Sir TophamHatt Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 New to DCC. All I know is that by getting power to the track I attach two cables from the power unit to the track using a little plastic clip and away I go. Is this the same with DCC? Also, can I attach more cables and plastic clips to different sections of the track to ensure all parts are powered? Or is one okay? Thanks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Phil Bullock Posted January 19, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 19, 2017 Hi The more power feeds you have with DCC the better! And your cable from controller to track needs to be at least as heavy gauge cable as that used for a DCC main bus Without more info its difficult to be any more precise - are you talking a fixed layout here - if so, what size? Cheers Phil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crosland Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 All I know is that by getting power to the track I attach two cables from the power unit to the track using a little plastic clip and away I go. If you insist on using track clips (soldering is far and away the preferred way) make sure you use ones suitable for DCC. Some have suppression capacitors built in and are not suitable. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shibushe Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 I assume you have a power bus already. I and others will strongly advise you to solder wires where possible. Clips in what ever form can be unreliable. It would be useful to know as Phil says to have some more detail. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete the Elaner Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 I assume you have a power bus already. New to DCC. All I know is that by getting power to the track I attach two cables from the power unit to the track using a little plastic clip and away I go. I am guessing that 'power bus' is a new term for you? While a single power clip should work, it is not ideal. The resistance of nickel silver track is relatively high compared to a good conductor like the copper used in cables. Many of us therefore prefer to use a 'power bus' which is chunkier cabling to carry the feed from section to section. The bigger the cable. We then take 'droppers' from the power bus to each section of track. All cable has resistance (which for this purpose is unwanted). The bigger the cable, the lower the resistance. I have seen some people comment that you will damage equipment by using wire rated for more current than you need. This is complete rubbish. The power source your controller/booster) provides the voltage & the resistance/impedance of the load (your decoders & as mentioned before, the unwanted resistance of your wire) determines how much current you draw from it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir TophamHatt Posted January 25, 2017 Author Share Posted January 25, 2017 Hi Sorry for not coming back sooner. The layout is fixed, around 3m x 2m. It's a large oval, with a couple of sidings, three tracks of "mainline". Yes, power bus is a new term I have been watching the videos on YouTube from EvarardJunction about what sort of cable to use though, so that should be okay. So in a nutshell, I just run a length of cable around the layout, connect the end to the track somewhere, then take spurs at different points and connect those to the track too? Do I do this by simply splicing the cable or joining three pieces together (IE the end of the original, another cable carrying on the main bus, and the spur to the track)? Does this method work for DC too? If so, I guess I can just flip to using DCC when I have some DCC locos and a controller? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete the Elaner Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 It will work for DC but you would often need to switch sections on & off with only 1 loco in use per section, so the demand on current will be lower. You could physically splice connections from a cable or terminate the cable neatly & take droppers from there. Whichever you feel is best for your situation. Be mindful of where the weakest point is. For me, it is the inter-board connections. I carry my bus cables across with 2x 16/0.2 for every connection for the main running lines. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil S Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 'For dc/analogue use' in theory a suppression capacitor is fitted across power connections - however in reality this is probably only found when a manufactrer's track-power-connector is used because THEY must comply with the interefrence regulatations - as each responsible owner should too 8-) As a dcc bus, you are probably only having 1 section in thiss small layout - unless you ALSO have a TOTALLY ISOLATABLE section which you can give a switchable or dedicated programming-track power feed - so that yo do not need to remove all other locos etc when programming a new locomotive. IS YOUR WIRING ADEQUATE ? - DEPENDS- on the MAXimum current available from your chosen controller: A SHORT CIRCUIT ANYWERE MUST be able to trip the overload protection of the controller (or in the case of Hornby Select/elink using only a 1A supply, then read the manual about the equivalent under-voltage indication - because these are capable of being used with a 4A supply) SIMILARLY - they should be able to continuously supply, with mininimal voltage drop, the maximum current, to each part of the track .... although in practice, decoders are supposed to contnue working down to 7V - they may not be able to continue with sound lighting and motion! How thick your wiring is, and how many droppers you feel the need to include then depends on the track gauge ( eg Code 55 /80 for N, 75/83/100 for 00/H0 and Code 332 in Brass for LGB track - and whether you have added ballast with glue which flows inbetween the fishplate and track providing insulation etc etc ... the test which counts is the Short-Circuit protection (or 'coin' test. This is why some modellers tell of converting from analogue whilst keeping their existing wiring - not a problem (if theri are no suppression capacitors left in place) if their new DCC controller has an output of only 1 amp, or they have split the layout bus feeds so that a possible 4 Amps, for example, is fed to the track via PSX intellligent circuit breakers set to about 1 Amp limit (they have a wide range - this is just a simple example to make the prinicple clear) Note that Accessory bus and Programming tracks should NOT be fed via a PSX or similar - they should not need the protection method offered by the pSX/similar) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben_m Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 Sorry to jump into another's thread with a question, but I've got a n gauge small (1.8 x 1 m) loop with two sidings, and have soldered all rail joints. I'm just using one soldered power input- will I see noticeable improvement in running performance or short circuit protection if I make a power bus and add more droppers? I don't notice any performance chance dependant on distance from the power input at the moment. I see occasional issues with the points if their blades are not clean, so I was going to have power inputs to the sidings, so I guess I may as well add a few more power inputs around eh loop...? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete the Elaner Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 Sorry to jump into another's thread with a question, but I've got a n gauge small (1.8 x 1 m) loop with two sidings, and have soldered all rail joints. I'm just using one soldered power input- will I see noticeable improvement in running performance or short circuit protection if I make a power bus and add more droppers? I don't notice any performance chance dependant on distance from the power input at the moment. I see occasional issues with the points if their blades are not clean, so I was going to have power inputs to the sidings, so I guess I may as well add a few more power inputs around eh loop...? It does not sound like you will see any performance improvement but extra droppers will not do any harm. If you are currently feeding your sidings through point blades then you will need isolating joiners on the frog rails before re-feeding sidings. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir TophamHatt Posted January 29, 2017 Author Share Posted January 29, 2017 And I don't particularly need any isloating section? I know it's better to have an isolated piece of track for programming DCC locos - I'll remember that when I get round to it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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