa Fe has a large number of tortoise machines in place, but a problem looms on the horizon.  I want to add some additional torti to a section I expanded a bit and the power supply, which was installed several years ago by a fellow modeler who is now hostling locos somewhere up there and I have absolutely no documentation.  But I do remember him saying once if expanded much more, I would want to either replace the current power source or maybe add a second source.  My question is, for about 10 more torti's added, what would be a good power source for them separate from what I have now?

I really don't want to add any more to the existing power supply and I consider myself electrically challenged.

Bob

[Allegheny2-6-6-6]

Are you powering your Tortoise with ac or dc power? If you want to keep it simple you duplicate what you already have. I run 3 separate power supplies only for the simple reason I didn't feel like running long runs from the power supply at one end of the layout, the thrid operates the tortoise for the hidden staging yard in the next room. I just simply used old wall wart dc power supplies I had laying around to replace the old DC power packs I was using.

[pastorbob]

As you can tell, electronics not my game.  Not sure what the power is for the existing tortoises.  It is a power supply installed by another model railroader.  When he gets back to town, will pin him on it.  thanks for the advice and help.

Bob

[Texas Zepher]

pastorbob

My question is, for about 10 more torti's added, what would be a good power source for them separate from what I have now?

I always look through the power supplies at the local thrift stores.  When I find ones that are 12VDC with at least  500mA output, I buy them.   I am holding a real find here that the output is 2500mA.  They are usually between $1.00 and $2.50.    I also like to go to Radio Shake and find a plug-in to use.  That way if I find one with a higher output or need to replace it for some other reason it is simple to just unplug the current one and plug in the next.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102486 

[JSperan]

 Circutitron sells a wall adapter for the Tortoise.  It is rated at 12 volts 500 ma and they state that it will power up to 30 Tortoise machines.

AC Adapter  - Scroll down to find it.

[Allegheny2-6-6-6]

 Bob

If you look at the back of the power supply there should be a lable on it saying what the power output is for example

Input 120v 60Hz 0.1 A

output DC9.4V 400ma

 

The ma or miliamp number is really your biggest concern as if you do not have enough amperage to power all of the switch machines you'll have problems . I amnot sure how much the one from Circuitron is but I am sure you can find one just as good a lot cheaper.

[60YOKID]

pastorbob

My question is, for about 10 more torti's added, what would be a good power source for them separate from what I have now?

 

Circuitron recommends 12 volts DC at 15mA per switch machine. This means for 10 machines you require at least 150mA of current. Look around for a wall adapter with an output of about 12 volts DC. One with a current rating of 150 mA or greater for 10 machines.  I would use one with a little higher rating for a safety margin, or in case you want expansion room for later.

We seem to have all kinds of these things laying around the house from old gadgets we no longer use.

[rrinker]

2 pieces of information needed: How many Torti are currently connected to that power supply, and what does the rating sticker on the power supply say. Then we can determine if it has enough power to handle 10 more or if you will need something larger.

 The downside of overloading a cheap wal-wart is it usually renders them paperweights - cheapy wal-warts usually are overload protected by a non-replaceable fusible link than melts when overloaded and cutsoff the power. REALLY cheapy ones might not have any protection and will simply overheat adn possibly melt. So follow the rule of thumb of 15ma per Tortoise and multiply 15 times the number of Tortoises you have. The rating of the power supply must be equal or greater than this value. If the power supply output is rated in amps - 1 amp = 1000ma, so a 1.5 amp supply = 1500ma is enough for 100 Tortoises.

                                         --Randy