Power supply for NCE sB3a

Model Railroader Electronics and DCC
1

Hi all, Just after a bit of advice in regards to the NCE sB3a booster. I currently have the power cab but want to upgrade for more power. Looking at everything I’ve read and what I need, the sB3a will work fine. The issue I have is that as the unit doesn’t come with a power supply and as I am in Australia the power supply that NCE sells not only won’t fit my plugs, but also we run 240V not 110V as in the US. What I am wondering is would the power supply that came with the power cab fit the booster? Any advice would be great. Cheers

2

Bradk - Welcome to trains.com! [C):-)]

3

Brad,

I would contact Larry Larsen @ NCE and pose the question to him. I’m sure they’ve run into this sort of arrangement before.

Tom

4

Hi Brad,

I suggest you contact the Australian agent for NCE. I believe it is Model Railroad Craftsman in Blacktown Sydney.

Cheers from a fellow Auzzie

5

Thanks for the advice guys, I can get the booster and transformer from here in oz, from model railroad craftsman as Alan suggested, thanks mate. It is a lot dearer than buying online but I might just have to bite the bullet on this one and pay the $$ Thanks again Brad

6

You’ll get the Aussie warrantee too. What was the AU$ price?

7

To buy it here it would cost me $230 for the booster and transformer, plus $20 postage to get it to WA, so $250 total. I can get the booster alone on eBay for about $140, but can’t find a transformer.

8

You should be able to find things like replacement laptop power supplies locally. There are also many Chinese eBay seller who ship worldwide with suitable power supplies, universal input so they’ll work on 110-240, output arounf 16-18V DC with 5 amps, within the specs of the SB3a.

–Randy

9

Hi Brad, thanks for your reply on the cost.

Jaycar sells a bench power supply that would work with the SB3A. It’s $99 but it’s probably overkill in that it is a fully regulated DC supply.

Unless you are an electrical whizz, I wouldn’t recommend just getting a bare bones transformer and wiring it up, 240Volts is deadly, but an old 5 amp laptop supply would probably work ok.

The Sb3A manual says it needs a 13 - 18V AC power supply, so anything with that sort of output would work. I had a look at Altronics, a WA electronics supplier, but they didn’t have anything suitable for less than what you’ve been quoted.

Hope this helps.

Alan