This Saturday, while out at garage sales with my wife, I scored a 13.8 VDC, 6A regulated power supply for $8- and a bunch of wall-warts for $0.25 each, including one rated at 12V and 1.8A.
The wall-warts need some sort of regulation for many applications, LM317’s are very inexpensive for All Electronics…
As noted in a previous post, ALWAYS disconnect everything associated with your layout from the AC line. The risk of fire is not worth it.
I do not understand. Why not AC? I just bought a PS315 from Digitrax to power all my lights and accesories. What is wrong with that? It is Ac power. I am aware that I had 24V 40A transformers that burned out many many times because of heating up but the fuse blew and they were no good so I decided to go with the PS315 unit instead. Will this not be sufficient or am I setting my self up for a fire?
The PS315 is a 3A power supply that I think is AC power too. All of my accessories run on AC power like the lights and snap switches
I think he means to unplug from the wall to avoid electrical surges from burning out your expensive equipment. At least that is how I read it. A good UPS (or two) will work too.
What I meant was disconnect all of your electrical items from the main power coming into your building, either by use of a switch or unplugging them.
It is not worth the risk of fire burning down your building/house, along with everything in it.