New - Need Assistance - 240v Power Supply - DCC Controller

[robogo]

Hallo there, I am new to Model Railroading, wanted to get a train set  for some time, decided that I will spoil myself a bit this Christmas.

Just bought on eBay (new, still waiting on delivery) 120 x pcs of Bachmann HO Gray track including 12 x Crossovers, Turnouts and Wye's, 3 x Ho30 Bachmann Locomotives, 1 x DCC and Sound equipped, 1 x DCC equipped, 1 x DCC ready.

I did not buy a DCC Controller because I am still trying to figure which will be best suited, considering one from Bachmann or perhaps the Digitrax DCS50.

The Power Supply is my biggest concern, I did read a lot about power supplies but I must admit that I do not understand exactly what is needet to run this setup (also considering future expansion).

As I am from South Africa I need a 240v power supply/transformer which seems very hard to find.

Can someone please explain to me the difference between a Switch (as included in the First Track Pack) and a Decoder DCC Turnout, I would like to controll all turnouts with a DCC Controller, is there any extrass that is needed to controll these switches/turnouts?

I woud like to have this setup running by the New Year, your help and assistance will be greatly appreciated.

[bobwrgt]

You will have to purchase an adapter to convert the 240 Volt to 110-120 volt input if you want to use any system made for the US market. The output for the train after conversion would be correct.
You might look to Ebay in the UK for a power supply as 240 volt is more common in Europe.
Someone Else will have to answer your questions on switches as i don't have knowledge of those.

Bob

[Hamish K]

Some, if not all, of the Bachmann DCC controllers come with a separate wall power supply, this might also apply to other brands. If the controller you get has a separate wall pack all you need to do is get a 240v wall pack. The rest will be the same. Here in Australia Bachmann sells its controllers with 240v wall packs, that might apply in South Africa. if not, or you are buying from the USA, a separate 240v wall pack should be easy to find. Just check that the wall packs output is the same as the original  1110v pack.

Hamish

[NarrowMinded]

The simple thing to do would be to go to your local electronics store and buy an accessory power supply with a secondary output  voltage that matches the Bachmann secondary voltage. You may even find you aready have something around your house that matches that already, maybe an old cordless phone power supply an old portable radio or something like that.  

When I was in Egypt I bought a power pack that was 240v in 24vdc out to run a piece of test equipment at a electronics supplier near where I was working, so I would guess you would have a pretty good chance of finding something down south.

NM

PS I'm sure I saw a 24vac secondary output while I was looking

[Jim Banner]

As NarrowMinded has stated and Hamish has implied, the output voltage of the new power source must match that of the original power source.  Only the input (line) voltage is different.  But you must also make sure the new power source has at least as high an amp rating as the original.  If the amp rating is too low, your DCC command station may not shut down properly in case of a short circuit on the rails.  This can damage the power source and/or the DCC command station.  If the new power source is rated at more amps than the original, installing a fuse between the power source and the command station is a good idea.  Choose a fuse with the same amp rating as the original power source.

I have a Digitrax Zephyr (DCS50  which requires 15 volts ac at 3 amps.  The original power source is rated 120 volts ac in, 15 volts ac, 3 amps out.  But I run it from time to time using a 15 volt ac, 16 amp transformer.  Between the power generating station and my house, the power line voltages are as high a 250,000 volts.  But my Zephyr does not care, as long as the voltage fed to its power input is 15 volts.  I do, however, use a 3 amp fuse between the 15 volt, 16 amp transformer and the Zephyr.  Then if the Zephyr has an internal problem that prevents it from shutting down, a track short circuit will cause only a small amount of internal damage.  Otherwise the same problem could lead to the Zephyr trying to deal with 28 times more power than it is designed to deal with.  This can have dire consequences including completely destroying the Zephyr, destroying my railroad, destroying my house and so forth.  Note that the fuse must go between the low voltage supply and the command station.  If you have the type G plugs like they use in the U.K. (the ones with the three rectangular pins), the fuse inside the plug does NOT protect your command station from a power source with a higher current rating.

The third consideration for a power source is the frequency.  The manual for the DCS50 Zephyr specifically states that it is designed to run on 50 Hz as well as on 60 Hz.  Bachmann's E-Z Command does not appear to include this information in their manual but we can infer from the list of countries where it is sold that it too is happy to run on 50 Hz.  For other brands of DCC, check their manufacturers' websites.  The difference in line frequency brings into doubt the wisdom of trying to run a North American 120 volt / 60 Hz. power supply on 240 volts / 50 Hz. with a voltage changing transformer.  As you may already know, transformers run at lower frequencies than they were designed for do not put out their full rated output.  So even though a 240 to 120 volt transformer could bring the line voltage down to the correct voltage for the North American E-Z Command and Zephyr transformers, the 50 Hz would prevent those transformers from fully powering their respective command stations.  And as explained above, this can be bad for the health of the command station.

Jim

[robogo]

Thank you for your explanations, think I am trying to make this more complicated than it is.

As soon as I have decided on a DCC Controller (maybe the Digitrax) I will go to the electronics dealer and get exactly what is needed.