I doubled the power needs of my HO layout recently and am struggling with the booster I added. I run with a Digitrax 8amp Radio Super Chief with a DCS 150 as the command station. I needed more power, so I added on a DB200+ (8amp output). The instructions said that all I had to do was make a jumper wire between a ground terminal and the 'sync' terminal and connect the loconet to my command station. The cable I made is good, both units power up fine, but when I go to power up the track I end up with multiple runaways, trains responding that shouldn't, etc.

The outputs for both boosters are tied to the same track power bus, which resembles an oval but does not for a loop. So ground loops can't be the problem, but I can't figure out what is going on. Digitrax tech support wasn't much help, and I have 20 locos (and five unit trains) I cannot run, much less the rest of my layout until this issue is resolved. I could go to seperate power distrits butI can't see how that would change anything since they are connected via the Loconet cable.

Please help.

-Maxwell

-- Maxwell R. Holmquist (mholm9@charter.net), September 03, 2004

Answers

Am I reading your message correctly? Do you have the outputs of your DB200+ and the DCS150 tied together? If you did, then undo it before you let the smoke out of one unit or the other.

Runaways are frequently due to locomotives that have DC capability enabled. You will probably want to disable this feature because of events like this. Disabling DC operation doesn't solve a problem; it just keeps locomotives from going bonkers when you have problems like this.

-- Allan Gartner (wire4dcc_admin@comcast.net), September 03, 2004.

Absolutely break your layout into two separate power districts. You should never connect the outputs of boosters together - even 10' apart.

-- Allan Gartner (wire4dcc_admin@comcast.net), September 03, 2004.

Alan,

They are tied together on the same track poower bus, about 10 feet apart. Should I separate my layout into two power districts?

-- Maxwell Holmquist (mholm9@charter.net), September 03, 2004.

One of the basic rules of DCC wiring is that you should have no more than one booster per power district! Power districts need to be seperated from one another by cutting BOTH rails of the track at the same place. Even on a DC-layout you would not connect two power packs to the same block.

-- Ulrich Albrecht (albreuf@auburn.edu), October 01, 2004.