I have heard that some powerpacks do not permit common rail wiring such as combination “dual Packs”. Most common rail wiring diagrams feature two or more power packs for clarity of wiring use. I have an MRC Power Command 9500 and wi***o use it to wire my layout for common rail. If I use the variable DC and throttle, in conjunction with a GML walkaround throttle wired to the fixed DC of the same pack, would common rail work?
Thanks
Chuck
Chuck,
I don’t know if this will be of any help but here goes. I have a book, now out of print (of course) by Linn Wescott called “The HO Primer”. In it he covers your exact question. I don’t have the book in front of me (buried in my basement somewhere) but to the best of my recollection he says that any internal connections between the DC Plus terminals of a Dual Pack will result in a short circuit that will render that particular pack useless for common rail wiring. Again to the best of my recollection the way to check if a certain pack meets or fails this criteria is to attach an Ohm meter to each DC POS terminal WITHOUT THE PACK PLUGGED IN OR ENERGIZED. Set the meter on the lowest resistance reading and throw ALL swithes on the pack to every possible combination of positions. If any one combination of switch positions results in a resistance reading, there is an internal conection in the pack and it can’t be used in common rail wiring. I will try to find this book and confirm this (or maybe someone in the audience can double check me on this). Anyway if you can’t use the pack the only two alternatives are to gap each rail (read double the wiring) or use two packs. Hope this helps you out. Gary. PS: Check your local library. You never know they may have this book.