I am not sure how to do a search on the new forum. I tried power supplys and wall warts and came up with things that has nothing to do with either. So I will post my question and see how much **** I catch for not trying to find the information on my own.
I have had two power supplys/wall warts go out in the last 60 days. They are Enercell 12v 500ma from Radio Shack. I use it to power my Tortoise switch machines. The first one was past the 90 day warranty so I just bought another one. The second one was only 60 days old and since it had a 90 day warranty I tried to take it back today only to find out that Radio Shack would not replace it since I cut the end of the wire off so I could connect it to my power strip. Needless to say we had a few choice words but I am now without a power strip.
I also had a Digitrax PS 14 that had one of the prongs come off. Not a very productive day. The nice thing about the Digitrax was the LHS was happy to give me a replacement.
So much for complaining. What I would like to know is where I can buy dependable power supplies. I live in a small town so any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for listing.
MC Richmond
I suspect you did not try very hard. Google always works for me.
I am surprised that two failed so quickly.
I never use a wall wart over 50 percent of its current rating.
Below are three companies I have bought from. Others will have suggestions.
http://www.bgmicro.com/
http://www.allelectronics.com/
http://www.alltronics.com/
Below might be usfull link about wall warts.
http://home.cogeco.ca/~rpaisley4/PSupply.html
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
C&O,
Have you tried using an old laptop power supply? I'm using the one from my girlfriend's old laptop to power my accessory bus - it's providing 12v at 5A max and hasn't failed me yet. Maybe this is another option you could consider.
Hope this helps,
tbdanny
The Location: Forests of the Pacific Northwest, OregonThe Year: 1948The Scale: On30The Blog: http://bvlcorr.tumblr.com
Search eBay, you can find many repalcement 12V and 14V power supplies, either for laptops or LCD monitors, for cheap. Yeah they are Chinese knockoffs, but I have one to use as a 14V supply to power all my UP5's and it works fine. Best thing is they have short cords, they are NOT wall warts, so the AC side won't block two sockets on your power strip, plus there's no chance of what happened to the PS14 happening - the prong's solder joint broke loose from the circuit board inside. These power supplies are almost always under $10 including shipping. I'll probably pick up a few more to use as building light supplies.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
A computer power supply is perfect for this use because you have a choice of 5 or 12 Volts. I use the 12 Volt output for Tortoise switch motors and 5 Volts for signals, LEDs, and lighting on the layout.
I've also bought a few 12-volt supplies from www.allelectronics.com. I run some odd-voltage items on castoff wall-warts, too.
If you have toasted two supplies, it's quite possible that you are running them at beyond their rated output. Another possibility is an intermittent short. Wall wart supplies typically have a fuse embedded in the supply, to protect your house and their law firm in case of a malfunction. However, it's a one-time fuse that can't be replaced, so when it's gone, it's gone. You can go to Radio $hack and get fuse holders and fuses to put in line between the supply and your layout. If you have, for example, a 5-amp supply, use a 4-amp fuse. If you develop a short or go past the 4-amp limit due to "lighting creep,'" where you slowly add lights one or two at a time until you've got too many, then the fuse will go first and protect the supply.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Thanks guys. I knew I could count on you to help me out in this matter.
Rich, I found the information I needed at (home.cogeco) along with some other good information. I ended up ordering them from Digi-Key for only $5.93. The ones at Radio Shack were $23.31 with tax. So looks like I wasted $46.62 at Radio Shack. I have always liked to shop there but never again.
Mister Beasley, I am not sure what happened to my power supplys. I don't believe I could have overloaded them since I only had at most 5 Tortoises pluged in at one time. I may try your fuse idea but I won't be shopping at Radio Shack.
Thanks again guys for the help.
MC
Keep in mind the power draw. 500 mili-amps is only 1/2 an amp. Most wall warts are on the low side for output as far as amperage goes. Try the laptop supplies. I found some at Allelectronics for $5 that put out almost 4 amps. The case was cracked, but that doesn't effect the functioning of the unit. Just my 2 cents, best of luck!
Hi
I use lionel type V units for train control, and lionel 1033's for all of my other power supply requirements. Of coarse these units are AC but for a few bucks, radio shack parts can give you full wave rectifiers.
good luck ccg
Since you had a couple of them go already, I'd suggest you get an in-line fuse and install a fuse rated lower than the supply. It's possible that you have a short or something else going on. Using fuses will protect your new supply in the mean time. As noted those torti's should not be blowing the supplies.
Springfield PA
I was using the one recommended on the tortoise instruction sheet. It was a 12 volt 500ma. The last one went out with only one Tortoise connected to it. It worked when I connected the switch and then the next day it didn't work. The instructions say this power supply should handle 30 switch machines.
I have a couple on order from Digi-Key so before I connect them I may look into getting an inline fuse.
I also have an old Toshiba laptop power supply but it is rated at 15V/3A so I was afraid it may be too much for the Tortoise machines.
That size supply should be fine. You didn't accendintly short the output together, like by hooking up the wires while it was plugged in, did you? Wall warts generally have a fusible link inside for protection, keeps from burnign down your house, but also it's a once and done thing, pop the fuse and it's not fixable.
Easiest way to prevent this is to use a power supply bigger than your requirements. And then Put in an external fuse (you can buy inline fuse holders and fuses at Radio Shack) of an appropriate value (which will be less than the power supply rating). If you do short out your wiring, you will only blow this easily repalceable fuse and not the internal one on the power supply. Plus you cna create multiple circuits, each with its own fuse. The total load on all circuits cannot exceed the power supply rating, or again the internal fusible link will blow, but a short or overload on an individual circuit will only blow the external fuse.
For an idea, look at your house breaker box. If you add up all the ratings of each breaker you will find that it's more than the main breaker at the top of the box. So you can't load every circuit in your house to the max or the main breaker will trip. But overload just one circuit, and only that breaker will trip, leaving the rest of the lights on in the house.