PowerCab with PSX and PSX-AR

[Maletrain]

Nickelplate759, if you are using "plastic rail joiners" that don't come up flush with the top of the rails, a metal wheel should drop into the gap and make an electrical connection across it.  Kato rail joiners, for instance, only have the plastic spacer well below the top of the rails, so they don't prevent metal wheels from bridging the gap and making an electrical connection.

[Steveruger45]

Hi George,
Not sure if that link to SBS was any use but am following this thread with extreme interest as a PSX is on my shopping list too.
Pls do let us know when fixed.  Good luck and thanks also to @Maletrain and @peteski for the great info, presented in such a way that even I can understand.

[nickelplate759]

Nickelplate759, if you are using "plastic rail joiners" that don't come up flush with the top of the rails, a metal wheel should drop into the gap and make an electrical connection across it.  Kato rail joiners, for instance, only have the plastic spacer well below the top of the rails, so they don't prevent metal wheels from bridging the gap and making an electrical connection.

I've been using Atlas insulated joiners, and they fill the gap completely - and some of my gaps are a little big.  Trimming them seems to help.

Here's what seems to have helped so far:
1. set trip current for PSX and PSX-AR to 1.27 A  (CV49=1)
2.  Enable delay for the PSX  (CV55=1, leave CV65 at default).
3.  Trip insulated rail joiners so wheels can bridge the gap.

But above all, ensure that your engines have good pickup and/or Keep-Alives.  All problems are with engines that have less than stellar pickup.

[peteski]

I've been using Atlas insulated joiners, and they fill the gap completely - and some of my gaps are a little big.  Trimming them seems to help.

Here's what seems to have helped so far:
1. set trip current for PSX and PSX-AR to 1.27 A  (CV49=1)
2.  Enable delay for the PSX  (CV55=1, leave CV65 at default).
3.  Trip insulated rail joiners so wheels can bridge the gap.

But above all, ensure that your engines have good pickup and/or Keep-Alives.  All problems are with engines that have less than stellar pickup.

While I will be the  last person to disagree about striving for perfect electrical pickup, that should only come into play when the gap shorting has to occur through the locos internal circuitry (instead of any metal wheel shorting the block gap to trip the reverser).  In a perfect world, any metal wheel alone should be sufficient to do the job (not relying on the loco's electric pickup and internal wiring).

I rather not have 1.5A of current going through the locos possibly delicate internal electric wiring.  Hopefully the connection is made within the truck's sideframe metal plates, or a steam loco's frame (so the wiring inside of the loco's chassis is not even involved).

[Maletrain]

More info from the NCE group: Mark Gurries posted that he has a portable setup that runs a PowerCab from a lead-acid battery, so he relies on the PowerCab firmware to protect against over-current.  He posted that his PowerCab cuts out at about 3 amps current draw. Since other posts have indicated that the firmware revision to the PowerCab to provide over-current protection is the same for all versions that have it, I conclude that the PowerCab itself will cut off on over-current at about 3 amps, and cut-offs below that figure with a wall wart power source are due to protection provided in the wall warts.  From previous NCE group posts on this subject, I am figuring that the (NCE supplied) wall wart cutoffs have automatic reset in a couple of seconds, but the PowerCab firmware cutoff requires disconnecting and reconnecting the cord to the PowerCab to get a reset.