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[quote]QUOTE: ericsp stated: <br />I am not an electrical engineer, however, I am pretty sure one cannot run a DC motor on AC power. [/quote] <br /> <br />This is true since the AC source cannot generate the polarized field necessary to power the motor, unless, of course a rectifier is used. Like Eric, I am not an electrical engineer, but have worked in that industry for nearly twenty years, and I understand the following to be true: Since our locomotive motors are DC motors, they need a DC supply to run. The decoders we install are basically small motor controllers that convert a DCC (whether it be considered AC or modulated DC) supply to variable voltage DC to power the motor. This is really the same concept as using a motor control circuit to take 480V AC from the source and supplying variable DC voltage for use in a variable speed drive mechanism, which is not uncommon in industry today.
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