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SD9043N
Passenger
165 Posts |
 Posted - 04/22/2011 : 17:32:48
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still deciding on how to break up my layout into power districts as i wire it, so far i got both spiral tunnels as one district, the cathedral siding and yard lead will be one and the partridge siding at the top of the upper tunnel will be one, was thinking of adding the rest of the upper portion of the layout to this one also.
the yard and other towns in the second room are still being designed, i havent put anything on paper yet as a track plan, could possibly be 2 to 3 power districts in that room as well, still not sure at the moment
anyone got any suggestions on how to split a layout up for the power distribution
i use digitrax dcc i currently have a super cheif set and a zephyr set, with 15 digitrax decoders.
trains let us dream big ina small space |
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sschaer
Moderator
913 Posts |
Posted - 04/26/2011 : 11:22:32
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digitrax has a power district manager. pm42 if i remember correctly.
i did set up my layout with two districts only. mainline and yard. if i have a short in the yard it will not shut down my mainlines.
i would create districts depending on the risk of a short. mainlines with no crossings, turnouts and similar usually do not see too many derailments. biggest chance of derailments are over crossings and turnouts.
in your case i'd do a district per yard including lead tracks, one district for the mainline (spiral tunnels, including sidings) and if needed, one for everything else. if you have a two-track main you could consider having each as a separate district.
however, i would split the layout in a lot of districts using plastic railjoiners. this gives you more flexibility when wiring. you could run one single power district or numerous small ones. depending on your needs and experiences.
adding insulated rail joiners once the track is laid causes a lot of work. so better do it upfront.
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RhB_HJ
Hobo
Canada
52 Posts |
Posted - 06/10/2011 : 18:44:58
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A bit late, but FWIW. In the garden I divide the layout into different sections for two specific purposes: trouble shooting and quick shut-off.
Each station is a section and the mainline between stations are the other sections. That allows me to isolate all sections and then add one after the other to find the section with the trouble spot - trust me doing it the other way could be real "fun". As far as quick shut off goes for those occasions when the R/C handheld runs out of battery and the train doesn't respond.
The same principle applies to an indoor layout - it's all about easy trouble shooting. And then there's the other matter: how large will the maximum load be? That really depends on how many trains are running i.e. how much current is being drawn on the layout. Actual power districts are only necessary if boosters are required to supply the necessary current. Then my above scheme can be divided again and each power district gets a separate booster.
As far as boosters are concerned they should shut down as quickly as the systems central unit (extra circuit breakers!). Make sure the wiring is heavy enough to carry the load - I have a few good anectodes on that score - and there is minimal voltage drop.
Cheers
HJ
----
H-J Mueller
Coldstream BC Canada
http://www.rhb-grischun.ca
http://www.easternmountainmodels.com |
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SD9043N
Passenger
165 Posts |
Posted - 11/05/2011 : 17:24:26
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well got one digitrax pm42 wired and installed, a bit of a challange soldering the small brass pins but came up with a system that works nicely, now to install the second pm42, ill take pictures of this one in step by step and post here for all to see how i did it,
still have to install a second booster aswell with a third pm42 for reverse loops once they are built
enjoy
adam
trains let us dream big ina small space |
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dcc power districts
