A newbie wiring question

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wombat457

wombat457

I'm the one
Hi all,

I am very new to model railroading and am a little lost when it comes to wiring things up, specifically, wiring in accessories.

I have a Miniactronics 24 point power terminal that I want to use to connect a series of lights and my two track switches too. My Bachmann EZ DCC controller has one set of accessory pins (push in type). My question is this:

How do I connect the Controller to the 24 point terminal and what sort of wiring should I use in terms of gauge for connecting my accessories to the board?

Apologies for the very basic questions.

Cheers and look forward to any advice suggestions that can be offered.

wombat457
 
Welcome Wombat! I not know anything yet about DCC...but someone will....and then you'll have fun!




Mike
 
Personally, I would get a suitable DC power source for your lights, be it via the 24 point terminal or not. I would leave the power input/output from the EZ-Command to run the track.

If you are stuck on using the Command's accessory outputs, then use 16 gauge wire, or the thickest wire that will fit onto those pins, and run that to the input posts on the terminal block. Then run 20-22 gauge doorbell or phone wire to the lights.

One consideration is being able to vary the voltage. The lights will all burn brightly and burn out much more quickly if you offer them a lot of voltage. If you can find an unused DC controller with variable voltage control, you can dial it back and get reasonable light brightness without knowing that you are going to have to replace all or most of them within a short time.
 
Last edited by a moderator:


Selector,

"I would get a suitable DC power source for your lights..."

Thanks for the advice, but could you recommend a DC power source that I could use please?

Cheers,

wombat
 
wombat457 said:
Selector,

"I would get a suitable DC power source for your lights..."

Thanks for the advice, but could you recommend a DC power source that I could use please?

Cheers,

wombat
Click to expand...
An old working DC power supply from an older railroad set will work, you can find these just about anywhere; the other nice thing about having one around is you can test older analog engines without having the possibility of doing harm by running them on a DCC system. Look on Ebay, Kijiji etc. or posy a want ad here. You should be able to find a working one for under $20.00.

Jim
 
Jim,

Thanks. At the moment I am working with the standard Bachmann (non DCC) power supply until I can learn a little more about DCC and what does and what doesn't work with it.

So, I guess that means I have to post an Ad for the DC power supply as well as an AC - DC adapter I assume, is that right?

Cheers,

wombat457 (Tony)
 
Selector and Jim,

I must be still working on Australian time as my brain just woke up - I think :rolleyes:

Tell me if I have this right please - I have two controllers, the standard non DCC one that came with original set AND the DCC controller that I have purchased.

If I am reading you guys right I can use the DCC controller to run the track work and switches (hope that is the right terminology) and use the original NON DCC controller to run my accessories such as lights. I am on more or less on the right track?

Sorry for being a pain in the butt with this :o

Tony (aka wombat457)
 
Yes. The DCC system you have probably only affords you the sum of one full amp, unless you have a booster added. That will allow you to run as many as two sound-equipped locomotives with decent smooth drives hauling trains of about 4-6 passenger cars that are free-rolling up a 2% grade. I doubt you would get a third running concurrently without having a temperature override shut down the EZ Command, or some other fail-safe circuitry/limiter. So, keep the one for strictly rails management, and use whatever else you can cough up or scrounge to run all the accessories.

And do learn to live with the lights dimmed most of the time. You can always brighten them temporarily for a photo or video, but keep it backed off for the long run.
 
There are also many discarded 'Wall warts' (block that plugs into a wall outlet) from older electronic devices. You may already have a few laying around.
They will have the Voltage and current marked and are very usable for lighting.
 
Thanks Guys, appreciate the help and advice. Right now it is only a small layout (6 X 4) with single track and a linked siding track so the most engines I would be running would be two. I am also running a 3% gradient over about 6' so, if my info is right, I could only pull around 3 or 4 cars, which doesn't bother yet.

Crandell, you mentioned learning to live with lights dimmed - if I attach my lighting through my NON DCC controller accessory plugs, how do I control the brightness? I am assuming that by turning up the "speed" control of the controller, that increases the brightness of the lights and visa versa?

Cheers guys,

Tony
 


Yes, Tony, just as you would expect your locomotive to speed up as you dial up the voltage in a DC system, your lights will also brighten. I would suggest you wire them, turn up the voltage until you think they are quite bright, and then back off to about 80% of the range you have taken to that point.

It is worth noting that you would not want to run a few lights on voltage that exceeds their individual capacity if your DC power supply can provide that much voltage. So, it is important to only dial in enough voltage the first time around until you get what you feel is a very bright light, but I wouldn't be tempted to continue to dial up the voltage just to see what it looks like. You may burn out some lights. If you do elect to see what they look like when the power is dialled up to max, be sure to turn it back down immediately. It is sort of an intuitive thing; you want to keep them for a while, and 80% of their maximum rated voltage would be a good set-point.
 
Crandell,

Thank you again, and everyone for their input and advice. I am trying to re-create an early fictional period (non-specific) so I would not need very bright lights; however, keeping them dim also provides a certain atmosphere - a romantic steam era atmosphere.

Okay, one final question (hopefully). Is it possible to add an on and off switch to the lights? my intention is wire each building, lamp post etc separately, hence the 24 pin block; however, would like the option of being able to turn the lights off in some buildings while keeping other buildings lit.

If the above is possible, what would I need and how would it be wired? If it is possible, could you draw me a picture of the wiring set up please to save confusion on my part.

Thanks again everyone,

Tony
 
wombat457 said:
Crandell,

Thank you again, and everyone for their input and advice. I am trying to re-create an early fictional period (non-specific) so I would not need very bright lights; however, keeping them dim also provides a certain atmosphere - a romantic steam era atmosphere.

Okay, one final question (hopefully). Is it possible to add an on and off switch to the lights? my intention is wire each building, lamp post etc separately, hence the 24 pin block; however, would like the option of being able to turn the lights off in some buildings while keeping other buildings lit.

If the above is possible, what would I need and how would it be wired? If it is possible, could you draw me a picture of the wiring set up please to save confusion on my part.

Thanks again everyone,

Tony
Click to expand...

Shouldn't need a drawing for this, going to each building or street light you will have a positive and negative wire, you'll have to put a switch in to break the connection going to each building/street light - breaking the positive is the best and just have a common ground. Depending on how many buildings/street lights you have it could take a lot of switches. Also remember that most street lights in the past, that were electrically powered, were generally wire a city block at a time so you may want to wire one switch to control one city block
 
It always helps to draw yourself a schematic, label wires, color-code, etc... seems like a pain when you're doing it but it makes troubleshooting so much easier afterward. :)
 
Thanks again guys, think I have a grip on this now but the proof will be in the trial for it all :)

Have decided to use the DCC controller to run the track (as suggested/recommended) and the non DC Controller to run my accessories together with the block.

You guys have made all of this sound easy, at least easier than I first thought. Thanks for your patience and perseverance and I'll let you all know how it turns out.

Cheers

Tony
 
Morning all,

Just wanted to let you guys know what I now have and what has been happening.

Accessories:

1. Protech 2amp DC power source
2. MTH 24 pin terminal block
3. 3 Atlas 4 switch selectors

The switches are ganged and connected to the Terminal block which is connected to the Protech for power.

Track:

Bachmann DCC controller

So far everything seems to be working as it should, after some trial and error with the soldering, something else I have not done before.

Thanks again for the help guys, it really has been appreciated and means that I can now get this first layout completed and in use.

Cheers

Tony
 
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