Carrera power supply

[Czar]

I have been driving no-magnet cars at 12 volts for so long I find the the power at 14 volts to be too much. I want to connect my digital control unit to my Pyramid power supply so I can run at 12 volts again. I saw a cord on a site that specializes in Carrera stuff. It simply looks like regular Carrera power cord with a blade fuse put in line and brass connectors at the other end. But, the "discount" price for this item is $60.00!!! I don't mind someone making a buck, but $60.00, for a five foot extension cord, really?!

So, can I just run a connection from my Pyramid to the power plug on the control unit? If so, couldn't I also wire a switch that would send power to the digital control unit when I want it, and flip the switch to run power to a "terminal" track if I want analog? For the analog power I would simply wire directly to a piece of track so the Carrera power track would not be used since it cannot be used with the digital control unit.

[dw5555]

If your using the CU why do you need an adjustable PS. The power is adjustable at the CU. If you just want to use the pyramid PS just cut the end off the wall wart and wire it to the pyramid with a fuse on the power side.
Dave

[MrAdept]

There is an analog to digital converter cable from Carrera that might do for you.
https://www.lebhobbies.com/20524-carrer ... -1615.html
It would at least give you the digital end connector.

Mark

[Czar]

Well I did it! I cut the cord from the wall wart with the plug for the Digital Control unit. I checked the terminals for polarity and twisted the wire around the correct posts on the transformer. VIOLA! I have a digital layout with variable power! I wired in a 5 amp spade fuse, and I'm loving it. My next project will be to wire in a switch for the power to go to the analog track or the digital control unit. The other huge advantage is that with an analog terminal track I don't have to chip all my cars for digital.

[DaveKennedy]

Please keep in mind that the digital system is designed to be used with 15v going into the track to power the lane changes and accessories correctly. So at a minimum that's what you should use.

[Czar]

Dave, the cars are virtually uncontrollable at 15 volts. What do you recommend?

[RazorJon]

A wall power supply is 15 volts but at only 1.5 amps

your pyramid is pushing 25 amps

think of water flowing through a hose, voltage is pushing the water, low amps is like a kink in the hose

the less the amps the less the pressure

[Czar]

Sorry to be so dense here, but I thought the problem was the trigging of the lane changers because the 12 volts would provide too little energy to activate the switch. I am assuming (again, pretty electrical dense) that the lane changers activate a servo motor that moves the flipper, so it needs more specific voltage than a toothbrush motor. I don't understand how/why amps is the issue.
The lane changers are working, so I know they will work on 12 volts, but maybe I am going to shorten the life of the servos by starving them? I did wire an in-line 5 amp fuse to the lead going into the Carrera CU, but i doubt that matters in this discussion.
I am trying to make this work for my track, but I believe there are others that would like to use variable power with digital.

[buspor63]

The Carrera digital system allows you to adjust each car the maximum power you want. In my group, we run no mag, mostly at "5 lights" full power. Our fun class is mostly Slot.it and Racer cars, so the potential is there. Two of our tracks use after market power supplies fused to either 5 amps on the BB equipped track, or 7 on my CU controlled routed wood track.

Running the most amps and lots of jumpers is the best thing you can do for your digital layout. Insert the jumpers just adjacent to the lane change sections. The number of amps is determined by which base you have, 5 for a black box and 7 for a control unit.