I have been looking into using a MRC #1521 8A power supply/booster. Has anyone used this one or any other MRC power supply. The main reason I am looking at this unit, is due to the unit doesn't require a seperate power supply. Also, have anyone used MRC power units with other controller's?
Thank-you
A forum member named Cuda Ken had one of those -- he blew up so many decoders he eventually changed to a different booster. 8 Amps is enough to spot weld metal wheels to track in a derailment.
8 Amps is overklll except for a large club layout with multiple engines running at the same time.
I understand about the 8A, but the reason I asked was due to the fact that this unit was for sale. Thanks about frying Decoders, I really don't need that....As the MRC locomotives' Decoders being " ? ", I really would like to know if their Power Supply/Booster is in the same column as their Decoders...........
Thank you
tetonjackthe reason I asked was due to the fact that this unit was for sale. Thanks about frying Decoders, I really don't need that
Looking at the list price for the MRC booster, and the combined list price of an NCE booster plus a NCE power supply (just as an example), it appears that the cost would be equivalent. I suspect that a Digitrax combination would also be about equivalent. If the MRC unit is on sale and it were me, I think I'd also consider looking around to see if I could find any of the other combinations on sale to see what the true difference in price would be.
Now, if you have already done that and the MRC unit is available for a really, really, good price, that might be another story.
On the subject of frying decoders, yes, you can do that with 8 amps. But, in my opinion, I don't think that you were given the full story about that incident. As I recall, and I'm sure I'll be corrected if I'm mistaken, the individual who was having this issue had the booster connected directly to the tracks without any intermediate protective device (breaker) and was relying upon the booster's built in breaker for short protection. You don't say how large your ultimate railroad will be, but if you were to break up that railroad into several power districts, and provide an appropriate protective breaker (one of those Tonys Train Exchange breakers for example) to each district, then I don't believe that there will be an issue. The Tony's breakers have an adjustable trip value, so you can set the thing at a couple amps and should be protected from the full 8 amps. To me, I don't see the difference between two individual 5 amp boosters connected to two different power districts, or an individual 8 amp booster split between two power districts. But I do invite constructive criticism on my opinion as I could be missing something.
On the other hand, if your ultimate railroad is going to be a 4 X 8 or a shelf switching layout with only a couple engines, then I'd agree that the 8 amp is overkill.
I did not think track power was amp's I thought it was volt's.Now I am cofussed.
DCC track power is between 14 and 15 Volts at anywhere between 1.5 and 8 Amps, depending on which power booster you are using. You can't have one without the other.
Think of it in terms of a water hose. Volts is the pressure of the water, Amps is the volume of water.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
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