NCE Cab

Hallo,
I'd like buy the NCE power Cab for my z-trains. I have a doubt. I have seen on web-site that the power plug is not for me (Italy) and I haven't found anything about the value of the power current. Is 110 or 220 volt, or both?
Does anyone know anithing about it?

Thanks a lot

Paolo

Italia

Paolo,
My NCE power cab unit uses a 110V regulated wall power supply. I'm not aware of a 220V version being sold by NCE, but I would think an appropriate 220V wall power supply with a 13.5V output could be obtained locally.
Hope this helps,
Mark

Paolo, the answer I got from the NCE board is that all you need is a plug adopter.

right the power supply eats 110V ~ up to 230V ~ just use a travel addapter. /Frank

Hi Paolo,

Back on Thursday when, I think, you wrote this, I emailed support at NCE Corp and gave them a copy of what you asked here. It's now after 10pm on Saturday night (my time, of course), and I am still waiting for an answer... that's understandable because the gentleman (I'm sorry, I forgot his name) who would get my email is tied up at the NCE display at Trainfest, the big train show going on now here in Wisconsin. It just so happens I was at Trainfest this weekend and Friday evening I bumped into the exact man that would be answering my email. He said he usually checks the exact voltages the country in question uses before giving his answer. As I said, he is a bit busy this weekend, but he said he will get back to me soon with an answer and I will, in turn, post what he tells me here.

Joe

Checkout their home page (www.ncedcc.com) and look for power supply P114. txt says:
An additional or replacement DC power supply for the Power Cab system and other model railroad uses. Input 120VAC/220VAC, output 13.5VDC.

/Frank

shamoo737 wrote: Paolo, the answer I got from the NCE board is that all you need is a plug adopter.

Italia uses 230V, so I'm not so sure that just a wall adapter would be a good idea. Here's some interesting reading I found on users.telenet.be/worldstandards/electricity.htm

"Why can only “electric” appliances be used with a converter, and not “electronic” ones?

The difference between a converter and a transformer lies in how the device converts voltage current. Alternating current power is supplied in alternating bursts that are in a shape called a "sine wave".

To reduce 230 V to 120 V, for example, a convertor delays the start of the sine wave such that the average voltage (actually the root-mean-square) over a full wave is lowered. The high voltage peaks are unfortunately still present and this is what destroys electronic equipment, usually because the resultant voltage is rectified to the full pre-converted value. Appliances such as light bulbs and heaters don't care about those peaks and many motors also are tolerant of them.

A transformer, on the other hand, alters the amplitude of the waves. This is a critical difference because electronic devices cannot cope with high voltage peaks which are still present when lowering voltage by means of a convertor.

The converter's delaying of sine waves is a relatively simple and compact function. The transformer's alteration of sine waves is a relatively sophisticated function and requires more space. As a result, transformers are generally larger, heavier and much more expensive than converters."

This is why I asked the technician while I was at Trainfest Friday and probably why he didn't want to give me a difinitive answer until he did further checking. If I see him again today, I'll go into more detail with him, otherwise I'll wait until I get his reply email before I say more.

Joe

Joe,
You're quite right about converters and transformers. However, converters have been in use for a long time now, and the issues you bring up have generally been engineered out. Surges are electronically supressed in good units. I have the NCE Power Cab converter in hand: it's rated 100-240V 50/60Hz. It has both UL and CE certification/listing. I would not expect any issues in Italy.
Paolo, if you're concerned about surges, I would suggest a surge supression power strip.
Mark

Mark, I agree completely, however what threw me off in the first place was that I asked this fellow about using the Power Cab in Italy and he told me he checks things out with the different countries voltages, etc., before he answers. Like I said, I forgot his name but he said he is the guy that gets all mail addressed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., and I figured if he couldn't just give me a straight answer right then and there, then maybe he knows something the rest of us don't???

Paolo said he has reservations about jumping right into buying a Power Cab. Perhaps, waiting for this NCE employee to answer the question on how to power the Power Cab within Italy couldn't hurt. I know I'd sure feel bad if I told Paolo to go ahead and just plug it in, and his brand new Power Cab went *pop* and started smoking.

Joe

Joe, when I went to China for vacation, I call Dell support to see if I could use my laptop with 220v. Their answer is no, and I needed to buy a 220v power supply from China. I went to China and look at my power supply. It says rated for 110 to 230. I bough a adopter and it work just fine.

John, I'm glad things worked out for you in China by simply using an adapter. But it seems no one understands what's going on here. I agree, one would think in most cases a simple adapter should do the trick. That's what I asked the guy from NCE while I was at Trainfest. By the way, I went back to Trainfest Sunday and clarified my question to him. I also found out his name; He is Mr. Support at NCE Corp., Larry Larsen, (i.e. support @ ncecorporation.com). I asked him if an adapter would work and he said in most cases yes, but that he likes to investigate BEFORE he gives an answer for any specific country. He has not replied to my original email yet which I assume is because he hasn't researched it yet. I also assume this is because he has been away from his desk while doing the Trainfest gig.

And I don't know why it seems everyone is pushing an adapter on Paolo. Sure, one would think it should work. The tech guy, Larry, at NCE thinks it should work too. BUT when that same NCE Corp support guy tells you face to face to let him check it out before telling someone to go ahead and actually buy their product, I think it's a real good idea to sit and wait for a few days to get the answer.

Paolo didn't say he was in a rush, nor has he apparently even bought a Power cab yet. So what's a few days? Trainfest ended at 5:30pm Sunday and then it was time for the exhibitors to pack up everything. Its 5:00am Tuesday morning and I would have to guess that Larry Larsen isn't even back home in New York yet. I'm sure that once he is, and he gets caught up, he'll get back to me and we'll have a definitive answer to the question; Can Paolo, living in Italy, safely use the Power Cab by using a plug adapter? Until then, we all need to just wait.

As for me... I'm just the messenger. And at this point, I wish I'd never stopped at the NCE exhibit.

Joe

Thanks Joe, you're right. I haven't bought Power cab yet (I think my gift for Xmas), I can wait any news.

Thanks again

Well, I guess I had better follow up, even though I have nothing to follow up here with. I figure I’ve given Mr. Larsen enough time to get back from Trainfest, get settled in, and answer my email(s). In case he had “lost” my original email, I emailed a follow up email 5 days after Trainfest ended on November 18th. I also emailed him again on the 26th. I’ve heard nothing. It really surprises me too, as he seemed like a very helpful person, in person.

The last he told me (at Trainfest) was that NCE Power Cabs “should work properly right out of the box if used with their transformer”. But that’s when he also added that he likes to look into that particular country electric parameters. So if he wasn’t sure, then why did he say it should work properly right out of the box? It would be nice to know what he meant then.

At this point, as most everyone has indicated, it should probably work without any problem. But if it was me, since he pissed me off so by not answering, I’d check out Digitrax and see if they answer their emails any faster.

Joe

Thanks again, Joe.
I think the NCE Cab it should probably work without any problem too.
A friend of mine is a good electronic, then I think I'll speak to him about this.

Paolo