say your running ho scale 30 feet of track with engine and 6 coal hoppers.Do you use the same size power pack as if you where running 10feet or 50feet of track,engine and 1 hopper or engine and 15 hoppers? i guess im saying are there different size power packs for different lengths of track?
do you need a certain size of power pack for different amounts of track?
- Thread starter cjfeltner
- Start date
Selecting a power pack with the proper level of power output depends on how many locomotives you want to run, not the length of your track.
What you should do is make a feeder system for your track to deliver power more reliably to all the segments. That means having a power trunk line (a "bus") from your power pack using 14AWG wire, and soldering short feeder wires from the bus to the rail segments.
Hope this helps.
What you should do is make a feeder system for your track to deliver power more reliably to all the segments. That means having a power trunk line (a "bus") from your power pack using 14AWG wire, and soldering short feeder wires from the bus to the rail segments.
Hope this helps.
As Tom says, the size of the power pack is dependent on the load, not the amount of track. A load is anything you hook up to the power output and includes engines and accessories. Most power packs are rated for total load, so even though you're only using the track power output to run engines, the amount you use for accessories such as lighting or turnouts, adds to the total load, even though they may be connected to the accessory output.
Again, as Tom says, good wiring practices have a lot to do with good operations and consistent voltage across the length of your tracks, especially with long track runs. I don't want to just repeat what someone else says, I'm just trying to emphasize that these are the two major factors in selecting the right size power pack and how you wire it to your layout.
Again, as Tom says, good wiring practices have a lot to do with good operations and consistent voltage across the length of your tracks, especially with long track runs. I don't want to just repeat what someone else says, I'm just trying to emphasize that these are the two major factors in selecting the right size power pack and how you wire it to your layout.