Hello All! I'm a bit of a newbie when it comes to electrical work on my layout. Here is my situation: I'm building a layout, starting with one loop (6'x10') of Fastrack and later adding a second inside loop and some spurs. All but 2 of my engines are conventional (2 are Lion Chief Plus 2.0). I've read some articles and watched a few video's from Lionel (about 8 years old) that indicate the following:
Switches - work best at 14 volts. If you go up to 18 volts the lanterns may get hot and melt.
Uncoupler track - works best at 10 -12 volts and NOT to use the accessory terminals on the CW-80 transformer
So if I'm running my conventional engines the voltage will fluctuate depending on the speed of the engine, while the LC+ engines will use 18 volts constantly. These devices will be used using the remote switches that come with them, not by remote control (LCS/TMCC).
I guess I'm trying to decide how to power these accessories independently of the track power. My current power supplies consist of a CW-80, a post-war ZW transformer (the one with 4 handles) and a couple of the plug/play power supplies that you plug into the wall and use the circular plug into the track itself. I don't know if I get one separate 14 volt power supply would that be OK for both accessories? As the layout gets bigger I'll have more of both, but that will come later. Any suggestions or comments are welcome!
Thank you!
Mike
