Home Racing World

In a topic a few rows down, a variable voltage power supply is mentioned for controlling power to the cars. I purchased a relatively inexpensive "Flexzion DC Compact Power Supply 15V 1A - Adjustable Variable..." power supply. I have not yet tried connecting it to my Carrera Digital Control Unit. I use magnets with the standard Carrera Power Supply and might like to experiment with non-magnets at lower voltage.

1) Is this Flexzion unit suitable/adequate to experiment with lower voltage with Carrera Digital?
2) Is there a simple way to adapt this variable power supply to the Carrera 30352 Control Unit? Is Wire Splicing required?

Thanks

1. No. You need better voltage and more current.
2. Best to cannibalize the cable from a standard set power supply.

:text-goodpost:
You will be lucky if you can run 2 cars with that setup. The volts are fine you need more amps.

Dave

You should also realize that to run non-mag cars at a "lower voltage" on the digital system you can't turn down the voltage of the PS without expecting to see digital components stop working. You will instead need to control (reduce/increase) the car power via the control unit.

The problem with less voltage is the first thing to stop working will be the lane changers. Works fine for analog, not so much for digital.

Give it a try. See how you like it.

The only way to really know is to try it. If you wanted to splice in the Flexion PS it is fairly straight forward though you do need to know the correct polarity for the Carrera unit. What is the output printed on the Carrera power pack? Does it say VA for the amperage rating?

Since that Flexion PS only has one adjustment knob it is hard to know if the 1 amp output is constant. I think in general you will be better off than the cheap factory wall pack.

I don't buy store bought sets so I assume the wall pack is cheap. I'm just trying to help but maybe others who have these Carrera digital sets can steer you in the right direction. I run a filtered 0-30V, 0-10 amp power supply on my analog track so can only speak from that experience.

Gotcha Scott - thanks.

Don't overthink the situation. As others have posted, your control unit sets the maximum speed for each car on track. I use the same power supply Harry linked to, it's good and will get the job done.

The one Harry posted will get the job done. The CU will handle 7 amps comfortably. As others have posted don't set the volts below 13V (higher is OK too) so your digital accessories will all work and leave the voltage alone. Adjust the speed of the cars with the CU. The amps come into play on startup when the amp draw is highest when they are cruising it's a lot lower. The very short video I did awhile back shows the draw on start up. Even though they are 1/24 cars they were all converted to 12V motors. You will also note I run at 17V and control the cars with the CU. (Lazy lane changer)
Dave