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Hi all, I am about to start the conversion to DCC or Railpro (anyone have any experience w/ Railpro? it sounds like it "might" be a better system). My question is: instead of spending a lot of $ to buy a "name" power source for the system, could I use a computer power source? I have a couple of almost new ones that I replaced w/ bigger ones, so it would save me a lot of $ if I could use one of them. They put out a VERY clean DC current of 12 volts @ 312 watts (18 amps). Also 3.3 or 5 volts.
Any advice on this will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
I did a Google search for Railpro and it didn't seem to offer any advantages in cost or size of receivers. In fact, it seemed to be the opposite.
I use 2 computer power supplies for powering switches and lights around the layout. I have not tried using one to power the DCC system.
Computer power supplies can put out 3.3 volts (only part of them), 5 volts, 12 volts, and 7 volts (but very limited)
There is info out there about converting them to “lab power pack” but you loose the 3.3 voltage and have not tried using 7 volts out of it. You will need a few parts, but it's just a few dollars depending on how you run the wires out the back.
I have converted a few of them over the years and the first 2 I did over heated and died. I would suggest upgrading the cooling.
One problem I see with trying to run a DCC system off of a computer power supply is that most DCC systems call for more than 12 volts input. They may run fine off of a 12 volt supply, but there is no guarantee. Even if the DCC system operates fine, it may not be enough voltage for the locomotives. Most DCC systems have a bridge rectifier on the power input and every decoder has a bridge rectifier on it. Each bridge rectifier will drop the voltage approximately 1.5 volts, and they may be additional voltage drop in the command station, so with a 12 volt power supply you are looking at possibly less than 9 volts maximum to the motor.
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