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RE: Surge Suppression
Title: Message
Ed,
I have
read the article and my natural skepticism is aroused. I would not be able to do
a review in a short time. I would prefer to challenge this technically,
and that would take some testing and analysis.
As a
first step, I would be interested to know why you would want to build the
device? What primary power device are you using, and what voltage level do
you see at the track? I was surprised to find at a recent fun run that the
layout power was significantly less than 20 volts RMS at the track. I
have never measured surges or inductive spikes, but I imagine that clamping
device mentioned would add no significant benefit to the club modules.
This is an off-the-cuff opinion offered in the absence of any hard
data.
We
recently lost an electronic whistle control on an MTH engine. Two
observations:
1. The
design was very economical and there was no attempt at on-board
protection.
2. MTH
replaced it for free.
Did a
transient cause the failure? Possibly.
Would
a transient suppressor have protected the circuit? Perhaps.
Would
I spend money on one? Probably not.
But I
don't buy surge suppressors for my computers either.
I am
off on vacation in a week. If you are still interested in this when I get back,
I could look into the problem.
Regards,
Mike
Here is a website (.pdf) on transient voltage suppressors for O-gauge
trains.
I was thinking of building something like this for home. Any
interest in looking at this for the club?
Ed