The solution I am going to use is to plug a power strip, smallest one I can find, into the surge protector and dedicate it to powering the layout. There are still enough outlets in the surge protector to use for anything else.
Cut the power cord and install a switch.
Not all power strips are surge protectors. Some of them are just power strips. The only thing that stops you from plugging a power strip into another power strip is $10 or what ever they cost these days.
Here is what I do instead: I have a wall mounted surge protector that fits onto a regular wall receptacle. It has space for six plugs. I take a plastic or metal two gang box and mount it to the benchwork. In the box I install a 110 volt switch and a 110 volt duplex receptacle. I use a pigtail for a dishwasher/garbage disposal to plug into a wall receptacle. You could also use part of a heavy duty extension cord. I can then easily turn on and off the power to the layout with a flip of the switch. Don’t forget to put a cover plate on it.
If you need to plug in more than two devices then get a three gang or four gang box. If you are not comfortable working with electricity then ask a friend who is or get professional help.
A number of reasons for no physical switch: the cost of the switch (and the membrane or button in the case), the cost to solder it into the circuit, any provisions for debouncing or spark at the terminals (turn-on of even those cheap Chinese ‘aftermarket’ power supplies being slower), the need to provide physical access in the case and perhaps complication in final assembly, the chance of switch failure causing the device to be returned, or bad word-of-mouth or reviews.
On top of that, with the unit being that small, how do you hold it when pushing a power button? You’d almost need two hands, and if you just poked it while sitting on a table you’d just make it move around. More work to glue it down or screw it to something than to provide an external switch…
The correct place for the switch, as noted, is probably at the line cord of the power supply.
None of the DCC companies is making that power supply they include. They are all bog standard Laptop power supplies or similar, produced in the millions, which keeps the cost down. Instead of heavy transformers, they are switching power supplies, which adds the ability to work on any input range from 100-250 volts, making them usable around the world. Used to be, you might get a DCC system that included a power supply in the US, but people in other countries who bought it wouldn’t get the power supply, being told to “source one locally” since a transformer supply can’t automatically adjust to the input voltage, and I doubt the DCC companies would want people to try to mess around with tranformer taps to adjust the input voltage.
These monolithic bricks they include now don’t have a switch, and the DCC companies aren’t going to custom order them with one. Overmod hit the main reason - safety approvals. Those power supplies don’t even open up unless you take a dremel to the case, they are sealed shut. A switch introduces an opening intot he case. What happenes if it gets stepped on, or the switch is otherwise damaged? It could easily expose line voltage. Or short and start a fire.
Keep in mind that in several countries, all wall outlets are required to have switches. England and Australia are two, an wall outlet with 2 sockets will also have 2 switches.
Also, most other small power supplies we use don;t have switches either - wall warts especially. I will get around this in my base,emt by having more than one circuit. Anything layout-related will be on one, controlled by a master switch, and the rest of the outlets will similarly be operated by a second master switch. There will be a set of master switches in the basement, as well as another set at the top of the stairs. Plus another switch for the general room lights. That way, as long as I turn off both master switches, everything in the train room will be powered off - the layout it
I’ve got 3 power strips, one along each wall where I’ve got sections of my layout. Each one has a switch, so 3 switches is all it takes to power my layout off and on.
My Lenz throttle has a button to stop all the trains. At that point, pressing one of the function keys will shut down power to the track. The DCC system stays on so that the throttle can the be used to restore power.
I use a power strip with an on/off switch that lights up in red. That way, when I’m calling it a night, and turn off the room lights, that red light is hard to miss, meaning I didn’t turn off power to the system.
Mike.
The NCE web site photo of a power supply shows the #515 that has the on off switch built in. That is the one I got from NCE. It is certainly available. I am not sure that the mfg in this case has any more responsibility to the consumer.
Old Fat Robert
SPST_switch by Edmund, on Flickr
I have several of these around the layout room and work shop.
There is a grounded version available, too.
Good Luck,
Ed
The manufacturer can manufacture anything he wants and the consumer can decide whether or not to buy it. Check out the NCE photo of the SB5 booster and I assure you there is no on/off switch either on the booster or on the power supply.
We had a Fire Marshall inspect our office last month, and I don’t know the reasons why, but he was 100% all over us for having three instances of a power strip plugged into a surge protector.
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He wrote us up for the three violations. They are all fixed now.
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After how he was so concerned, I would never plug a power strip into a surge protector. I have always believed in hiring skilled labor. I vote to get an electrician involved.
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Don’t replicate the end of the GORRE & DAPHETID.
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-Kevin
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Looks like the answer. What do you do with a three/3 prong plug?
Why did you not ask him???
