DaveJfr0 posted:Some questions:1. Do you have a suggestion for a mouser part number for the 5F caps? I'd like to try one of those in case I think I actually need more juice for certain power hungry locomotives I have (like the Weaver VO1000)
2. I noticed the alternate zener diodes you listed have different forward voltages and impedance than the part that's out of stock. I'm pretty sure that doesn't matter in this circuit, but just checking.
3. I saw the previous questions, but to adjust and benchtest, to be clear: You throw power on this, let it charge, then voltmeter test (no load) the U+ to GND and turn the knob on the converter until you achieve ~12.5V voltage. Is that is sufficient or do I need to actually have this connected to the locomotive its intended to go into and adjust it until it can make the motors turn enough to get over dirty spots/gaps in the track (at slow speed)?
Thanks again for sharing this design and your logic behind it.
- 5F 5.5V capacitor is the one I've used.
- Yeah there are minor differences in the specs, no impact for our use here.
- Yep, power it with 5V on the bench and then set the regulator to your desired output. The regulation is very good, so it won't change with load. Make sure you discharge it before doing anything else with it by connecting the 5V and ground leads for a few minutes.
12.5V is what works for me at 16V DCC voltage. You may need to experiment, and maybe go a bit lower, if you are using a lower DCC voltage.
Make sure you build one or two and test them out, before you go building 10 of them. I'd hate to be responsible for all that time and effort if they didn't work out for some reason! 
