[stirling]

I recently purchased a Power Cab cotroller to operate my DCC N gauge layout.. it gets quite hot in the region of the 'Prog/Esc and F11 andF12 buttons when in use (ie. where the power cord enters the unit). Is this normal? Do others notice this phenomenon? Comments appreciated.
Stirling

 

[Richard Johnson]

*** Hello stirling.

What is hot? are we talking warm or nearly too hot to touch?

If its just warm then probably no issue at all. If its getting hottish - ie close to too hot to touch, there is a problem. Warm is a natural state as all the power electronics are in the handset, and its dissipating between 10 and 25 watts of power depending on load. (a couple of amps at 12 & a bit volts = 25 watts)

If it gets hot there one of two things is probably happening. too high an input voltage or a partial short on the layout. It is also of course possible there is a unit problem, but lets sort the first two first.

Some questions and easy tests.

1/are you using the original power supply - if so, its not that - if not, you should be, or at least using one of the SAME spec as the original. What are U using"

2/set up the ammeter in the handset - it is part of the cab setup procedure. It will show current draw.

3/What does it read when no loco is running? If its more than 0.1 or so amps with nothing running, you may have a loco or layout issues

4/As a check, now take all the loco's and stock off the layout and read it - what does it read?

5/As a check of the layout: leave all the locos and lit coaches etc off, disconnect the powercab from the layout. use your multimeter set to ohms and let us know what it reads.

6/ As a final experiment, connect the powercab to a separate bit of track with one loco on it and run it back and forth. Does it still get hot?

If the answer is (A) more than a little warm and (

it worries you, then can you take it back to the dealer to verify its ok or not?? If not, and U bought it overseas, then no big deal, NCE is really good with warranty support and will help you directly.

DO let us know...

Richard

 

[TonyDaly]

Richard.
I wonder if there might be a bad connection where the power cable enters the handset. This would cause resistance & therefore cause heat just like a bad connection in a household plug.
Tony.

 

[BVM]

Send an email to NCE - they are generally very responsive and if there is a problem your UK dealer will sort it out.

My NCE handset never changes temperature and it is a very solid piece of plastic so to me it sounds like a poor connection that should be sorted sooner rather than later.

 

[stirling]

Thanks to all for prompt replies. I will carry out those suggestions and note all comments. My interpretation of "hot" really meant quite noticably warm, I'm possibly making a bonfire out of a match! Guessw I worry too much in my old age. Regards to all Stirlng

 

[Ozzie21]

They do get warm. Rremeber you have a comlete powere and commandstation built into the hand set. The heat sink is fairly large and has to dissipate heat somewhere so it generally finds it way into the plastic of the hand piece. You only have to worry if plastic starts to melt and the lights in room go dim

Charles Emerson
Queensland
Australia

QUOTE (stirling @ 20 Mar 2009, 22:18) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I recently purchased a Power Cab cotroller to operate my DCC N gauge layout.. it gets quite hot in the region of the 'Prog/Esc and F11 andF12 buttons when in use (ie. where the power cord enters the unit). Is this normal? Do others notice this phenomenon? Comments appreciated.
Stirling

 

[alastairq]

as happened with a hand-held I have......running older Athearn diesels...[I mean...older than many modellers on here].....puts a huge strain on the national grid...let alone the plastic box in my hand.........as a sometime solderer, I failed to notice the heat increase through my asbestos-coated thumb.....as a result, the controller now has a deep, non-removable digital depression in the casing.....

On the subject of old Athearn diesels...I think, in this economic day and age, it may be advisable to plug one's layout into Economy 7...???