I think I’m seeing a “brownout” condition on my Lenz DCC system. It started a couple of days ago, as the heat went to near-record levels (again.) I was running a passenger train with 5 illuminated cars, being pulled by an old, old Athearn. All of this draws a lot of current, and I’m only powering my DCC system with an old Lionel train transformer. Every once in a while, the system just shuts down as if there were a short. I can restart, but sometimes I have to halt the engines before it will stay on. Even with most of the passenger cars offline, I’m still getting this, although far less frequently.
We’re running 5 air conditioners now, and my guess is that the house voltage is low, considering that everyone else in New England is also trying to keep their homes cool.
Is anyone else seeing anything like this?
Probably the case. Throw a voltmeter across the Lionel and see what it reads. When the input voltage gets near or below the lower limit for the command station, wierd things start happening. Luckily with the Lionel transformer as the supply you can compensate and turn it up a bit. You want the input to be no more than a volt or two above whatever track voltage you are using - anything more just makes the booster hotter.
This is a good palce to note that you need to be careful if you expand to additional boosters and keep using that Lionel transformer - if it really is an older one, it’s likely not UL listed and not completely isolated from the 120V input side. I just saw a good illustration showing why, wish I could find it I’d post a link.
–Randy
I use a UPS to assist my computer thru difficult periods when electricity to the house is bad.
Intend to hook an older UPS to protect the new Chief, perhaps that will work for you.
You mention two possibilities - A/C voltage sags and excess DCC current draw.
If your house voltage is dropping below 90 VAC, whcih I believe is the point where the command station would start to act up, other things in your house would start acting funny, too, such as TV’s, PC’s, etc.
Temporary sags due to large A/C motors kicking on (such as air conditioning compressors and to a lesser extent, vacuum cleaners, clothes dryers, microwave ovens, etc - heck, I’ve even seen toaster ovens and curling irons cause voltage sags) could be a culprit, but again, you’d seen symptoms elsewhere in your house.
My guess would be the command station/booster is overheating. I don’t know the configuration for Lenz, but Digitrax’s command station/booster has a large heat sink mounted on the back, and it’s recommended to mount a small PC fan on the sink to help keep it cool and prevent thermal shutdown.
Well, the cold front came through and I shut down all the AC units. With no AC, the trains run just fine, and I think I know which one is causing the problem. I’ll have to check, but I think it’s on the same breaker as the trains. (Crappy job by the electrician, not picked up by the Building Inspector, either. Once the walls, ceilings and carpets were in, in was the best I could do.) The one causing the problem is not the train room AC, fortunately.
You will be amazed at the number of times a UPS system will temporarily cut in, if you have the alarm turned on, during a day or week.
Power companies do grid switching almost daily and power spikes will cause the UPS to cut in for a fraction of a second.
Power strips with surge suppressors will cut the spikes sometimes and most times the power strip will bcome an extension cord because the suppressor(s) have blown.
I have UPS systems on my big screen TV’s, computers and MRR.
I use a Cyberpower UPS 1500 for the main computer it is sensitive to voltage and power changes. I have about 50 minutes reserve power and it will cut in several times a day from a few seconds to a few minutes. Sometimes I see the house dim under a large load or flicker while everything protected by the UPS stays stable.
Those surge suppressors are good, but only work until the element burns out.
Reminds me of the old days with cloth wrapped cabling on screwdrivered plugs with huge amounts of exposed metal leading to the plugs backed by the old fusees. ahh those were the days.