Track voltage for DCS vs TMCC?

18v all the manuals explicitly say not to exceed 19V

I use DCS and TMCC along with Legacy. I set the handles on my Z4000's at 16 to 17 volts..............Paul

I always use 18/19 volts out of both Z4000 transformers. The two Lionel 180 watt bricks are not controllable, so they "do their own thing" voltage wise.

I use the Lionel PH-180 bricks which put out a tad over 18 vac. I have had this setup for around 5 years with no problems with either Lionel Legacy or MTH DCS or any of several engines, mostly MTH PS3 with a few Legacy.

My Lionel Legacy engine manuals say nothing over 19 vac should ever be used and no DC or the engines may be damaged. Since the PH-180s I have are made by Lionel I imagine they have the voltage output set for their equipment.

My PH180 bricks put out just about 18 VAC on 125 VAC input.  FWIW, I had some older PH135 bricks that put out around 21 volts!  I sold them...

There's no reason you need more than 18V for DCS.

Su

gunrunnerjohn posted:

My PH180 bricks put out just about 18 VAC on 125 VAC input.  FWIW, I had some older PH135 bricks that put out around 21 volts!  I sold them...

There's no reason you need more than 18V for DCS.

Sure there is.  You will have better motor control and top speed with higher voltage for DCS.  No reason not to, as it is rated for it.  They are a different design than Lionel.  G

DCS works great at 30V DC in the one-gauge world 

I don't see the reason for more top speed, most of my DCS stuff can derail itself if I were to run it full speed!  Besides, if I am to take the scale MPH to heart, the maximum speed of 120 should be the same no matter what voltage I ran at.

I refer you to this comment from a PS/3 manual, I'd be somewhat cautious about 30 volts!

* Use 22 volts maximum track voltage when operating a MTH locomotive equipped with
Proto-Sound, Loco-Sound, or Proto-Sound 2.0

MTH doesn't seem to think that the PS/2 boards will handle 30 volts.