DCC Power Supply Short Circuit Testing (Video

[@robleathley6024]

Welcome back Hans! It’s good to see you in a new video. Circuit breakers are pretty important as we have all heard horror stories of engines “melting” down. Given the cost of a DCC sound decoder equipped engine today, they are a small, but worthwhile expense, to protect your investment. I’m glad you added the information at the end about powering multiple Powershields from the same power supply. It confirmed what I have done to my system. In addition to a 10 amp power supply, I use a separate circuit breaker for each of my four power districts. Looking forward to your next video.

[@IoTT]

Thanks. I was not away, it's just this video was a nightmare to do. It was originally in the makings as Video 140, but then it was ways too long so I decided to only do the PowerShield part. Then I planned it for a week ago, but in the process of making it I figured I needed some more testing, so it was back to square one. Finally it's here now.... The circuit breaker on the power supply side of the command station is really only for the wiring between the PS and the CS. The command station could do without. But for sure it improves safety, i.e. reduces fire risk, in case you have a problem in the wiring. 10 Amps or more can be quite intense...

[@billflude5204]

Hi Hans. I have used Digitrax PM42 Power Managers with Digitrax Command Stations on my 3 exhibition layouts. I set the trip current for each section to either 1.5A or 3A and trip time to faster. The 4 Power Manager sections are used for scenic section, staging yard, test track/wheel cleaning and accessory power. I haven’t seen the command station shut down, only one district so the PM42 does the job - it also reports back on LocoNet.

[@IoTT]

Thanks for sharing. I think I have one of the PM42s sitting around somewhere. I guess I need to give it a closer look!

[@markdebsauzzietravels]

Thank you for a great video, I'm in the process of setting up a DCC-EX system and one of my concerns was the circuit breakers, I would love to know more Cheers Mark

[@IoTT]

Thanks. I'm currently thinking about doing it. No promise, but good probability ;-)

[@rhbsd3441]

I agree with @robleathley6024 about the circuit breakers. I use a similar setup as he describes. I'm using the IOTT external power shield whose output is then fed into the individual circuit breakers/auto reversers. As I have watched development of silver hat I have wondered if it supports a mode where it could be powered from booster/track signal and effectively serve as a circuit breaker auto reverser. This thought occurred to me again as I was playing around with my tinker face shield that if tinker face shield could power the Arduino it might be possible to use the silver hat as a circuit breaker as well, in addition to booster?

[@IoTT]

The SilverHat can do both, acting as auto reverser, and of course over current and short circuit protection. But to do that, it relies on the current measurement capability of the PowerShield. With only Arduino and Tinkerface shield you can't measure the current and you also have no way to interrupt the power delivery. If you add a PowerShield, it is just a complete SilverHat booster, which btw I plan to officially introduce in one of the next two videos.