General Discussion (Model Railroader)

Hello-

Recently, we were able to obtain a beautiful, "pre-made" model railroad that is complete with Lenz DCC and Oak Tree Systems digital controlers.

One of the things that I noticed about the layout is that all of the crossings have crossbucks at them, and there are no actual signals (flashing lights, gates, etc)

I am interiested in purchacing some of the new Walthers crossing signals, in both the new and older styles. One of the features of them is that they can hook up to the Walthers crossing signal controler, so you can have them flash and even have a automatic circuit detection.

Unfortunatly, this controler will not work for DCC users.

I want to install these signals onto the layout, and I also want to use the controler for them. But, I want to install some sort of a switch on the side of the layout that will be able to turn them on and off in place of the circuit detection.

Is there any way how?? How do the DCC users on here work with these things? Stationary decoders??

Thanks!

Phil

C'mon guys - & gals - with all the electronics whizzes here, someone has had to figure out how to use these with DCC!!  I've had mine for a year, and have not been able to use them!!  Maybe Walthers will come out with a DCC operator module -

PLEASE!!!!

lvanhen wrote:

C'mon guys - & gals - with all the electronics whizzes here, someone has had to figure out how to use these with DCC!!  I've had mine for a year, and have not been able to use them!!  Maybe Walthers will come out with a DCC operator module - PLEASE!!!!

I am not familiar with the unit but ... 

Why Can't they be used with DCC? I would guess that the detection is independent of type of track power. Power for the circuitry itself can come from a standalone DC supply. Voila done.

Worst case you can make DC from DCC with a bridge rectifier, some filter capacitors and either resistors, an inductor or transformer to isolate. Works for AC track (euro or tinplate) too.

Karl 

 [EDIT] I just checked the Walther's web site. It says "requires an 18VAC source".

Piece of cake. Use an 120volt to 16volt doorbell transformer if you don't have an old power pack.

The Walthers unit gets it's power from the track - DC usually gets no higher than 12v, DCC is 14 to 18v short wave AC which would burn it out (according to others - I don't have a clue!!) I'm wondering if I could power it from a spare DC pack.  The train direction from the DC controls the on/off timing, but I'd be happy for the signal to go on & off in the same time period before & after the train goes over thee crossing!

lvanhen wrote:

The Walthers unit gets it's power from the track - DC usually gets no higher than 12v, DCC is 14 to 18v short wave AC which would burn it out (according to others - I don't have a clue!!) I'm wondering if I could power it from a spare DC pack.  The train direction from the DC controls the on/off timing, but I'd be happy for the signal to go on & off in the same time period before & after the train goes over thee crossing!

Lou, which unit do you have? If it does in fact use DC track power then a spare "power pack" will work fine.

This controller:

Walthers Part # 933-2307, p. 312 Walthers 2008 HO Scale Reference
HO scale, $34.98, currently in stock at Walthers

Needs a seperate 18volt AC supply. Says so on the web site.

http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/933-2307

It should work fine on somewhat lower voltage. It doesn't make sense to power a controller from a DC track since the voltage applied will vary with throttle setting. (Unless the unit uses a very low DC voltage and is self regulated.)

Is there a way you could scan your operators manual and either post it or email it. Maybe we can figure it out.

Karl 

Larak, heres 1 side of the instructions - I have to post & edit to get the other side posted!

OK, got the schematic posted also.  Walthers says for DC only, DCC may damage it.  For $27.95, i raely dont want to mess with it! 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

OK Lou,

I must admit that at first look this seemed a bit bizarre. So time to put EE degree and top 1/2% IQ to work .... 

It DOES appear that the unit is powered by the AC terminals. Now WHY would they also connect to the track?

The one thing that comes to mind is timing. If a train is moving faster, the sensors should be further from the crossing to let the signals flash before the train gets there but not to long before or a slow train will trigger the signals too soon. Obviously it's hard to move the sensors every time you adjust the throttle.

I think that the track terminals monitor the voltage (and therefore train speed) and adjust how soon after the approach sensor is tripped that the lights/gates activate.

If that is the case, you can hook the unit to a spare power pack's AC and DC terminals as shown and manually adjust the activation delay with the throttle.  You won't get perfect timing but it will work. NOTE: Absolutely NO electrical interconnection with the DCC system.

Disclaimer: There is a postulate to chaos theory called "Murphy's Law". If something unforeseen (including, but not limited to, a random black hole appearing in your controller) occurs, I cannot be held responsible to the results.

Still, If it were mine I would try it. If you don't want to take the chance, you can always donate the unit to me LOL!

Karl 

We have two of these units installed on two mains on our clubs layout. They do use four photo cells for each signal and are powered from an extra power supply under the layout. They do not use track power. There are two cells on each side of the crossing. They work great and you can place them as far or as close to the crossing as you like. We have not had any problems with them at all. They will however, come on if you turn the overhead lights off so they won't work in a night time situation.