As an ex-card-carrying member of the IEEE, I see no sound ‘electrical’ reason why a multiple outlet or strip that is intelligently used could not be plugged into a surge-protected receptacle. Of course the varistor or whatever is providing the surge diversion needs to be rated relative to the wattage it’s protecting, and to a lesser extent any power-factor or inductive concern, and the ‘sink’ for any clamped surge current needs to be able to absorb the number of joules the protector needs to ‘bypass’ around the protected load, but even if the device should fail in one-time overload the mere presence of a strip with multiple outlets shouldn’t pose any particular hazard, fire or otherwise.
Now if you had 30 or more cumulative peak amps into that one receptacle, which probably has a contact rating 15A or less, then yes, I’d be all over you too. If there was a risk of the witless plugging space heaters and other devices into the outlets on that strip without concern for ticking off the Electricity Fairy, I might be concerned too. That’s another reason why you should look your fire marshal up and ask him specifically what his reasons were.
If in doubt, call the insurance company you use for the property and have them send an inspector out. Those people often have a very good idea what’s a hazard and what’s not, and a motivated reason to tell you (and not exaggerate).
As a somewhat rueful personal experience, I came south in the early Nineties to set a homebuilder up with computerized job costing and CAD. Somehow I wound up as his Acting General Manager in a wide number of enterprises, one of which was reta
I haven’t read through all the replies so somebody might have suggested this but all my electrical components including the power supply for accessories are plugged into a power strip that has an on/off switch so I can shut the entire system down with the flip of one switch.
I am impressed Overmod, and I also dont understand a word that you have written.
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The were not plugged into a surge protected outlet, but a portable surge protector that plugged into an outlet.
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We NEVER argue with any official. We find out how to become compliant and follow instructions. If we can fix the offending issue with money, then it is not a real problem. If we can’t, we call engineering.
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Either way, I just need to stay on the right side of this.
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My business is not arguing with fire marshalls. I make money elsewhere, so I just need to satisfy his concerns and move on.
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-Kevin
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I can translate into English, perhaps even avoiding MEGO syndrome induction, if you are actually interested in this stuff.
I guess I have a fundamentally different administrative style – whenever we had some kind of a violation, I’d ask the reason rather than just keeping quiet and throwing money at what might well be the wrong thing. I have never known either a fire inspector or an insurance underwriting guy who wouldn’t tell you exactly what you should remediate, and why it should be done. Just as I have never known a Federal official from any agency who wouldn’t explain how their inspection priorities and desired compliance behavior would be structured.
Naturally this wouldn’t be phrased as “why are you writing me up” defensiveness. Some of us didn’t fall off the turnip truck yesterday and know how to talk to professionals without insulting them. And be proactively clear about quickly remediating whatever the issue is. Just asking why daisy-chaining devices in a wall receptacle could constitute danger would be interesting to know – and yes, I think whatever he gave as a reason would be good to know for general reasons. Now you’ll never know.
Overmod, if you could translate into English I would be thankful.
Wall outlets are rated for different amount of Amps depending upon their intended use. It may not be a problem if the installed outlet has a high enough amperage rating.
Typical household outlets are rated for about 15 amps I believe.
OK, here’s a first try. You may indicate if it is adequate or if a different approach is desirable.
Electricity can be ‘measured’ by both volts and amperes, which are often compared to “pressure” and “volume” of water molecules traveling through a pipe. Power is transmitted through the movement of electrons (don’t ask me their fine structure, but that’s not important here) – in DC, the electrons move in one general direction, in AC, they cycle back and forth, a bit like sloshing water, but in both cases the flow of the current (now you see why that word was chosen) conveys the energy.
Most power systems have a nominal voltage, or pressure. This is complicated a bit for standard (or well-synthesized) AC, because the peak voltage is somewhat higher than the ‘rated’ voltage for reasons related to boring trigonometry of sine waves, something on which there will be no test here, but even the peak voltage is not radically higher and AC equipment is built and insulated to account for it.
On the other hand, it is possible for ‘spikes’ of much higher voltage to occur on a power line. Lightning is one obvious cause; the voltage induced by a collapsing magnetic field can be another; some forms of electromagnetic pulse (sometimes seen in the media as EMP) can induce them. The purpose of a ‘surge protector’ is to eliminate any chance that these spikes, which can have a very short effective rise time, will damage connected equipment.
I digress for a moment to mention that one of the critical issues with overvoltage spikes involves certain types of modern miniaturized circuits, particularly devices known as metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors or MOSFETs. These are not tolerant of higher voltages because parts of their structure are essentially so thin that they act as fuses, or are damaged when even small currents flow between elements that aren’t supposed to be joined.