Power to point motors

[Wildbillhicock]

I am using RM via elink 

Hi all I am about to wire up a small layout with 12 sets of points the question is

1: do I need a separate power supply and ring main for the motors or do they get the power from the track.

2: I have two accessory decoders r8247 and Dcc (brain has gone dead and can't remember part number) but it is an sf8 if that helps so I use 8247 for the first 4 ports then the sf8 do I number them as ports 5-12 or 1-8.

the power transformer that came with the system is only 1amp do you recomend up grading it to a bigger one and which do you think is best I will only be running a max of five locos on N track.

many thanks

 

[Chrissaf]

1: do I need a separate power supply and ring main for the motors or do they get the power from the track.

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No you do not need a separate power supply. The power for the point motors comes from the capacitors located WITHIN the electronics of the Accessory Decoders. The Accessory Decoders in turn get their power from the Track A&B output of the eLink......see the drawing below for connection details. Note the Solenoid point motors wire DIRECTLY to the ports of the Accessory Decoders and MUST NOT be wired directly to the track.

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2: I have two accessory decoders r8247 and Dcc (brain has gone dead and can't remember part number) but it is an sf8 if that helps so I use 8247 for the first 4 ports then the sf8 do I number them as ports 5-12 or 1-8.

 

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Accessory Decoder port addressing should not duplicate numbers (unless you specifically want two ports to operate together)......see drawing below for suggested port addresses to use.....but note that the addresses do not HAVE to be sequential numbers either.....i.e the 5 to 12 could just as easily be 10 to 18 or any other numerical range.

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3: the power transformer that came with the system is only 1amp do you recommend up grading it to a bigger one and which do you think is best I will only be running a max of five locos on N track.

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Accessory Decoders consume very little current (measured in milli-amps). It is the stored charge in the Accessory Decoder capacitors that provide the high current kick to operate the solenoid point motors. The 1 amp supply should in theory be OK, provided the current draw by the five N gauge locos combined is less than 1 amp. If you did decide to upgrade the 1 amp power supply, the 4 amp power supply is the Hornby P9300.

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Note that the 'Programming' track piece is totally separate and isolated from the main track and is only used to configure loco decoders AND the Hornby R8247 Accessory Decoder (which must be disconnected from the main Track A&B eLink output when being programmed).

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The DCC Concepts ADS8fx is a 'self learning' Accessory Decoder and each of the eight ports must be configured INDIVIDUALLY with their DCC addresses, whilst STILL connected to the MAIN TRACK A&B output of the eLink.....read the Accessory Decoder instructions. There are posts on this forum providing 'step by step' instructions for programming the DCC Concepts decoders using RailMaster / eLink.

[hedley_reynolds]

Hi 

also adding to what Chris has said you should have a think about getting the 4 amp power supply as I have found that the 1 amp is a bit too low for a reasonably sized layout and for running 5 locos as I had found that when I started using the elink controller with it’s 1 amp supply with n gauge I was just managing 2 to 3 locos on a good day depending on the ones I was trying to run but I do have a reasonably large layout and that probably what had a affected the power supply and since I had purchased the 4 amp supply I have had no problems getting 4 to 5 locos going at the same time with no problems but I couldn’t tell you how many more I can get going as personally I had just went to 5 going at the same time as I had found that was my comfort zone 

Hedley

[Wildbillhicock]

Thank you both for your replies 

I haven't got the layout untill next week so just getting my brain around what I will be doing

wirring and soldering are not a problem I've got more than enough equipment and experience ex cable jointer 

so thanks again for your help.

Bill

[Fishmanoz]

If I were you I’d be sticking to the 1 Amp supply until you get actual overload problems. HRMS tell us their entire RM test layout is run from 1 Amp.

[KrazyKris]

Hi

On the same subject (nearly) I have mixed accessory decoders , one is an ESU switchpilot on which I have a separate 12V power supply fitted , and I have no problem using the Hornby point motors , all working fine. However I disliked the fiitings on the Hotnby point motors as the extension pin is so fiddly to fit and the bending of the chasis to make it fit under the board is also fiddly. After fitting I have had two of them where the extension pins fell out so I've changed to the Gauagemaster PM1 point which is much easier to fit BUT I've noticed that when using the PM1 connected to the Hornby R8247 decoder that when firing the solenoid that the two signals also connected to the R8247 both go out momentarily which says to me the the decoder isn't providing enough power ?.

Anyone any exerience of thics , is this normal behaviour for the R8247 unit ?

Chris

[96RAF]

Krazy

I would suggest the current draw of the PM1 solenoid(s) is causing the inbuilt CDU to drain faster than the incoming voltage can recharge the capacitors and as such the voltage is dropping on the signal ports to the extent they dim out.

 

Which controller are you using and if its a Select which revision state, if v1.1 do not use with R8247 due to known interactive problem.

Rob

 

 

[Chrissaf]

In my experience the R8247 has always been gutless power wise.

[KrazyKris]

As in the 1st post I have the ELink controller with the RM software

[Chrissaf]

Just realised that my drawing showed the Hornby R8241 and R8242 track connectors for power. Brain was obviously in 'auto-pilot' mode when I was drawing it. Being N gauge, the track and power connections won't be normal Hornby OO track pieces.

[Fishmanoz]

KRIS, might I point out to you that in general, nearly the same subject means different subject and you are better off starting your own thread with it, not adding to an existing one.  In this instance, a title like “Signals Dimming on Point Change” would have been far more descriptive so more likely to get appropriate responses for you.  You could have then described your setup and the problem you are having with it and so avoided people having to ask questions before responding.

 

Not being critical here mind, just trying to help you get the best from the forums.