I just bought a Bachmann 5 amp booster for my DCC E-Z Command Dynamis (2.5 amp). Don’t know why but I thought the 5 amp unit would supplement the original 2.5A power supply to give me 7.5 total amps. But noooooooooo! Can I use the 2.5A PS to power a separate mainline without the use of a transformer? i.e., cut off the plug of the PS and wire the leads directly to a 14 ga. main buss? Or not???
Why more amps? How many locos are you running at the same time?
David B
NOT.
You could use the 2.5 amp unit to power a separate “Power District”. Use the 5 amp booster to power a second “Power District”. You’ll need to split the layouts track and bus into two sections that are isolated from each other. Then connect one unit to each district and follow the Dynamis instructions for connecting the Command station to the new 5 amp booster.
Martin Myers
4 to 5 on separate mains.
Will the dynamis be able to control both mains even though it will be connected to only one?
In any DCC system there can be only one command station. It controls all of the trains and the boosters. There should be directions for installing that new 5 amp booster on your Dynamis system. Once properly installed, the command station will control the 5 amp booster as well as its own built in booster. RTFM.
I looked at the DVD that came with the Dynamis and it said the booster will amplify the the 2.5 amps up to 5 amps so it looks like 5 amps are the max this unit will put out. You indicated I could use the 2.5 amp power supply to power one district. Doesn’t the PS need to be connected to a transformer or control unit?
Sounds like the Dynamis works like the old MRC stuff. With the more capable systems like Digitrax, NCE, and Lenz, there is a ‘control bus’ the communicates commands from the command station to however many boosters you need. One booster does not feed another. If this is the way the Dynamis booster hooks up, then you can’t really utilize the original Dynamis output as a second power district, because a short there will kill the input signal to the 5 amp booster and stop everything it controls.
For example, I have a Digitrax Zephyr. If I need more power, I can buy a DB150 booster and power supply, and using a 6-wire telephone type cable connect it to my Zephyr. The DB150 ‘amplifies’ the signal on this wire, not the track connection of the Zephyr, so the Zephyr can still power one part of the layout with 2.5 amps and the DB150 can power another section with 5 amps. NCE and Lenz also work this way, just their cable pinouts are difference - in fact I can make an adapter cable and use NCE or Lenz boosters with my Digitrax equipment.
–Randy