resilence of power packs


tankist

tankist

Active Member
since i'm going with DCC eventually, i didn't purchace nice DC controler but rather cheap noname 10$ used from LHS. it did seem to preform sufficiently well even for 2 locos at a time. after half a nour of unnatended run (breaking that CF7 in) it was warm but nothing special.

last night i left the train looping around (2 locos and several cars) and after i came back after 10 minutes or so things were stoped. what happened is probably some cars derailed /decoupled and somehow train got blocked from moving but stayed on rails. that canyon is a dengerous place i guess. i tested the locos with the other power supply i had, both are fine. the cheap ""model power" unit is toasty however (smells toasty too). while its uppsetting it is not a big loss, i can live with power supply sacrificing itself to keep trains alive (and not burning up the house while at it). however what would have happened had that been nicer DC control unit? do those things burn out as easy, do they burn out trains instead or is there some sort of current limit/short protection?

i guess i will need to stop by the store and get another one of theses 10$ supplies...
 
You can get some really nice MRC DC power packs on e-bay for $20 or less with reliable short protection. There's really no point in buying those crummy toy train power packs. I picked up one of the MRC big brass colored ones (can't rememeber the model numer offhand) and it's running about 110 light bulbs on the layout from the DC side, so I can dim the lights and not have to worry about series wiring and resistors. I paid $17 including shipping on e-bay and it had never been used. Once you switch over to DCC for your trains, these DC power packs are great for running all your lights and other accesories.
 
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