How much voltage is safe for locos

[Dred]

I switched to MRC Tech 4 260 and it says max output is 23 volts. I am new to this hobby and I need to know if this is safe for my HO engines?
Thanks in avance, Ed

 

[julienjj]

it is supposed to be 12 volts for HO scale, but they usualy can take a bit more to prevent being burned

 

[diburning]

12 volts for standard DC on HO. 14-18 volts for DCC on HO. Most engines can safely take up to 18 volts.

 

[smiley]

Might be good to check the output amps as well.

 

[kenw]

Might be good to check the output amps as well.

Output amps won't damage the motor, as this is only an indication of how much the power pack can supply. Amps are determined by the load/motor. If they pull more than the power pack can deliver, then you have problems.


Amps=pull
volts=push

 

[Selector]

Yes, amps possible from the power source are only that...what can be drawn by all the user components, not what the system delivers at any one point in time. Otherwise I should worry about running a single engine on my 5 amp Super Empire Builder when that engine only draws 0.5 amps. But that's all I draw from the system at any one time, a max of about 1 amp. What the rating tells me is that, if I wish, I could draw up to 5 amps safely. And that 5 amps is what makes shorts control so critical when you have sensitive decoders sharing the load. The short will cause most of the 5 amps to course through the shorted engine, and it almost always means that the resident decoder gets fried.

Look at the amperage rating as a potential, or as a possibility.

-Crandell

 

[funnelfan]

The first thing to happen when you have too much voltage, is the headlights will burn out in straight DC, or the decoder will burn up in DCC.

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

The Tech 4 260 is a multi scale power power that operates HO, N, O, S, Z and other scale DC trains. The power pack changes power settings automatically depending on what scale loco it's running so even with the throttle at MAX you're not going to send more than 18 volts to your HO loco.

 

[Dred]

Wow, that is the first I have heard of that. The auto adjust may be in the literature that comes with a new one. I just remembered that both of mine are used with no paperwork.
Thanks , Ed