# DCC boster question.



## lc17smp (Nov 19, 2008)

After reading quite a bit here I have learned a lot about dcc but cant seem to find an answer to a simple (or maybe its not) question. Will a NCE 5 amp (or 2 or3) booster work with my USAT? (sd70 w/sound) I will have about 60 feet of track (small cir) and in a best case scenario will add 1 more loco. If it makes a difference I'm looking at the Digitrax 20 amp power supply or something comparable.


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## Road Foreman (Jan 2, 2008)

lc17smp, 

Start with a NCE 10 Amp or Digitrax 8 Amp command station/booster.. That should give you plenty of power for your layout.. Go with NCE's 8 Amp decoder.. 

BulletBob

PS Any good regulated DC power supply that will put out more than 10 Amps will work..


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

1. NCE makes 5 and 10 amp boosters, not sure what you mean by "or 2 or 3". 
2. Either will "work", your single USAT loco will draw about 1.7 amps worst case unless you are slipping or stall the loco. 
3. You need as many amps in your power supply as you expect to draw from the booster, plus about 1 amp to run all the electronics... a 5 amp booster needs a 6 amp supply. More amps is ok, but not needed. 
4. VOLTAGE is important, G scale tends to need higher voltage, so get a 24v to 27v DC regulated supply. 
5. You will do fine with 2 locos on a 5 amp booster, but we tend to run more and more, since DCC is made to run multiple locos. Don't forget that lighted cars can draw from 1/2 amp to an amp EACH!. 

I always recommend going to the 10 amp booster. 

By the way, you should read the manual on that Digitrax power supply, it has 3 settings, and the 23 volt setting is 12 amps max, so for G scale, it is a 12 amp supply. I can point you to a more cost efficient supply if money is important. 

You might want to read my site... go to the DCC part and look at "my implementation" and see the 10 amp NCE system. 

Regards, Greg


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## Guest (Nov 29, 2008)

if you use an AC source to drive your booster, the maximum output voltage will be

Vout = (Vinrms * 1.4) - 4 (approximately)


The input current will be about 1.6x the output current.


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## lc17smp (Nov 19, 2008)

Greg, I was looking at a few NCE boosters on ebay that looked like a good deal. (5amp) I was wondering if 10 amp is needed or if multiple 5 amp boosters would do the same job. I like the NCE cab and the fact that they have a 10 amp booster but its a little pricey. The Digitrax 8 amp kit can be had for as little as $360 from what I can find. (with their best wired cab) I'm deffinitly open to suggestions on the power supply.(Just referenced the digitrax b/c it seemed good for $135.00) I have read quite a bit of your site and its very informative. I went with Aristo SS track (really, really wanted h&r but ouch) based that on the info in the track section. Might be overkill indoors but I dont want the high maintanance of other track. That would likely kill my interest over time.


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## lc17smp (Nov 19, 2008)

Ok. Just read thru the implementation and it helps alot. (didn't click on that link yet) The power supply is about 1/2 the price of the Digitrax. So to simpilfy it is it true that the power supply sets the volts and the booster sets the amps as long as the power supply supplies at least 1 more amp than the booster puts out? Also does it come with power cord or did you need to buy one and wire it to the supply? It is also 220v. I have 220v here and was wondering if there is any benifit to running it on 220v.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

You sort of asked the same question again, is 5 amps ok? My answer #5 still stands, from what you have said, and no lighted cars, 5 amps will be fine. But I recommend the 10 amp system, since it's easy to add another loco, or you might want to run lighted passenger trains. Wait a bit and do it the right way. 

Search for MeanWell power supplies, my 27 volt 11 amp unit was under $80 mailorder, use the money saved towards the 10 amp system. You will not regret it. 

You will be forever happy you went SS, glad you made that decision. 

Regards, Greg


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## lc17smp (Nov 19, 2008)

Ordered the meanwell yesterday. $88 to my door. Nice. Back to the booster, does 2 5 amp boosters mean 10 amps to the track or is it just twice as much at 5 amps. Not trying to go cheap here just want to understand how it works so down the road I will know what I need to do for more trains. Who knows may need more than 10 at some point. Im actually trying to decide between the digitrax 8 amp set and the nce 10 amp set. NCE is about $120 more from what I can find. One concern I have is the NCE booster warns agianst inputs of more than 22 volts. If I go with nce will I need to send it to nce and have it modified? (I understand you did this?) How much does that cost? It looks like the digitrax 8 amp will handle 28v out of the box. The nce looks more user friendly but the digitrax looks pretty good also. (speaking with no experience obviously) Thanks for the power supply rec. Looks like a winner.


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## Guest (Dec 6, 2008)

if you use two boosters, each is wired to half of your track. Assuming that all your trains do not migrate to one half of the track, then the boosters will share the total load.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

NCE will take 27 volts ok.... you are reading the AC input spec, not the DC input spec. 

Most NCE's will not go over 20.3 volts output to the track. I had mine modified to get a higher output voltage. 

Don't have them modded unless you are unhappy with the top speed of your locos. 

Regards, Greg


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