No, the Power Cab is a throttle, booster, and command station rolled up into one. It receives power from the LEFT connector port of the PCP panel using the 6-contact RJ12 flat cable, which is powered by a wall transformer. NCE does make a wireless Power Cab and that - not surprisingly - uses batteries.
Tom
Hello All,
Again, sorry for the confusion.
The PowerPro 5 Amp booster/command station does require a compatible 5 Amp power supply for optimum performance.
The Power Cab system requires a wall wart. It’s a far stretch that it would fail.
If the power supply fails, I presume, all movements would not be possible.
However, even some of my own suggestions/solutions have been- -farfetched.
Let the OP sort through some of the suggestions and post their observations with follow-up questions.
Hope this helps.
Yes, inquiring minds want to know.
When I first got my 5-amp Lenz DCC system, I drove it with an old train transformer. It did not provide 5 amps, but it seemed to work fine. However, eventually as my layout got larger and I was running multiple locomotives, things started to slow down.
I realized what was happening and bought a real 5-amp power supply to drive the DCC system. It’s been fine ever since.
Hey I built the same layout about 15 years ago! It’s a nice little plan. I did not use a bus - I went from DC to DCC and pretty much kept the same cab wires. It’s not a big plan - your system should be able to handle it no problem.
Since all the locos are doing the same thing, and the system itself is OK, I suspect there is a problem with the track or the wiring. I would check the voltage at various points to see if it is OK.
Simon
Greg,
After its activated the current is displayed in the upper right portion of the LCD screen of the Power Cab in place of the fast clock. Current is displayed in 10s of milliamps (or 0.01A). Refresh rate is ~1 sec.
I replaced a Mashima can motor in a brass 0-8-0 switcher because it was going bad. At speed step 030 it would fluctuate between 0.18 and 0.37A then suddenly spike to 0.9A (or higher) before dropping back down again. The Power Cab meter was handy for monitoring the fluctuation while operating the motor with the locomotive up on roller stands. The coreless motor that I replaced it with would operate at speed step 030 at a mere 0.03As. And it was dead-on steady, with very little fluctuation in current draw.
Tom
yes
hoping the OP will report the current being drawn by his loco after you described how to enable it
My undestanding is that ALL of is locos are behaving this way. IMHO, that excludes a heavy amp draw if he runs one loco at a time, right? And it appears to be at the same spot in the layout, near a turnout, based on his own diagnosis. I suspect dirty track or faulty wiring, as WilScarlet himself suggests. I can’t see how ALL of his locomotives would be affected by a short. On the other hand, dirty track could momentarily stop a loco, but it would not restart the system, which suggests a short. A good cleaning of the track, and full review of the wiring at that spot, as the OP suggests, seems like a good start. Additional feeders may also help, depending on the location.
Simon
I think the purpose of monitoring the amp draw is to see what happens when he goes through the ‘mystery’ area at known DCC voltage to see how far and how consistently the current changes. That would give us a better handle on the likely possibilities. I don’t see how higher resistance would produce a system reset, but the interesting detail is that he said ‘some of his decoders had to be reset to factory settings’ – what was the reason he did that, and what were the changed settings as found?
I never did see the answer about where he had the probes when he measured the ‘heavy resistance in one rail’. It might be interesting to repeat that measurement with a device that can apply higher amperage across the tested area to see if the reading changes.
No, not if the heavy current draw isn’t from a locomotive. I can think of two likely causes for his issue:
A low level short in his wiring or track work. If so, it could be drawing close to the Power Cab’s limit, and then when he starts running an engine at any appreciable speed it pushes it over the limit. This would be immediately noticeable using the current measuring function of the Power Cab (by seeing current draw when there is nothing on the layout to draw current).
Power supply going bad. If the power supply isn’t bad, then displaying the current draw while running should show an increase in current draw to close to the maximum allowed before the system resets. If you don’t see that increase, then the power supply is probably bad. In this case, the test isn’t as definitive because if something else is causing the reset the current draw could spike quickly enough to cause the reset without it being seen in the current draw, but if you do see the current draw increase to close to the limit before it resets, then you can at least tell for sure that it is not the power supply.
