Rewiring to DCC


B

bigB

Active Member
Well, after a long hard look at my relatively new layout, Ive decided to rewire it for DCC. Im going to do a bunch of research and planning and probably start after the holidays. I already have several books and know of tony's and some other websites that are good resources (this board included). Im planning tentively to use the NCE Powercab system and will prob add a booster. I have a reversing loop with two entry points and two crossovers within it so i need to figure that out all over again. Im looking forward to cutting some wire and making things simple though in the New Year....

Any pointers anyone can give particular in the transition from DC to DCC would be appreciated. I know that this is a pretty common topic on this board.

Thanks
 
DCC= simple terms just 2 wires.

to get more complex add some jumper wires around the layout to keep power supply going around the table.

as far as a reverse loop its best to put it on a single track part that has no switches or spurs etc... make the isolated part of the track longer than the amount of locos that you will ever run. Example if 3 locos coupled together is the most you will ever run them make the isolated track a minimum length of about 4 locos. Hope that makes sence.

DCC is very easy you will like it.!!
 
Hey thanks. I originally thought of wiring the layout in DCC, and I did a bunch of research back in the planning stages then. I really wanted to get it up and running for my boys, but with the original novelty running out, Im starting to realize its limitations.

So I am full of questions.

Since my layout is currently in a block format, do i need to pull up any track to remove those isolated joiners between blocks (i know my reversing loop isolations need to stay) or will that help my with circuit breaker/detection?

Im thinking of using 14 gauge solid wire (two wires, two diff colors) for the bus wire. That wire wont exceed prob 60 feet on my layout and I doubt ill ever run more than 4 locos at once. If im operating nce's powercab, do i need to get a 3 amp booster?


Thanks
 
yes the best thing to do is to remove all the isolated spurs/track Blocks etc... replace all your track with metal rail joiners. Just keep your revers loop isolated.....the nice thing with DCC is that the wireing is absoulte minimal!. now watch this:) take your reverse loop section and place in a MRC auto reverser http://www.tonystrains.com/technews/archive/mrctests.htm
no toggles to throw or need to watch that section. just drive the train into and out of the loop without doing anything. this is they stiff that makes DCC awsome.

A bus wire is good idea to run to both ends of the layout. you can use an old DC controler to power layout decoration/ lights with. I dont think you will beed a power booster unless the layout is large and alot of locos will be running. That NCE is a great unit and I dought you will need one just to get started. I have a MRC and in my opinion both MRC and NCE DCC units are so much easy to use compaired to Digitraxx and others.

Trent
 
BigB, you actually don't need to take out all the blocks. Just leave them all powered to run in DCC. You must already have some feeder wires going to the blocks, and all you have to do is tie those wires back to the two wires coming from the NCE controller through the block toggle switches. Leaving the blocks in place can help troubleshoot DCC problems so there's no point in removing them. The feeders to the blocks will also be more than enough drops to assure constant current around the whole layout if your bus wire is only 60 feet long. The NCE Powercab will easily handle four engines so a booster is really not needed.

As Trent said, just use your existing DC powerpacks for lights and signals on the layout and reserve the DCC contollers output for running trains. I use the AC accessory terminals for things that need constant brightness, like block signals, traffic lights, and grade crossing signals. The DC variable teminal is ideal for things like street lights and building lighting, since you can dial up and down the brightness with the throttle handle and not worry about things like series wiring.
 
Ok, thanks guys.

I was thinking that those insulated sections may come in handy esp since each block already has feeder wires dropped from it. I was thinking i could remove the wires that go from the atlas selectors to one half of the feeders and connect one half of the dcc unit's power supply to these wires by either a bus wire running around the bottom of the table or to a bus bar i have mounted at the bottom of my table.

Any input about which is better, running a bus loop under the table and attaching the feeders or running the power from the dcc power supply to a bus bar and distributing it from there?

I am going to keep my better ac/dc transformer for accessiories,etc.

Thanks for the help guys!

Brad
 
Brad, I run all my wires to terminal strips first. I then have a test point to make sure I'm getting power from the various electrical components. Label the terminal strips and color code the wires so you know what's what. It can get real confusing even with a small layout.

I then run a three pairs of bus wires around the layout. This makes it easy to add or change wires rather than having them run back to a bus bar. I have a power bus that goes to the DCC power terminal strip, a lighting bus that goes to the variable power terminal strip, and a constant voltage bus that goes to the accessory terminal strip. I hang the wires using wire ties with the tail end stapled to the bottom of the layout. I connect the wires from the layout to the bus using Posi-Tap connectors. There are many ways to do this but my method has worked well for me.
 
A friend of mine here in town has a layout that was wired for two cab control for DC. All he did was wire the DCC into one side of the two cab setup. That way all he had to do was replace one DC cab with the DCC, and throw all of his cab switches to one side to run DCC. He did replace his reverse loop switches with auto reverse units.
 
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