DCC 5 amp booster

[fisher]

I am setting up a track of medium length and felt a power booster would be helpful.  I have connected it to the Controller system .  I now need to connect the wire from the booster to the track.  Is this soldered directly to the track or connected to a red power wire that plugs into the rerailer?  Previously I had power connections every 6 to 10 feet of track, is the necessary with the power booster?  There is no accessory outlet on the system so I presume I need a separate transformer for this function.  Thanks for any help.

[Jim Banner]

fisher,
I am not sure how much help we can give you.  You seem to be right on track, and not only with your trains.

Power connections every 6 to 10 feet along the track are just as good an idea with the booster as without it.

A separate transformer is indeed needed for auxiliary functions (lights, switch motors, animation.)  "Wall wart" transformers rated at 12 volts ac or dc are relatively inexpensive or even free, and the ac terminals of old power packs can be used as well.  Just make sure you do not overload either kind of device.  Many power packs are rated in volt-amps and some older ones in watts.  Volt-amps and watts are basically the same thing.  And if you divide the watt or volt-amp rating by the rated voltage, you will get the maximum current the device can produce.  For example, a power pack might say 8 volt-amps, 16 volts.  Dividing 8 by 16 gives us 1/2.  So the maximum amps you can draw continuously is 1/2 amp or 500 milliamps (there are 1000 milliamps in an amp.)  If you were using small grain of wheat lamps in a building and they were rated at 16 volts, 80 milliamps, you could use 6 such lights on that particular power pack.

It is nice if you can arrange to have separate transformers for lighting and for operating switch motor.  Switch motors of the usually dual coil type take power only briefly, just when you push a button.  Then they take quite a bit of power.  If you have just one auxiliary transformer, you will see your lights dim every time you throw a switch.  With lights and switches each having their own transformers, this does not happen.

Jim