06-28-2010, 09:19 PM
I did some thinking and read a bit on the DCC wiring and recommended practices. Did the following experiment:
Right now, all my power districts are connected together by rail connections. At some point I will cut gaps in the track to seperate the districts so each has its own wiring feeding it. Hope that makes sense so far. So, right now, when I turn on a single district, it actually supplies power to the other districts through the rail connections.
For the experiment, I turned on a single district, then went to one of the other districts which is receiving its power through only a rail connection. I used a screwdriver to short between the two rails. There was some sparking and humming and obvious high current flow, but not enough to cause the booster to go into short circuit mode and cut off. This is because the rail connection by itself has too much resistance. The booster was steadily pumping current through the short circuit. Not good.
Next, I turned on the switches so all the districts were fed by wiring, and again shorted the rails. This time the booster shut down on overload and stopped the current from flowing. So there is the reason why DCC wiring needs to be fairly robust. Mind you, not complicated, because it is very straight-forward. But you do need a bus and track feeders every so often.
After that, I installed some more electromagnet controls, then I ran the train a bit, doing a few drops and pick-ups at GERN Industries Texas Division.
Right now, all my power districts are connected together by rail connections. At some point I will cut gaps in the track to seperate the districts so each has its own wiring feeding it. Hope that makes sense so far. So, right now, when I turn on a single district, it actually supplies power to the other districts through the rail connections.
For the experiment, I turned on a single district, then went to one of the other districts which is receiving its power through only a rail connection. I used a screwdriver to short between the two rails. There was some sparking and humming and obvious high current flow, but not enough to cause the booster to go into short circuit mode and cut off. This is because the rail connection by itself has too much resistance. The booster was steadily pumping current through the short circuit. Not good.
Next, I turned on the switches so all the districts were fed by wiring, and again shorted the rails. This time the booster shut down on overload and stopped the current from flowing. So there is the reason why DCC wiring needs to be fairly robust. Mind you, not complicated, because it is very straight-forward. But you do need a bus and track feeders every so often.
After that, I installed some more electromagnet controls, then I ran the train a bit, doing a few drops and pick-ups at GERN Industries Texas Division.
Three Foot Rule In Effect At All Times