24-Watt Power Supply

Hi Nicholas,

Yes, you can use the same barrel jack adapter that you use with MTH's brick type transformers.  However, the 50-240 is a very small power supply and can only handle a single engine.  If you want to run multiple locomotives you might consider picking up a surplus laptop power supply, like THIS ONE.  Many laptop power supplies provide good clean filtered DC power, have higher capacity (72 watts for the one in the link), are very reasonably priced, and also have a barrel plug that can easily adapt to the TIU input.

Thanks Dave!!

I thought I had a grasp on the volts/amps terminology, can anyone explain where watts come in, or how each relate to each other? 

And re: the DC adapter you recommended, thanks so much, I would like to run a few engines at the same time so i'll need a more powerful supply. Is using a straight power supply with the barrel jack adapter reasonable or should I just get a transformer?

What are the recommended/max ranges for each?

Volts: 16-24 range

Amps: >1 ?

Watts: ?

Thanks again! If anyone wants to make a website with some of the DCS information centralized let me know, i'd be happy to donate my development skills to the cause.

 cc: gunrunnerjohn Barry Broskowitz

Nicholas,

can anyone explain where watts come in, or how each relate to each other? 

Watts (Power) = Volatge  X Amps.

Thanks Barry!

Dave,

Do you think this power supply would be powerful enough?

http://www.amazon.com/Lionel-L...2-Watt/dp/B00NU9RWAO

And is there a chart or equation somewhere that says e.g. 100 watts = 3 locos or something like that?

Thanks!!

Hi Nicholas,

Lionel doesn't have a manual posted yet for the LionChief power supply and I don't own one.  If anyone reading this does own one please check to see if it's an AC or DC output.  If it is a DC output (most Lionel products are AC) it should work.  However, at $52 it's rather expensive for a 4 amp output.

Most MTH HO engines draw about .5 amps at idle with sounds and lights turned on.  When moving they'll draw anywhere from .6 to 1.5 amps (ballpark) depending on the size of your train and grades.  Turn on smoke (if equipped) and you could see as much as a 2 amp draw from a single engine.  That's not typical on most layouts.  If you double or triple head MU'ed diesels you can expect to draw about 2.5 amps total (4 amps with smoke on).  In the HO world, a 2 amp continuous draw is considered pretty power hungry.  Few power supplies are designed to support running three or four such engines at once.  Since DCS started in O and Standard Gauge, big current draw is not a problem for DCS as long as you get a high capacity power supply.

Do a search for Enercell, we had done a couple of threads on this off the shelf

power supply from Radio Shack, if they are still around. Use in the 18 volt position, it requires cord end adaptor barrel (M) as a plug-in connection to (edit/add) power the TIU only. 

Link this thread.

Mike, that's used for powering the TIU itself, but not for powering the trains.

Thanks Mike and Dave! 

I finally found a HP 90W (multimeter reads 19.6 vdc, 4.59 amps). Tested it out yesterday with my TIU and everything worked as expected. What about engine polarity, I put the engine on the track both directions (physically rotating) and I didn't notice a difference?

The only thing I don't like about the HP power supply is it has a random 3rd "SENS" wire that HP uses for communication between the computer and supply, it has the 19 vdc on it as well. Have it taped off, is there a proper way to "terminate" this wire, or maybe I could use it for something else.

Thanks all, learning a lot!