Circuit breaker

[trainforfun]

I am using a Tam Valley booster and it does not have a circuit breaker , I melted a couple of axles over time on KATO turnout aligned for the other way , and by the time I found the short circuit a couple of axles on the engine had already melted .
I found circuit breakers at Tony's Train exchange about $35 each , it comes in package of 1 , 2 , 3 or 4 .
Do you have another solution ?

I heard some people are using a 12 volts car bulb but will it works if I have a lash up of 4 or 5 locos , or only a couple of locos not drawing tyoo much current ?

[Sumner]

Tam valley has circuit breakers also. I have a couple but have not used them yet.

Sumner

[John]

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[trainforfun]

Thanks guys , I will go with the Tam Valley .
Thanks again , hope not to melt any other axles in the future !!! 

[peteski]

Thanks guys , I will go with the Tam Valley .
Thanks again , hope not to melt any other axles in the future !!! 

Unfortunately adding a breaker doesn't guarantee against melting.  Even lower currents (under 1A) can still heat up and melt the thin and delicate N scale parts.  In certain scenarios the "short" will have enough resistance to limit the current to less than the tripping current, and if the model is not rescued within few seconds, it will still melt.  The only guarantee against melting is to watch your trains at all times.

[CRL]

Does Tam Vally still have the circuit breakers available?

[nickelplate759]

Related to that - years ago I saw a power-regulation board on a computer (a DEC KL10) that had a catastrophic failure.    The board had a big capacitor (don't know what rating, but about the size of a soda can) with a fused output.   Apparently the capacitor had discharged quite quickly - but the fuse didn't blow.  The fuse clip had vaporized between the capacitor and the fuse itself.

So, yeah, circuit protection isn't always fast enough....

[Sumner]

Does Tam Vally still have the circuit breakers available?

I just got some from Litchfield Station and according to Tam Valley's web site they will remain in production,

Sumner