I am in the market for another power supply for the layout I am building. The layout will be 20x9 feet and I want to run three engines on the track at a time. I have another power supply for the other line. Any ideas would be greatly appricated.
cgrubb80The layout will be 20x9 feet and I want to run three engines on the track at a time.
You posted DC power supply, if you did indeed mean DC I would go with a MRC 9500. I had one and wish I had kept it after going DCC. Has power and volt meters so you know what was going on with the track and engines. I ran 4 old, old, old Athearns with Rocket motors with no problems. It should handle 6 newer engines with no problems.
Cuda Ken
I hate Rust
Hi!
Assuming you do mean DC (as opposed to DCC), I would urge you to get an MRC Controlmaster 20. I had two for my last layout (overkill) and found them to be super powerful (5 amp), and the handheld controller can't be beat. Frankly, that is one of the main reasons I waited so long to go to DCC.
Mobilman44
ENJOY !
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
Thanks for the information. I do want DC power supplies. My orginal modules were built for DC and I don't have the money or time to convert over.
cgrubb80I am in the market for another power supply for the layout I am building. The layout will be 20x9 feet and I want to run three engines on the track at a time. I have another power supply for the other line. Any ideas would be greatly appricated.
I am assuming that you know that you have to create blocks to separately control the 3 engines - in which case you need 3 power supplies/throttles, each capable of powering one engine. If you are running as a consist - the engines coupled into the same train - then the power supply has to be able to power all 3 at once.
Taking the latter case of the 3 engines coupled together - and you didn't say what scale - 2 amps or 24VA should be enough in HO, 1.5 amp or 18VA is good for N. If your locomotives are drawing more than that, adding more power is not the answer because you will be overheating the motors. Any of the MRC Tech series with the ratings specified are considered to be good power packs. The Tech II - no longer in production - are commonly available at good prices on the used market.
You also didn't specify whether you wanted/were willing to pay for walk-around control. The July 2009 issue of Model Railroader features a review of wireless throttles using infrared that are a commercial walk-around product. MRC once offered a nice hand-held throttle to attach to their Tech II power packs (I have one). The MRC Controlmaster 20 (still available new) is set up to use tethered hand-held throttles from the get-go, but is fairly spendy. And that's the problem with DC - walk-around control of multiple locomotives is not much cheaper than the DCC equivalents unless you build your own (which is much cheaper and fairly easy to do). And unlike DCC, you still have to wire and control the blocks for separate control of locomotives on the same track.
hope this helps, and I'm not misreading your question too much
Fred W
cgrubb80 Thanks for the information. I do want DC power supplies. My orginal modules were built for DC and I don't have the money or time to convert over.
You might be surprised when you "do the math" comparing a DCC system with a totally-new DC system. DC requires a lot of block wiring and toggle switches if you are to run more than one train at a time. As the layout gets larger, the complexity of DC goes up. The cost does, too, but I think the time involved with all the additional wiring for DC is probably more significant. The complexity isn't confined to the work involved, either. To operate a DC system, you must constantly be aware of the various blocks and the controls for them. In DCC, most of this can be handled automatically.
DCC isn't cheap, either, but converting a well-wired DC layout to DCC is a piece of cake by comparison. Yes, you do need a decoder for each engine, and they have to be installed, either by you or by someone else.
In DC, as we sometimes say, you are "running the track," while in DCC you are "running the trains." Having done both, I'm really sold on DCC.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I guess I should have given some specifics. I have 4 modules from a club I used to be in that ran DC. I decided to make 6 more modules and have my own home layout. I have one power supply already for line one and need another one for line two. I think in my situation that runnind DC would be just fine. I do appricate the advise and always welcome new ideas.