I have a fair size HO layout (18' x 22') and use the Digitrax Zephyr 2.5amp as my only power. There are 32 turnouts, all Tortise equipped. I have UT4 and DT402D throttles (1 each). I have about 150 feet of mainline and two yard areas containing about 20 locos and a 130' turntable with about 12 stalls containing engines (they are on toggles so only power when needed.). I only run 2 engines at a time and mostly sound DCC equipped. Most of the engines are idling and many have sounds coming from them which I have been trying to program to remain silent when first powering up the layout. My DT402D throttle uses rechargable 9 volt batteries and they don't hold a charge very long; I am assuming that all the engines on at one time is draining them? I have a 5 amp power supply that I bought a few years ago, thinking I would some day need the extra power; which is why I am now asking this question. Do I need the additional amperage or is there something else I can do. I haven't had any problems with the engines running slow or abnormally as if they weren't getting enough power unless the throttle battery runs low, but I just feel something might may need to be changed?
How can I utilize the higher capacity power supply (Digitrax) and if I need to add a booster, can I still use the Zephyr as a throttle? If so, how would I connnect all of this?
I hope I haven't included too much detail here, but I don't really know what my power requirements are, or am I being too paranoid about this? I just want to be sure I have a margin of safety in this respect.
-Bob
Life is what happens while you are making other plans!
Bob,
Amps to the track and battery life in the throttles are not directly related. Adding more power to the track will NOT increase battery life!
It is well known that Digitrax throttles require very near the full 9v that a "normal" alkaline battery provides. However, most rechargeable "9v" batteries, due to their internal chemistry and number of cells, actually put out only 8.4v. It doesn't take much use for them to drop below the minimum voltage required for a Digitrax throttle.
This has been discussed at great length many times on the Digitrax Yahoo group. What you need to do is switch to 9.6v rechargeable batteries such as these.
P.S. Using that 5-amp power supply with your Zephyr won't increase it's output anyway, because the circuitry in the Zephyr itself is only capable of supplying 2.5 amps to the track.
9.6 volts in NiCAD; or, Nmhd cells equals 8 cells. Once they are discharged to 9.6 volts, it is time to recharge. Each cell produces a minimum of 1.2 volts. You might be better off using dry cells which produce 1.5 volts each and will produce 12 volts when fully charged.
NP 2626 "Northern Pacific, really terrific"
Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association: http://www.nprha.org/
For more power, you need a DB150. If you don;t run more than 12 trains at a time, the Zephyr can still be the command station - this is how my last layout was set up. The DB150 is configured as a booster, by connecing a jumper between the COnfig A and GND terminals on the front. I had the DB150's Rail A and B wires going to my track. The Zephyr's track output I had going to my stationary decoders - do you have decoders for your Tortoises, like DS64's? If so, power all those from the Zephyr output. The Zephyr throttle is still active, so you have that in addition to your other throttles.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
I have a 9.4 volt rechargable and two 9.0 rechargables. The 9.4 v one doesn't hold much of a charge at all now and it is the newest one (about 8 months old). It was one of the ones I saw on this forum as being recommended for it's durability ? It is a Powerex but I don't remember what model. I guess I will have to order some new ones.
Randy: I do use a D44 decoder for controlling 4 Tortise machines, the rest are on a dc power pack from my old DC layout. I may order a DB150 and set up as your description. I don't ever plan to have more than 3-4 engines operating at one time but there are always 10-15 engines on active tracks (lights on and some sound systems on at idle) plus a dozen lighted passenger cars.
thanks for all the suggestions. I will check into getting new batteries of at least 9.6 volts.
UPDATE: I checked the Powerex battery and it is a 9.6 volt. Must have gotten a bad one as it will drop from 9.6 volts to 7.0 within a minute! It use to hold a charge for quite a long time.
your amperage issue wasn't really talked about to much so I will touch base here. The amp rating of your control station/booster is the maximum amperage that unit can provide to the tracks, so your Zephry can only handle a max 2.5A load. The amperage is variable and is dependant on what your needs are on the track. An HO F3 with motor control and head light only running at full throttle may only want .5A, but my Athearn Genesis F45 with Tsunami sound running around in speed step 2 with both headlights on, my beacon flashing, horn blasting, and other sound effects going may be asking for 1A of juice. Now I need 1.5A of power at the track. Already the Zephyr would be at 60% capacity.
I don't think the Zephyr can be used as a throttle only, but with two power supplies the layout could be powered in zones, with say the mainline, where you would most likely have the largest number of loco's running, powered by the 5A booster, and switching area's where you are more likely to run the least amount of loco's at once powered by the smaller booster.
I solved my battery problem since I now buy a 2 battery pack of Sunbeam 9 volts, from Dollar Tree.
At .50 cents each, if I some times forget to remove the battery from the DT400R or a UT4R after running trains and if it goes too far down in voltage, no big deal.
I can afford to always have extra batteries on hand. And over all they work pretty close to as long as the more expensive ones. Though I would not use one in a smoke detector.
Ken G Price My N-Scale Layout
Digitrax Super Empire Builder Radio System. South Valley Texas Railroad. SVTRR
N-Scale out west. 1996-1998 or so! UP, SP, Missouri Pacific, C&NW.
Ordered a pair of new Powerex 9.6 and should be here in a couple of days.