i would say sell the zephyr and just buy the duplex 8amp chief, there is a saving to made in buying a set rather than the 2 actual items you want. the sets seem to offer better discounts than individual items. and selling a zephyr should be an easy task.
Why would the OP need 8 amps to run 2 or 3 locos at the same time? He’s not using G scale.
And 8 amps at the source won’t mean less voltage drop at the destination - voltage drop is a factor of the current draw of the load, NOT the current source. If the wire table shows a given length of a certain wire drops half a volt with a 2 amp load, changing the source from 2.5 amps to 8 amps won’t make a bit of difference.
There’s also no real reason to sell the Zephyr even if he did buy a new set. The Zephyr can still work as a throttle plus provide 2.5 amps for a seperate power district or accessory decoders. In fact based on the OP’s listed requirements, if he buys ANYTHIGN extra it should be a Super EMpirer Builder set and retaint he Zephyr as the command station. This is what I am doing for my layout, I will nver have more than 10 locos running. I don;t really need the 5 amps to run my trains, either, but all my turnouts will be pwoered by Tam Valley Quad stationary decoders and RC servos. So the output of the DB150 ges to my PM42 which divides the layout into 4 power districts, the zephyer will be mounted over my workbench and its 2.5 amps will power the accessory decoders, plus I still have the dedicated program track since the Zephyr is still the command station.
–Randy
–Randy
I agree that the best way for the OP to expand would be to add an Empire Builder to the existing Zepher. Keep the Zepher as a command station. You can pick up a cheep new/used Empire Builder with a DT400 on Ebay. Send the DT400 to Digitrax to be upgraded to DT402R or DT402D.
i said get the 8 amp chief because for the minor increase in cost the extra 3 amps worth over the 5 amp version ( more than a whole zephyr extra! ) makes buying a 5 amp system almost pointless, and down the line 8 amps may be useful. what annoys me about the zephyr, and in some ways helps make it DCC for a new convert and leaving them aspects of DC is the throttle. if you use the jump ports, all the throttles will have potentiometer control, so just like DC so it makes it familliar. but once you start adding DT400’s into things, you suddenly get encoders for speed control. the encoders self match to a locos speed when you re-select it once you have set it rolling, the zephyr doesn’t do this for you ( it does if you use a DT plugged into it ). you have to constantly think ‘how fast’ and then guess with the control knob to try and match it. not a huge issue if you have realistic accel and decell set as it adjusts gently, but with none of those set it is jolt jolt etc. i would have prefered the zephyr to have an encoder and a big round dial like on the UT throttles so it just speed matched on reaquisition of a loco. do the UT throttles have encoders or pots? if pots then maybe the zephyr is not so different, but i have only had controllers with encoders and not having to guess where to set the throttle was a big plus.
all that said, i’d still buy a chief ( 5 amp if you must ) and set that as the command station and demote the zephyr to a booster. the chief is a better spec’d command station than the zephyr and would give better functionallity than keeping the zephyr as the command station and using the DB from an empire builder as a booster.
The problem with 8 amp systems is getting a power supply. 8 amp power supplies aren;t common. I don’t care what Tony’s claims, the MagnasForce 615 is NOT an 8 amp power supply, it can;t supply 8 amps at reasonable voltage. Their own test graph shows it. And you cannot use a 5 amp power supply with an 8 amp booster - you’re askign for all sorts of trouble if you do. The booster won’t shut down until the load exceeds 8 amps, but the poor 5 amp power supply will be dropping voltage up tilt he point it finally drops out. And running ANY sort of a computer (the PIC microcontroller in the DCS200 is most defintiely a computer) on low voltage is asking for all sorts of wierd issues.
Aside from 120 loco slots vs 10, there is very little a DCS100/200 can do that a Zephyr cannot. The Zephyr is probably the most full-featured command station for the money anywhere.
–Randy
8 amps is only good for 2 things…G scale and welding wheels to rails in HO and N scale.
Do NOT get the 8 amp system…you run the possibility of welding wheels/melting axles a whole lot faster than a 5 amp system.
David B
Just ask Ken [:D]
Of course that was a cheap MRC 8 amp booster and some inadequate wiring. Still…
-Randy
I have used an 8 amp Digitrax for several years and have never had it damage anything. It trips just as it should when a short occurs.
Ahh those were the days, the hum of the MRC welder, the lights dimming in the garage, the scent of burnt DH decoders…memories…
yes, it is such a shame that nobody makes breakers for our hobby, wait a minute though, THEY DO. also, you can run an 8 amp system on a 5 amp supply, you just end up with 5 amps at the rails ( minus the losses ). i use my zephyr with a 1 amp wall wart on the clubs test track on running nights. i run my 5 amp chief from a 10 amp supply . no problems either way. i’m sure the chief would run a couple of loco’s with a 1 amp supply too. there is no need to look for an 8 amp PSU just because the command station is 8 amps. even digitraxs own big unit is 20 amps!!! do you think they’d be supplying a unit that big with your litigation culture if they thought it was a problem?? thought not. if you want to be ultra careful you could fit an inline fuse or breaker, [:D]
edit, i hadn’t considered any voltage drop may harm an underpowered system?? if it does? would you notice slower movement and dimmer lights when things started to struggle? maybe a permanent amp meter inline to keep an eye on things like on the front of the digitrax PSU???
You really should have a power supply that will put out at least the current limits of your Command Station. Every booster is equipped with an internal circuit breaker set to trip at the maximum current limit. Power a 5 amp booster with a 3 amp supply and the booster’s circuit breaker may not trip. It will just keep supplying 3 amps to the short until whatever shorted is finally burned away. Either that or the power supply will overload/overheat. Either way, the outcome would not be good.
Having an underpowered supply might not damage the booster/command station, but it sure cna cause erratic operations - locos not responding, or runaways. And even contribute to melting wheels since the 8 amp booster won’t trip because it never can supply 8 amps with only a 5 or 6 amp input.
Yes using circuit breakers to make multiple lower current districts out of the 8 amps will stop the wheel metling. But it doesn;t address the fundamental issue of getting an 8 amp power suppyl for the thing. 5 amps is common, there are at least 3 commercial ones readily available, from NCE, Digitrax, and Tony’s. The only oen DIgitrax has is the big 20 amp monster, to which you need to add 8 amp circuit breakers (and it could power 2x 8 amp boosters). Most 8 and 10 amp supplies end up being DIY jobs - and if you are NOT comfortable with 120VAC wiring you should not attempt to make one fo these. Proper fusing is important, as it making sure there are absolutely no loose wires. I am fairly comfortable workign on stuff like this and I still prefer to use something already made instead of buying a big transformer and wiring it up myself. There’s at least a slight level of comfort using something that carries a UL listing vs a DIY system I’m 99.9% sure I did everything right on. Maybe I’m paranoid but I’d prefer NOT to have a house fire.
–Randy