This is a great video, particularly the emphasis on safety. A lot of hobbiest forget that their "low voltage" power supply line actually is supplied from mains voltage adapters which could pass mains voltage through. I would be a little cautious using a laptop power supply on our model railways. These are usually only rated at a maximum of 65Watt and they are not well isolated. I would only use these if you are really desperate for a power supply. The only thing I found distracting in this video was a lot of background noise. I know that's not your fault, but it made my look around for sources of the noise until I realised it was in the audiotrack of the video.
Thank you. For the notebook power supply, the same principle applies: Nominal current of the booster plus 10-20%. So, if the nominal current of the PS is 4 Amps, set the trip current of the command station to max. 3.5A. As for the noise, I am still filming in a very temporary setup in the garage after moving. To avoid echo, I had to open the door half way up, so you can hear that stupid bird out there and an occasional car going by. And at one point it started raining. The good news is I got the building permit for my shed, so things will get better over time ;-)
The NMRA DCC standards also call out not using a bundled ground wire between devices (LocoNet, LCC, etc) when connecting via power station interfaces. It is generally advised to always connect the common GND terminals when available on DCC devices, in some cases it is mandatory (non-isolated interfaces). In all cases, be safe with the wiring for train layouts. If you have questions, ask them to the appropriate people.
Interesting, I’ve had a few friends ask about power supplies recently. This will help. As to the dangers posed, I recall many years ago when I worked in the hospital, of a young toddler arriving in the ER with severe burns to their mouth. They had chewed a power cord and shorted it out. This was not something you wanted to see and that toddler had many years of reconstructive surgery to undergo.
The principles are the same, so there is not really a need for it. Connect a strong enough DC power supply to the power shield(s). The AUX shield can than be powered from a separate power supply or from on of the power shields using the jumper that feeds the voltage to VIN (as long the voltage is not more than 18V).
Thanks Hans for this Model train safety video. It is a subject that is often overlooked.
Many thanks!
This is a great video, particularly the emphasis on safety. A lot of hobbiest forget that their "low voltage" power supply line actually is supplied from mains voltage adapters which could pass mains voltage through. I would be a little cautious using a laptop power supply on our model railways. These are usually only rated at a maximum of 65Watt and they are not well isolated. I would only use these if you are really desperate for a power supply.
The only thing I found distracting in this video was a lot of background noise. I know that's not your fault, but it made my look around for sources of the noise until I realised it was in the audiotrack of the video.
Thank you. For the notebook power supply, the same principle applies: Nominal current of the booster plus 10-20%. So, if the nominal current of the PS is 4 Amps, set the trip current of the command station to max. 3.5A.
As for the noise, I am still filming in a very temporary setup in the garage after moving. To avoid echo, I had to open the door half way up, so you can hear that stupid bird out there and an occasional car going by. And at one point it started raining. The good news is I got the building permit for my shed, so things will get better over time ;-)
Great video. I'm using the "cheap" AliExpress metal casing supplies. So next job: casings!
Great idea! Much safer!
The NMRA DCC standards also call out not using a bundled ground wire between devices (LocoNet, LCC, etc) when connecting via power station interfaces. It is generally advised to always connect the common GND terminals when available on DCC devices, in some cases it is mandatory (non-isolated interfaces).
In all cases, be safe with the wiring for train layouts. If you have questions, ask them to the appropriate people.
Thanks, good advice!
Interesting, I’ve had a few friends ask about power supplies recently. This will help. As to the dangers posed, I recall many years ago when I worked in the hospital, of a young toddler arriving in the ER with severe burns to their mouth. They had chewed a power cord and shorted it out. This was not something you wanted to see and that toddler had many years of reconstructive surgery to undergo.
Unfortunately, stuff like that happens even it would not be too complicated to avoid it.
Will there be a Part 2 on power supply for DCC Aux Shield?
The principles are the same, so there is not really a need for it. Connect a strong enough DC power supply to the power shield(s). The AUX shield can than be powered from a separate power supply or from on of the power shields using the jumper that feeds the voltage to VIN (as long the voltage is not more than 18V).
Sorry terrible acoustics sound like your speaking in a concrete pipe