Why do I need a DCC Circuit Breaker? Myth vs. Fact

All NCE systems and boosters have built-in overcurrent sensing for basic self-protection that will continuously / automatically try to reset every half second (500ms) until the unit is damaged. They do not have manual breakers that will trip or fuses that will blow. The default trip rating of an EB1 circuit breaker is 16ms. That is roughly 30 times faster than the standard booster overload trip time!

You would add protection of some sort because you don’t want the entire railroad to shut down if you have a short. You break it up into smaller pieces. All of our systems will only try to protect themselves, not your locos. Use the EB1 to divide up your layout and protect your trains! Think of this like the breaker panel in your house.

You can have a short circuit in a decoder, but it is not guaranteed to trip a DCC circuit breaker or shut down a booster. Myth: DCC circuit breakers protect decoders. Fact: DCC circuit breakers protect boosters.

 

The goal of the DCC circuit breaker is to protect THE BOOSTER by isolating the short locally within the breaker power district so the booster can remain powering the OTHER power districts to keep the other parts of the layout running.

 

A short circuit has to meet specific criteria for the DCC circuit breaker to act.

 a) The short circuit current must be above the trip point of the DCC circuit breaker.

b) The short circuit current must last for a period of time.

You MUST use some form of Protection!

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