Model Railway Forum

Is it better to have two Dcc bus lines one for locos the other for points and signals ?

brian1951 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 13, 2020 8:46 pm Is it better to have two Dcc bus lines one for locos the other for points and signals ?

Yes, but the track bus needs to pass via an all electronic circuit breaker set to below the current limit of the main system, then its output is feed out to the layout and all rails, while the Accessory Bus goes direct to the layout.
Of course, do not let the two intermix anywhere, especially where an Accessory decoder may provide built in frog polarity switching from its DCC input!
The two bus system then allows points etc to be moved even if there is a short on the main "Rails" DCC feed. i.e. where a loco runs into an unset point and shorts the system. On a dual Bus system the loco can still be reverse back and clear the short. On a single bus system the loco would have to be finger pushed back or the point manually moved over to remove the short!

So both can be wired from the same outlet on the controller.

brian1951 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 13, 2020 9:24 pm So both can be wired from the same outlet on the controller.

Yes, both come from the DCC systems "Track" output. One passes via an all electronic Circuit breaker (Track Bus pair) while the other goes direct (Accessory Bus pair).

Thanks Brian. ( not my best subject )

Like this example...

Can you recommend a DCC circuit breaker?

Mike

miffy wrote: ↑Wed Oct 14, 2020 1:00 pm Can you recommend a DCC circuit breaker?

Mike

Yes.
Ready made is the excellent PSX-1, then there is the Tam Valley CFJ003. A third is the On Guard unit, but this is fixed to 4.0Amp trip current
Kit form, then the MERG Kit 57 DCO is a good unit. But here you need to be a MERG member and build the unit by soldering components onto a circuit board.

Brian wrote: ↑Wed Oct 14, 2020 2:13 pm

miffy wrote: ↑Wed Oct 14, 2020 1:00 pm Can you recommend a DCC circuit breaker?

Mike

Yes.
Ready made is the excellent PSX-1, then there is the Tam Valley CFJ003. A third is the On Guard unit, but this is fixed to 4.0Amp trip current
Kit form, then the MERG Kit 57 DCO is a good unit. But here you need to be a MERG member and build the unit by soldering components onto a circuit board.

Thanks Brian

Mike