I have two powerpacks that I want to use to provide power to operate switches and lighting. I use DCC for track power. On one powerpack I have terminals for: Variable DC 16V AC 12V DC On another powerpack I have terminals for: Track DC Accessories DC I know that the terminals for "Variable DC" and "Track DC" are for providing power to track which is controlled by the rheostat and is therefore variable. It seems to me that if I connect lighting to these terminals, I can vary the intensity of the lighting. The terminals for "12V DC" and "Accessories DC" could also be used for lighting but is a constant voltage. I think this is where I want to power my switches. My questions are as follows: 1) What would I use the "16V AC" terminals for? 2) By turning the rheostat and therefore controlling the output power, could I use these terminals to power switches provided I have the rheostat turned up to the maximum? 3) The lighting that I will be using is for panel lights to indicate switch position, trackside lighting, and lighting within buildings. What kind of lighting should I purchase? Should I buy 12V DC lights? Can 12V DC lights be used with the "16V AC" terminals? Thanks, Michael Dove Grand Junction, CO
16v AC would be used for your swich machines and coule be used for lighting with 16v bulbs. However, I use 16v bulbs with 12-14v DC for long life and have never burned out a bulb. You can use the rheostat to control intensity, but are you going to place it somewhere you won't be bumping it? In other words, use the fixed output rather than the rheostat unless you remove the knob. What you can do is use the variable control for LED lighting to set to the proper voltage and disable the knob. I built a small adjustable supply operated off of a fixed AC/DC converter, but a regular supply should work provided that you can control the minute currents needed by LEDs. Some older power supplies won't see the loading from LEDs and won't regulate properly. Perhaps someone else has a better answer for you. This was mine. Roger
Be careful of using small powerpacks for lighting -- often the output jumps 4-6 volts on just moving the knob. And the output if usually unregulated (the more load you put on it the lower the voltage/currect available). You can use the variable DC outputs to light lamps, just make sure that the knob will never be touched (or you may be replacing bulbs). You could use these packs as transformers (power supplies) to feed simple regulator circuits (using regulator chips like the 7805, a 5-volt regulator -- Radio Shack has inexpensive books with circuits using regulator chips like this). There is a variable regulator that allows for adjustment from about 1.3 Volts up to the supplied voltage. The circuits are simple and cheap, I think less than $5 @. Personally, I like to use LED's for indicators -- they're pretty bright now and they last seemingly forever. They are low current devices and will generally require a series resistor to limit current. I think the value I last used with 12V was 330 ohm (1/4 watt is fine). Remember that LED's are polarity sensitive and must be wired correctly.
