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[chadnn]

Hi All,

As the title says I'm new to T gauge so will be coming here with questions. I'd like to thank Martink for all the help he has given me so far.

Due to downsizing I'm moving from N to T. Will be ordering things in the next few days as soon as I have decided on which layout I'm going to use. Want to be sure to buy enough track . One question I have now is about the PWM (the blue box), would a mobile phone charger ( 5V, 2.1A) work as a power supply?

Looking forward to the new gauge and learning more on this forum.

Chad

[dkightley]

Hi Chad

Welcome to t Gauge and to the Talking T Gauge forum.......

To answer you question......seeing as there's a commercial USB to PWM cable available then someone does not anticipate the power demand on the supply to be greater than 0.5A at 5v. (The spec for USB 2 has a max current specified at 0.5A, and 0.9A for USB3 ). And from my own experience, a power car motor consumes very little current. I've had a set of rechargeable batteries last several hour powering three power cars in one stint.

So....I would think that a power supply that is definitely 5v DC (not AC!!) with a current rating of 1.5A will be perfectly suited to powering a PWM.

And regarding your proposed layout....you are hereby instructed to start a thread in the Layout section giving full details of your plans.

[chadnn]

It is 5 VDC but 2.1 A not 1.5 A so.......

[Reith01]

It is 5 VDC but 2.1 A not 1.5 A so.......

That'll work - problems happen when it's underpowered.

Good luck. Make sure your track is absolutely even!!

[dkightley]

How on earth did I manage to change 2.1 into 1.5???

I'll have to check out those tea bags......there must be something nice in the tea!

[chadnn]

Thanks for the help. Just don't want to burn anything up

[chadnn]

OK guys, will be receiving my trains within the next day or so and have another question, or two

Been reading where most of you glue your flex track down and some of you use double-sided tape. I'm going to use tape and wonder if you tape the whole track or just here and there? Also what do you use for ballast?

Thanks.

[martink]

Hi Chad,

Well, I can answer the second half of your question, about ballast. The fine stuff sold by tgauge.com works quite well. I found the most useful tool to apply it was a paintbrush with a head about 8-10mm wide. Pour the ballast along the track, then run the brush down the track between the rails. The bristles touch the sleepers in the centre and on both sides and shape the ballast over the track nicely. You still have to do a bit of work to shape the edges, but it is all a lot easier than it sounds.

[chadnn]

Unfortunately Tgauge is out of stock on the ballast so was hoping there was something else that could be used.

[chadnn]

Well found out you can't use a mobile phone charger on the blue pwm. Can still use the batteries but something burned inside and can't use the usb cord. Oh well