Another possibility is a combination of 1 and 2 - a low level short that has existed for a while, but does not draw enough current to cause the reset problems. That could cause the power supply to run hot for extended periods which could damage the power supply to the point where it can no longer supply enough current to overcome the short.
Actually, he said it’s not at that spot:
[quote]
It’s been a while since we have heard from the OP. I have followed this thread with interest since I was the one who originally suggested that he start this thread.
Let’s revisit what we know.
The OP has an HO scale version of the Yule Central Railroad. It is a small layout, as shown in the following track diagram.
It is a simple oval with an interchange track, a small 2-track yard, a mine spur and a runaround track. This is consistent with the OP’s description. The OP also mentions that there are four DPDT switches for block control. He doesn’t mention the location of the DPDT switches, but they may be “kill” switches to control power on those four tracks off the mainline. He also doesn’t mention if those switches are on or off relative to power when the resetting of the Power Cab occurs. He also mentions that there are six Atlas snap turnouts, and their locations are obvious in the track diagram.
This is a DCC layout controlled by an NCE Power Cab that NCE has recently tested and pronounced trouble free.
The OP doesn’t mention anything about the power supply, but NCE includes a power supply (P114) when the Power Cab is purchased. Using any other power supply is not recommended by NCE, and use of a different power supply will void the factory warranty.
The Power Cab has built in overload for basic self-protection that will continuously try to reset the Power Cab ever 1/2 second until damaged if it is left uncorrected. The Power Cab does not have circuit breakers that will trip or fuses that will blow. NCE recommends the use of a circuit breaker such as the NCE EB1 or DCC Specialties PSX to protect the Power Cab against short circuits. The OP doesn’t mention if he has a circuit breaker installed to protect the Power Cab, nor does he mention the presence of any other circuitry on the layout. Is there a circuit bre
Sometimes when a short appears it is because of a previus short caused a gap closing or developing a whisker, I think a whisker is more likely because it dose not short instantly. Wonder how I know this, I can tell you it is not in any manual that I ever read, sidenote, don’t leave a caulk gun on the rails and always check for items before starting up.
I’m still waiting to hear what the current reading from the cab is while he is operating – ideally what the device reads at the time it ‘resets’.
It does not. It happens anywhere on the layout.
I’m leaning this way too. How do I test the DPDT switches? All of their soldering joints seem solid.
Sorry it’s taking so long to reply. I have an elderly dog who is taking up a lot of time.
Phil
Turn off power to the layout and use an ohmmeter (or the ohm setting on a multimeter) to test for continuity.
Are your DPDT switches On-On or On-Off-On?
What is the purpose of the DPDT switches on your layout? Are you using them to kill power to the four tracks coming off the mainline?
If your wiring is stranded, be sure to look close for any loose strands of wire that may be touching other terminals or other wiring on the DPDT.
Rich
Can you identify which turnout connects to the high resistance section of track?
Any recent work on the layout that could help lead to the problem?
Rich
do you still think exessive resistance can cause a short?
it can’t
what does the power meter indicate?
The Power Cab Ammeter is a useful function to determine the current draw of a specific locomotive or all of the locomotives on the layout.
But, just how useful it is for diagnostic purposes such as a short circuit, I am not sure. If the Power Cab tries to reset because of a short that exceeds the capacity of the Power Cab (approximately 2 amps), it may try to reset before the Ammeter completes the measurement of the overcurrent. So, there may not be a reliable reading available.
Rich
I asked it this happens at the high resistance area and the OP said:
Maybe the high resistance area is a red herring. Perhaps another problem but not the one that is causing the PC to reset. The OP hasn’t said there were recent changes to the track layout, so what would cause repeated shorts through out the layout?
If somehow a DPDT switch was the problem, how would it appear only on acceleration?
I have no answers, but I am getting the feeling there is some other major data point that we do not know and the OP has not recognized could be a problem.