For almost 2 years now, I’ve been driving my Lenz-100 DCC system with an ancient Lionel train transformer, probably from the Truman administration or earlier. It’s always worked fine, and I kind of got off on the merger of the old with the new. My layout has slowly grown as I’ve upgraded cars and acquired new locomotives, from the video-equipped subways to my latest toy, a BLI Hudson.
A couple of weeks ago, the camera in the subway car stopped working. I took it apart, hoping to find a loose wire, but it seemed that I had voltage across the big capacitor but no picture. I set the car aside, having many other projects to work on. But a couple of days ago, the light went on in my head. I removed the BLI Hudson, and the string of lighted passenger cars it was pulling, and the camera came back to life.
My LHS had a nice NCE 15-volt, 5-amp supply for me, so I upgraded my system. The old Lionel will now have a more relaxing job powering the streetlights and buildings of Moose Bay.
I didn’t know you could power a DCC system with a DC power pack. How does this work?
The old Lionel power pack is AC.
But many DCC systems will accept DC for power - read the specification for the particular system.
So, is there a way to use an MRC (ac or dc) for a booster? I’m a little confused here.
A qualified yes, power is power. I used an old MRC AmPack-II to power my Lenz system over Christmas. Normally it is powered by a Digitrax power station. The qualification I mentioned above for that Yes, is that it depends on the DCC system. Some will accept anything below a certain voltage for power. Read the manual to see what any specific unit will accept.
It isn’t user the power pack as a booster, it is using it as the power supply for the command station or booster. The old power pack is not connected to the tracks the way a booster is, it is the power input to the booster or command station. As has been said some units will use an AC or a DC input, and the voltage specs vary, so you need to check the input required for your specific system.
I have question about this, I am interested
I have a prodigy express dcc system, and I would like more power, do I understand correctly that you could hook up lets say an old tyco dc powerback for more power?
could someone give me more of an explaniation.
Thanks
Reeves
These folks are using these old power packs to power the DCC system (or boosters). You can use nearly any kind of power supply that matches the input requirements for the DCC system. Let’s suppose your DCC system will work on 12 volts DC input (simply for sake of explanation.) You could power it with a tyco powerpack, a doorbell transformer, a dedicated DCC transformer, an old computer power supply, or even a car battery. Most DCC systems need a bit more than 12 volts, some can take or require AC input. You simply have to match the voltage output of your power supply to the power input needs of the DCC system.
Brad
That’s right. Some DCC systems come without a power supply. That was the situation with my Lenz. Since I had this old transformer sitting around, I hooked it up as the power supply for the Lenz and it worked fine.
The trouble I ran into was that the Lenz will put up to 5 amps out to the track, but the transformer couldn’t supply 5 amps. It was probably no more than 2 amps, tops. So, once I was drawing the maximum from the transformer, I couldn’t get any more, no matter what the rating of the DCC system was.
Can anyone who owns a booster unit tell us if that comes with a power supply, or if it’s necessary to buy a separate supply for that, too. Thanks for the info.
MOST systems come without power supplies. Some of the starter sets include them, but for the most part the power supply is left as a seperate item. FOr several reasons - a 5 to 10 amp power supply isn’t lightweight, plus if the company is international, different countries need different power supplies due to the differences in line voltages and frequencies used throughout the world.
The Lenz boosters do not come with power supplies. You’d use the same type as you used for the original Set-100 or Set-90. I think the lowest-priced packaged 15 volt 5 amp power supply I’ve seen is the one NCE sells, and it will work equally well on ANY DCC system that requires or can work with a 15V AC input at up to 5 amps.
–Randy
This issue raises another question. Is the weak link in some of the starter sets actually the power supply. In other words, could a unit like the Zephyr actually handle additional amperage if a larger power supply was connected to it?
If you add a booster to your DCC system, do you have to block the boosted track off from the main and run a second set of buss wires? If so, how does the loco know what to do when it passes between blocks?
The input to every booster is common, hence the output is the same signal wise, though the voltage may be a bit different. Because of the way the signal is decoded, the decoder doesn’t even know it went from one booster to another.