Is there any reason why designers and manufacturers of DCC equipment do not include and on-off switch on thier units? I have the NCE Power Cab and just installed a NCE SB5 booster and having to unplug the booster is a bit of an irritation when I have to work on my layout and dont want the tracks powered.
Not sure why there is not a switch on the SB5. You might consider having an electrician wire the electrical outlet it is plugged into through a new lightswitch on the wall, possibly near the room entrance, so that you can shut the layout off with the room lights when you leave. I have heard of other modelers doing this. I plan to make this modification to my train room.
BMMECNYC, I already have that situation, but it still means that when I am in my train room I still have to unplug the booster because I need the lights. I use a surge protector for the booster and some other equipment, like a vacuum.
Val
The 5A NCE P515 that powers my SB5 does come with an on/off toggle at the top of the enclosure:
What power supply did you get with yours?
Tom
That is not the power supply that I got. There is no identification on the unit that I can see, and the power supply appears to be a lot smaller than yours. There is a picture of the SB5 with the power supply on the NCE site and in the manual.
According to the NCE website the power supply is an “internationally approved 12/13.8 volt 5 amp power supply”.
I assume it’s the one pictured here:
Yes, that is the one. It is an “internationally approved 12/13.8 volt 5 amp power supply”. Whatever that means.
I have a Digitrax, but it’s the same story. No switch. I plug everything into a 6-place power strip (what in the old days we would have called a surge protector, but I doubt it really protects from surges). I plug in the command station and three PS-14 power supplies. It has an on-off switch and I power up everything at once. At the other end of the layout is the booster, and it is plugged into another power strip along with another PS-14. The setup works, but there are a lot of wasted plugs in the power strips that I can’t use for other things such as a vacuum or a soldering iron. It’s really a nuisance.
Robert
I had this problem with the “Hogger” memory throttles I used on the “Dream House” STRATTON AND GILLETTE layout. I had six of these.
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The solution was not too bad. An electrician ran a power supply from the wall outlet for the throttles. He mounted a 10 amp breaker and a master throttle on/off switch in a fascia panel. This gave me a protected circuit that could be powered off for all six throttle packs.
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The cost was under $300.00, but that was over 20 years ago.
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-Kevin
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I plug everything into a power strip and use its switch to turn on and off all the power to my control panel and power supplies.
Mel
Modeling the early to mid 1950s SP in HO scale since 1951
My Model Railroad
http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/
Bakersfield, California
I’m beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
Mel, my point is that there are any number of situations when I do not want my layout powered up, but I need the power for another reason, e.g. soldering, vacuuming, etc.
Not just the power strip or any other fancy answer. Just use a regular surge protector plugged into the wall. Then use a power strip that has an on/off switch into the surge protector. Now, plug only the layout/railroad plugs in the power strip. When ready to quit playing with trains, after making sure everything is off, then you can turn off the power strip and you don’t have to worry about each device. This is assuming you have a bunch of thingys that need a 120 volt receptacle. Those simple surge protectors are inexpensive and I use them for lot’s of stuff. PC’s. TV’s. etc. And you can buy power strips with surge protectors in them, but that can be expensive in comparison to a plain power strip and separate little surge protector. And the p.s. I use has a 4’ cord that reaches from the wall/s p to where I can reach it to turn things off without having to bend over - or go around turning each thingy off. And when in doubt, keep your wheels on the rails.
The simple solution seems to be isolating the boosters and command station on its own power strip. Then it’s just a matter of turning that one off.
Or…
Make an extension cord that terminates into a double gang box, which has a switch and an outlet. Utilize this to power the booster and command station so you can turn it off independently.
Now there is an idea Pennsy. buit it does not get to my issue of why there is no on/off switch to begin with.
It could be the manufacturer doesn’t want the extra cost of a switch, wire and labor to install it. I work in manufacturing and if the engineers can find a way to cut costs, especially labor, they are going to do it. At one assembly line in my plant, they produce about 1200 items a day, imagine the money saved if they didn’t have to install and wire $2.99 switch and the time it would take may drop the output to 1100 items a day. It all adds up.
Its a tech thing. I’ve noticed a trend since we’ve migrated from analog to digital that simply turning things off is not easy.
Culturally, the industry wants you to leave everything on all the time because its suits their needs, not yours.
I assume NCE just went with the trend and never considered a switch.
I plug mine into a power strip.
Power bar with surge protector. And, since at my increasingly addled age I occasionally forget to unplug things like soldering pencils, I plug EVERYTHING into them. Before I leave the room for any length of time, I rock da rocker and the little lights all go out.
I initially did this because I figured the tiny toggle on the front of the Digitrax command station (DB150) would not stand up to more than maybe 2000 flips. Power bars are cheap with the apparently ‘better’ ones reaching up to $40 or more. It would cost me almost that in shipping to get the DB150 back to Digitrax for repair. Plus their service charge.
I have that same problem. My garage only has two wall outlets so I use multiple power strips from one outlet. I have a main 15 amp eight outlet power strip with a 20’ cord that goes to the wall outlet. I mounted that power strip to my layout for normal operations of other than my layout, vacuum, fan, drop cords, etc. The eighth socket on my main strip is for my layout power. That feeds a second power strip for my layout. I have that feeding two power strips one for accessories the other for layout power, in my case DC and DCC controllers.
Anything is possible using power strips. Even with chained power strips the max load on the main power strip is under 6 amps (660 watts total) with everything on and I can turn off everything from the first or main strip.
I have all my power strips anchored, not laying loose. The only power cord floating around is the main power cord and that is because my layout is on casters so that I can move it around in the garage.
This is slightly off topic, but maybe some posters here can provide useful info.
I have a Digitrax setup. I have a PR3 with a PS-14 power supply. As mentioned earlier, I turn off power to it simultaneously with the command station. The PR3 is connected to my laptop via USB cable. Even though the PR3 is off, it still gets some power through the computer connection (one of the red LEDs stays lit). Does this do any harm?
Robert
I don’t know why your power supply doesn’t have a switch. That seems to be common with low power plug in the wall power supplies - wall warts, computer laptops, etc.
You can buy an outlet switch that you plug your cord into and then plug it into the wall (or extension cord)
Paul