I fried my Power Cab by accidentally feeding 12volts DC to the rails while it was in use.
Repairs cost $30 and they didn't even charge return postage - and I'm on the other side of the world!
It took a while and I had to keep prompting them as to whether they had received it, whether they had the credit card details ok and whether they had posted it. With the distances involved I was worried about such things.
If you're getting it fixed I suggest you send all the bits and pieces as well so everything can be checked. My cab and the psp both needed attention.
Mike
Modelling the UK in 00, and New England - MEC, B&M, D&H and Guilford - in H0
I've got a foolproof way to switch between Dc and DCC as well. It's called an "air switch". One female receptacle on the layout that feeds to the track. A male plug on the DC power supply, another on the DCC supply. Only one can be plugged in at a time. Simple and no moving parts to go bad..
I'd get it fixed. Much less than buying a new one or switching brands.
I am one of (I believe) many who are using both DC and DCC. I have three sets of motive power - an historical shortline with small diesels, WM diesel, and another historical shortline with steam. The WM diesel set is converted to DCC but its slow going on the other conversions, so at the current rate I have at least several years of dual-mode operation ahead of me if I ever want to run my two favorite motive power sets.
I have an easy and foolproof way to avoid your mistake. I bought a small utility box from Radio Shack and a DPDT center-off break-before-make toggle switch, plus terminal strips for input and output. The DC and the DCC are the two inputs, the output is to track. It is impossible to send both of them to the track at the same time or to have them connected live for even a millisecond (note the importance of break-before-make). I used my P touch label machine to label the toggle positions but its not really necessary. Total parts cost was about $8 but well worth it in both safety and convenience (I don't have to do anything except throw the toggle; both types of power can remain connected and even on, although that's a waste of electricity and I try to avoid doing so). I don't remember the exact assembly time but it was less than an hour.
Our club burned up a NCE 5 amp Power Pro as we thought we could get away with a block on DC and a block on DCC. We did not consider Murphy who visits layouts, unannounced.
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.
From personal experience:
NCE boosters and power cabs do NOT deal well with NON-dcc signals. They will burn up.
The problem is there is no auto-current choke on the ground leg. So it's just like sending a short with very high amperage through your little handheld. Amps are what fry electronics the most.
Send it back to NCE. I believe the charge is $60 to fix it.
If you insist on hooking your DC powerpack to the layout (As you experienced yourself, this is highly dangerous), put automotive bulbs on both power legs in series leading to your NCE Powercab. You'll want 1157 bulbs which will limit you to about 2.1 amps on each leg.
Don - Specializing in layout DC->DCC conversions
Modeling C&O transition era and steel industries There's Nothing Like Big Steam!
When I first jumped back into the hobby 4 years ago, I was gonna go the cheap route and go DC. I bought only 2 DC locomoives and started my layout before I realized that I think I want DCC...with simpler wiring and less operating confusion on my small HO pike.
I never use the DC lcoos anymore at all. I do NOT EVER mix DC and DCC on my layout for the exact reason you mention. I can already fry a bread toaster by plugging it in, let alone anything electronic.
Gee, Anybody know who wants a couple of DC locos, One of which took a trip to the floor and has a broken pilot anyway?
The DC locos will NEVER run on my DCC layout!
-G .
Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.
HO and N Scale.
After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.
Cuda Ken,
Great idea. I had only one set for the NCE and a plug for Bachmann EZ track for the DC. I was thinking of doing two different power strips on the floor for the two but that seems like overkill for a test track. This is a better idea.
Thanks
I use both DC and DCC when working on my engines. To keep things simple and Cuda Ken Proof I have leads with Alligator clips for the two power supplies. Even I will noticed if there are 4 Alligator Clips hooked to the test track.
Hope NCE is good to you.
Cuda Ken
I hate Rust
Yes, with two PowerCabs, the second one plugged in will work as a ProCab. You'll have to set a valid cab address for it, but the two will function together, one supplying track power in PowerCab mode and the other allowing you to run a train in ProCab mode. Note if you use the USB interface then you cannot use a second cab. You need to$1***$2an SB3a to be able to use 2 cabs plus the computer interface all at the same time.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Randy
Right I'm sure its due to to much voltage. But looking at the NCE website it's not that expensive to have fixed. I did plan on buying another throttle anyway it might as well be another Powercab. I think I can also use the PCP as another port for the other side of the layout.
SB
Another thought - if you applied DC power to the track connections on the PowerCab - it may have only blown out the output part of the PowerCab. Thus exactly as-is it might work as a ProCab still, even without repairs. However - step 1 would be to see if it can be repaired - possibly even under warranty although I wouldn't be disappointed if they said no on that due to the way it was damaged.
SB.
You can run 2 power cabs. One will become a pro cab. If your really into going feet first into DCC then consider if the power cab is repairable cost wise. Then consider a full power house pro system and use the repaired power cab at the work bench and second throttle with the power house system.
Pete
I pray every day I break even, Cause I can really use the money!
I started with nothing and still have most of it left!
I have not begun building my layout yet this was just on a test track that is why it is so frustrating. I will though isolate these with a DPDT from now on until the main layout is built.
Is there an advantage at all in having two Powercabs? I'm thinking about picking up another one while this one get's repaired. I am a little confused about the upgrade path of NCE's products.
Thanks for the reply's
It won't hurt to have them take a look at it. It's one of the risks that some warn of from time to time when running a dual powered layout. If after the dust settles you want to continue running mixed DC and DCC, consider wiring them both to a DPDT switch so that only 1 can be hooked up at any time.
Springfield PA
While my recommendation is to pack the DC supply away when you switch to DCC, one way you can avoid repeating the very expensive lesson you just learned is to install a single plug-in attachment point to the layout so that you must unplug one system in order to be able to plug in the other.
For your problem, I would first contact Tech Support. They will be able to tell you how expensive the repair would be so you can better evaluate repair vs replace.
I use Digitrax and am very happy with it. I have never used any others except a brief trip down the wrong path with an EZCommand. I, therefor cannot really compare any other systems.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
Try contacting who you purchased the Power Cab from for advice. If they cant help you contact NCE. When I recieved mine it didn't work from the get go. NCE made the repair at no charge since it was under warranty.
If yours isn't under warranty atleast they will give you a cost estimate.
Good luck and
Happy Railroading
Bob
Don't Ever Give Up
It is quite possible you fried your Power Cab, a trip to NCE might be the answer.
As far as the learning curve for the Zephyr, I own both the Power Cab and the Zephyr and will say the Power Cab is easier to use. Not that it is an overwhelming task to learn the Zephyr but it is less intuitive. That said I love both systems and will not part with any.
Jack W.
Hello,
Well I think I fried my Powercab this AM. I was testing a Genesis F7 with my DC powerpack when about 10 feet it slowed to a crawl and I realized my NCE was still hooked up to the same track. I quickly shut down the test track but the Powercab was abnormally warm and had a faint burned smell.
When I tested it things seemed odd and it would not run anything. It seemed to want to allow me to call up an address but the loco would not move and as it warmed up things like the throttle advanced numbers in the display would notch up then stop and vanish.
Question I have is do you think at 150.00 for a new one would be worth fixing? Also I am not that far into this so I am thinking maybe switching to Digitrax for the DC mode and the extra amps of the new Zephyr Xtra.
I know there has been tons of threads on this but would I be faced with much of a different learning curve using the Zephyr from the Powercab?